Tennessee (9-4, 0-2 SEC) has a chance to stop the bleeding Saturday night as the Vols host 17th-ranked Kentucky (12-2, 2-0 SEC). Vols fans may be ready to pull the plug on a promising season after a crushing loss at Arkansas and then bouncing back with a less than stellar effort against Bruce Pearl and Auburn at home. Tennessee, currently number 23 in the polls, is 2-0 in Kentucky’s last two visits to Thompson-Boling Arena and Vegas currently favors the Volunteers. With a lethal stretch of conference games looming on the horizon, Rick Barnes and his team are starving for a victory. Can Tennessee finish the job and snap this losing streak?
Kentucky is 1-0 in their only true road test of the season, which came Wednesday in a 74-71 victory at LSU. All but five of their twelve wins have been decided by single digits, including narrow victories over Utah Valley, Vermont, and Troy, while the two losses belong to Kansas and UCLA. This is a different Kentucky team than we’re used to seeing, but the Wildcats put the nation on notice with a 90-61 thrashing of unranked rival Louisville over a week ago, which seems to be their best win. The Wildcats have a balanced scoring attacking and are putting up almost 80 points per game. The bulk of the load for Kentucky rests on leading scorer and rebounder Kevin Knox, currently averaging 14.6 PPG and 6.0 RPG. Not far behind Knox is lengthy guard Hamidou Diallo, who is averaging 14.4 PPG and 4.9 RPG. Rounding out the rest of the Wildcat attack are guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Quade Green, along with forwards PJ Washington and sophomore Wenyen Gabriel.
It has been a tale of two halves for Tennessee this season. Even with a tough non-conference schedule, Tennessee has led at the half in every game except against Auburn. Early in the season, the Volunteers established an identity as a tough, hard-nosed team that will guard hard for 40 minutes and simply outwork opponents. Finishing the game has been an issue for them. Tennessee held leads In every victory, the Vols have held opponents to no more than 75 points, and that came in an overtime victory against Purdue in the Battle 4 Atlantis. In losses however, Tennessee is giving up 88 points on average. The Vols will have to get back to their early season form to flip this losing streak around.
Vols sophomore point guard Jordan Bone is battling the flu. This is a storyline to keep tabs on before tipoff Saturday night. Losing Bone would be a huge blow to the Volunteer backcourt. Bone has tied together a few games in a row where he has knocked down shots, minimized his turnovers, and guarded his position well, something the young point guard has yet to consistently do in his short career. Look for senior James Daniel III to handle to point guard duties if Bone is unable to go. His maturity as a senior will be easy to rely on, but Kentucky’s size and length may cause an issue.
Prediction
After an effortless showing against Auburn, Rick Barnes is able to light a fire under his team with a bounce back win against Kentucky in front of a sold out crowd. Grant Williams gets more touches on the block (and matures) and Jordan Bowden recovers from his 1 point outing with a barrage of threes. The Vols re-establish their defensive identity and prevent Kevin Knox from putting on a Jodie Meeks show. Tennessee gets a desperate victory and boost of confidence heading into the rest of a deadly conference gauntlet.
Tennessee 76 – Kentucky 68