"I think we're an overachieving team," said first-year Wildcats
coach
Tubby Smith. "I think we have to overachieve every time we play
or
practice to be successful. It has to be a total commitment from
everyone. We're only as good as the sum of our players."
Scott Padgett added 17 points and 10 rebounds for Kentucky, which
has
won the last eight games between the schools and leads the all-time
series, 126-58.
C.J. Black and Tony Harris scored 19 points apiece for Tennessee
(15-6,
5-6), which is still in the hunt for its first NCAA Tournament
bid since
1989. The Volunteers have another game crucial to their NCAA Tournament
hopes this weekend, when they host 12th-ranked Arkansas.
The Volunteers pulled into their last tie, 28-28, on a short jumper
by
Black. But Jeff Sheppard had a 3-pointer and layup around a pair
of free
throws by Black to take a 33-30 halftime lead.
Padgett quickly pushed the lead to eight in the second half, hitting
a
3-pointer and layup in the first 46 seconds. Black had a layup
for
Tennessee, but Padgett buried a 3-pointer that gave the Wildcats
a 41-32
lead at the 18:18 mark.
A dunk by Padgett provided a 62-50 advantage with 8:04 left, but
Tennessee used an 8-2 spurt to pull within six on two free throws
by
Harris with 5:35 to play. But Padgett buried a 3-pointer from
the left
wing and Sheppard hit two free throws to push the lead to 69-58.
The
Vols came no closer than six thereafter.
Heshimu Evans added 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists
off the
bench for the Wildcats, who shot 40 percent (29-of-72) from the
field
and scored 19 points off 17 Tennessee turnovers.
Brandon Wharton netted 14 points for Tennessee, which shot 34
percent
(22-of-64), including 8-of-31 in the first 20 minutes. Harris
and
Wharton shot a combined 10-of-32, including 3-of-13 from 3-point
range.
(8) KENTUCKY 80, Tennessee 74
TENNESSEE (74)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Lee 25 4-12 0-0 3-5 0 3 12
Black 34 6-12 7-8 5-12 0 3 19
Torrey Harris 25 0-4 2-3 4-11 0 5 2
Tony Harris 38 4-15 9-11 1-4 3 3 19
Wharton 37 6-17 1-3 1-3 4 3 14
Victor 20 2-4 2-4 1-5 1 0 6
Baker 11 0-0 2-2 0-3 0 1 2
Green 10 0-0 0-0 1-1 2 1 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 22-64 23-31 16-44 10 19 74
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.344, FT-.742. 3-Point Goals:
7-19, .368 (Lee 4-5, Black 0-1, Tony Harris 2-7,
Wharton 1-6). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 9
(Black 3, Torrey Harris 3, Victor 3). Turnovers:
17 (Tony Harris 4, Victor 4, Black 3, Lee 2,
Wharton 2, Torrey Harris). Steals: 5 (Wharton 2,
Black, Tony Harris, Victor).
KENTUCKY (80)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Edwards 18 2-5 0-0 0-1 2 3 4
Padgett 26 6-19 2-2 4-10 1 3 17
Mohammed 28 7-10 7-9 6-16 3 3 21
Turner 32 4-9 2-5 1-1 3 2 10
Sheppard 34 2-12 5-6 2-5 4 2 10
Evans 25 6-11 0-2 5-7 5 3 13
Magloire 7 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 4 2
Smith 9 0-1 0-0 0-1 2 2 0
Mills 13 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 3
Anthony 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Bradley 5 0-0 0-2 1-3 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 29-72 16-26 19-44 21 22 80
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.403, FT-.615. 3-Point Goals:
6-16, .375 (Edwards 0-2, Padgett 3-6, Sheppard
1-4, Evans 1-3, Mills 1-1). Team rebounds: 5.
Blocked shots: 9 (Mohammed 5, Bradley 2, Turner,
Magloire). Turnovers: 14 (Padgett 3, Edwards 2,
Magloire 2, Sheppard 2, Anthony, Evans, Mills,
Turner). Steals: 4 (Mills, Mohammed, Padgett,
Sheppard).
__________________________________
Tennessee 30 44 - 74
Kentucky 33 47 - 80
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 23,861. Officials:
Gerald Boudreaux, Rusty Herring, Bruce Benedict.