Postgame Notes: #14 Kentucky 80, Vols 70

Feb. 18, 2016

Postgame Notes

The Basics

Tennessee falls to 12-14 overall and 5-8 in the SEC after dropping an 80-70 decision at No. 14 Kentucky on Thursday night at Rupp Arena. The Vols were led by Armani Moore's 21 points and 11 rebounds -- his eighth career double-double.

Kevin Punter Jr. added 19 points, going 9-of-10 at the foul line.

With the loss, Tennessee falls to 1-9 in true road games this season and 1-12 in all games played away from Knoxville.

Moore Comes to Play Against UK

Senior Armani Moore put up another strong performance against Kentucky on Thursday night, posting 21 points and 11 rebounds.

The effort marked his fourth double-double of the season, two of which have come against the Wildcats.

Back on Feb. 2 in UT's 84-77 come-from-behind victory over UK, Moore supplied 18 points and 13 boards in the winning effort. He added four assists and two steals in the game as well.

In two games against Kentucky this season, Moore is now averaging 19.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.

The Ascent Continues

With two blocked shots against No. 14 Kentucky on Thursday night, senior Armani Moore pushed his career blocked shots total to 122. That figure places him in a tie for eighth with Steve Hamer (1992-96) for the most career blocks in Tennessee history.

Thursday was Moore's 12th game this season with multiple blocks as he pushed his season-long blocks per game average to 1.8. If he maintains that mark through the end of the season, it would stand as the fifth-best single-season average in program history.

Punter Surpasses 900

With 19 points on Thursday night, guard Kevin Punter Jr. eclipsed 900 points for his career, moving to a total of 905.

Punter -- the SEC's second-leading scorer entering the night at 22.3 ppg -- is already the all-time leading scorer at Tennessee when accounting for players who logged just two years or fewer on Rocky Top.

The Bronx, New York, native is now within striking distance of becoming the first two-year player in program history to reach Tennessee's 1,000 Points Club. Accounting for five regular season contests and at least one game at the SEC Tournament, Punter would need to average 15.8 ppg the rest of the way to reach quadruple digits.

For Starters

Tennessee’s starters were Kevin Punter Jr., Shembari Phillips, Devon Baulkman, Armani Moore, and Kyle Alexander for the third straight game.

The Vols are now 1-2 this season when using that lineup.

Freshmen Shembari Phillips and Kyle Alexander made their third and fifth consecutive starts, respectively.

Sophomore guard Detrick Mostella was the first Vol off the bench on Saturday, checking in at the 18:32 mark.

Short on the Glass

One of the more outstanding statistics in Tennessee's come-from-behind, 84-77 victory over then 21st-ranked Kentucky on Feb. 2 was that the Vols won the rebounding battle with a 37-36 edge.

A similar victory was not to be had on Thursday night as Tennessee was out-rebounded 45-39 by the larger and longer Wildcats.

Kentucky finished with 14 offensive boards, resulting in 15 second-chance points. Isaiah Briscoe's 10 rebounds led UK while Jamal Murray added nine.

Help Wanted

Tennessee finished with just seven assists on 22 made field goals Thursday night.

Those seven assists mark a season-low for the Vols, whose previous low was established in their last game at Missouri. At Mizzou, UT recorded eight assists on 21 made shots.

The only other game this season in which UT has recorded fewer than 10 team assists was a 69-67 loss at Georgia Tech on Nov. 16 -- the second game of the season.

With two assists apiece, Armani Moore and Devon Baulkman led the Vols in assists on Thursday night.

The Series

With the 220th meeting between the programs in the books, Tennessee falls to 68-152 all-time against the Wildcats.

The 68 wins are still the most claimed by any Kentucky opponent in history.

The Vols fall to 16-89 in games played in Lexington. Tennessee's last road win in the series came in 2006 when the 11th-ranked Vols topped UK by a 75-67 count.

Up Next

Tennessee returns home following its most recent two-game road stretch to face LSU at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Saturday's contest will be televised on ESPNU.

The Vols and Tigers split their season series last year, with each team winning on the other's home floor. UT claimed the most recent meeting, a 78-63 win Baton Rouge on March 4, 2015.

Tennessee leads the all-time series with LSU, 63-44.

University of Tennessee Athletics