Saturday, January 14, 2023

Tennessee 56 - 63 Kentucky (Win No. 2,364)

Are you kidding me?

Kentucky stuns Tennessee, who was ranked number 5 in the country.  It was the first time in history that an unranked Kentucky team went on the road and beat a top-5 SEC team.  It was the first time that an unranked UK team had beaten a team ranked number-5 since March 28, 2014, when the Cats beat Louisville 74-69 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

I didn't watch the game, so I have no idea what happened.  It is simply the latest strange entry in one of the strangest rivalries in college basketball.  John Wall in 2010, Malik Monk in 2017, Tyler Herro in 2019, and Oscar Tshiebwe last year -- all those guys lost in Knoxville.  Jodie Meeks in 2009 (Billy G's last team), Team COVID in 2021 (which finished 9-16), and Oscar Tshiebwe this year -- all those guys won in Knoxville.

Last year, Tennessee did a lot to throw UK's season off the rails.  On February 15, the Cats were ranked number 4 in the country, went to Knoxville, and got pounded:  76-63, and it wasn't that close.  Then UK had a chance for revenge in the SEC Semi-Finals, and they were dominated:  69-62, and it wasn't that close.  The Cats never recovered from that loss -- their next game was the loss to St. Peter's, and it's pretty much been downhill ever since.  Until today.

UK's offense still wasn't very good -- the Cats were 13-35 from 2-point range and 5-16 from 3-point range.  They also had 19 turnovers.  But they did go 22-25 from the line, and they outrebounded UT 43-23.  Meanwhile, the Vols had a nightmare game at the other end:  20-36 from 2-point range, but only 3-21 from 3-point range and only 7-10 from the line.

I'm sure that the UT fans will complain about the officiating -- 24 fouls on UT, 18 on UK, Tshiebwe got to play 39 minutes, while UT's Plavsic fouled out in 25 minutes.  But to me, that just means that for once, the officials called it straight in Knoxville.  I've long suspected that in the SEC, the whistle tends to favor the underdog.  If we got that benefit today, I can only say that it's about time.

This is also the point where I remind you that no Kentucky team has ever won the National Championship without winning in Knoxville.  (In 1978, UK had to win there twice -- once against Tennessee, and once against Florida State).  So this year's team has that going for them -- which is nice.

18 comments:

  1. Just watched the highlights. What a strange place that gym is. The whole place appears to be pitch black except for the court, which glows with that odd orange color. When you watch UK at UT, you could be watching a game from 2023, or 1993, or 1973 -- it always looks the same.

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  2. Calipari is now 9-3 against UT in Lexington, 6-7 against UT in Knoxville, and 2-2 against UT in the SEC Tournament, for an overall record of 17-12.

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  3. Since the beginning of the 2016 season, when Rick Barnes arrived at UT, the Cats are 4-3 in Lexington, 3-5 in Knoxville, and 1-2 in the SEC Tournament, for an overall record of 8-10. Since Rick Barnes arrived at UT, the Cats have never swept the season series against the Vols.

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  4. When UK took the floor against UCLA, the Cats were number 6 on Ken Pom. When today started, they were number 43. Now they are number 32.

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  5. And now we hear that in Nashville, Vandy scored SIXTY-THREE points in the second half to upset number-15 Arkansas, 97 to 84. This is the same Vandy team that lost at home to Grambling and Southern Miss. What a crazy day in the SEC.

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  6. Meanwhile, Alabama leads LSU 59-22 at the half, so the Tide will soon have first place in the SEC all to itself.

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  7. Jon Rothstein just tweeted that under Bill Self, Kansas is now 33-6 against Big 12 opponents at home in games decided by five points or fewer or in overtime. Whatever goes on in Lawrence, it's not luck. No one is lucky 84.6 percent of the time.

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  8. Alabama beats LSU 106-66. Florida beats Mizzou 73-64. UGA goes on the road and beats Ole Miss 62-58.

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  9. With 3:44 left in the first half, South Carolina is losing at home to Texas A & M by the score of 44-14.

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  10. In Columbia, A & M pounds the Gamecocks 94-53. I don't think UK has ever had such an easy time down there. A & M (4-0) and Alabama (5-0) are the last two undefeated teams in the SEC.

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  11. ESPN reports that today was the first time UK had ever beaten UT in Knoxville when UT was ranked in the top 10. The Cats were 0-6 in such matchups before today.

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  12. The last SEC game of the day is Auburn hosting Mississippi State.

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  13. One of the best things about being in the SEC is that all conference games take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday. The Big 10, for example, has conference games on Friday night, Sunday night -- almost any time you can imagine. How are fans supposed to plan for that?

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  14. I'm so glad that UK's win got you all excited about college basketball again yesterday.

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  15. Also, I really like it how you put the number of all-time victories in the headlines of your UK-basketball posts.

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  16. Kentucky beats Georgia and Texas A & M at home. Cats now 13-6 overall, 4-3 in the SEC, and 33 on Ken Pom, who projects them to finish 19-12 and 10-8.

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  17. Here's the top two teams in each of the four traditional regions, according to Ken Pom:

    EAST: Connecticut (16-5), Virginia (15-3)
    MIDEAST: Tennessee (16-3), Alabama (17-2)
    MIDWEST: Houston (18-2), Kansas (16-3)
    WEST: UCLA (17-3), Saint Mary's (18-4)

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  18. Kentucky is the only SEC team that has lost to South Carolina, the only SEC team that has beaten Texas A & M, and the only SEC team that has beaten Tennessee.

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