University of Tennessee Athletics
Saturday, February 3
Lexington, KY
8:30 PM
University of Tennessee
at
Kentucky
Hoops Central: #5 Tennessee at #10/8 Kentucky
February 02, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The fifth-ranked Tennessee men's basketball team travels north to Rupp Arena to face the 10th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats Saturday night in Lexington. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.
MORE INFO
GAMEDAY TIMES & BROADCAST INFO
- Opponent: Kentucky Wildcats
- Tipoff:Â Saturday, Feb. 3Â | 8:30Â p.m. ET
- Venue: Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
- Watch Online:Â ESPN
- Online:Â Listen Live |Â Live Stats
RELATED LINKS
Buy Tickets Game Day Information Follow @Vol_Hoops SEC ClubhouseTENNESSEE
Roster Schedule Game NotesKENTUCKY
Roster Schedule Game NotesTHE LATEST FROM THE VOLS
Knecht Chosen for Julius Erving SF of the Year Midseason Top 10 ListKnecht Selected to Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List#5 Vols Fall to South Carolina, 63-59Vanderbilt Game Marks Seventh Sellout of 2023-24 SeasonVols Hold Steady at Fifth NationallyFans can catch Saturday's game between the Vols (15-5, 5-2 SEC) and Wildcats (15-5, 5-3 SEC) on ESPN. Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) will have the call.
Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertelkamp describing the action.
The Vols are coming off a 63-59 loss to South Carolina Tuesday night. Fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht scored a game-best 31 points, his fourth time reaching that mark in Tennessee's last five outings.
THE MATCHUP
• Prior to going 0-2 last year, Tennessee was 10-7 versus Kentucky in Rick Barnes' first seven seasons, notching at least one win each year and two apeice in 2021-22, 2018-19 and 2017-18.
• UT's 10 wins over Kentucky since 2015-16 are four more than any other team (Auburn and Kansas with six). It is 9-5 against ranked Wildcat teams; Kansas (five) has the second-most such victories.
• The Volunteers are 6-1 against top-10 Kentucky teams under Barnes. They are also 6-2 with both teams in the AP top 25 and 3-1 with each in the AP top 10.
• In the 22 seasons before Barnes' arrival (1993-2015), UT went 9-35 against the Wildcats, including 7-28 when they were ranked and 2-21 when they were in the top 10.
• After finishing 22-12 (12-6) and reaching the NCAA Tournament, Round of 32, Kentucky was picked fourth in the SEC preseason poll.
• Fifth-year guard Antonio Reeves, one of three SEC players on the Wooden Award Midseason Late Season Top 20 Watch List, paces the Wildcats with 19.5 ppg.
NEWS & NOTES
• John Calipari (805) and Rick Barnes (794) are the two active winningest DI head coaches. They join Kansas' Bill Self (789) as the only active coaches in the top 20 all-time list, which is on Page 19.
• Barnes (27) and Calipari (20) rank first and fifth, respectively, among active DI coaches in NCAA Tournament berths and together own 47. The other 12 current SEC head coaches combine for 53.
• Barnes and Calipari have met 23 times, with Barnes going 12-11. He is 10-9 in the regular season.
• UT is 7-3 in its last 10 games versus top-10 foes, with Zakai Zeigler averaging 13.1 ppg in the wins and 8.7 ppg in the losses.
• The Vols are 6-5 in AP top-10 matchups under Rick Barnes.
• In the last three contests, Santiago Vescovi is averaging 10.7 ppg and shooting 37.5% on threes. In the prior three games, he totaled 10 points and shot 22.2% from deep.
• Dalton Knecht is averaging 33.7 ppg in three outings with Jimmy Dykes as the TV analyst, including posting the top two scoring tallies of his career (39 and 37).
DOMINANT DK
• Dalton Knecht, the SEC scoring leader (20.1), has 191 points in the last six games. The only other Power Six players to do that in the last decade are Markus Howard (2019-20 & 2018-19) and Trae Young (2017-18).
• Knecht is averaging 17.1 points per half over the last 11 frames, with 188 total in that span. He had 11- plus in 10 of the 11, including 16- plus in eight and 20-plus in four.
• In five road games at UT, Knecht is averaging 31.4 ppg while shooting 61.5 percent overall and 47.2 percent from deep. He scored 24- plus all five times, becoming the third Power Six player in the last 14 seasons (2010-24) with five straight 24-point road outings, joining Myles Powell (2019-20) and Buddy Hield (2015-16).
• Knecht is the first Vol ever with 30-plus four times in five games and the first SEC player to do so since Devan Downey (2009-10).
• The only other Power Six players in the last decade with 67 made field goals in a six-game stretch are NPOYs Luka Garza (2020-21) and Zion Williamson (2018-19).
QUALITY COMPANY
• Tennessee, Arizona, Kansas and Purdue are the only four teams to earn an AP top-five ranking in each of the past three seasons (2021-24).
• In addition, Tennessee, Baylor, Houston and Kansas are the only four schools ranked in the AP top six each of the past four years (2020-24).
• UT is one of only six teams to reach the AP top six in four of the last six seasons (2018-24), joining Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas (all six) and Kentucky. Those are six of the only 10 schools in the AP top five in at least four of the past six years, alongside Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina and Virginia.
• The Vols are one of only 12 teams to earn an AP top- two ranking in at least two of the past six seasons. The others are Arizona, Baylor (three), Connecticut, Duke (four), Gonzaga (five), Kansas (four), Kentucky, Michigan, Purdue, UCLA and Virginia.
RACKING UP RANKED VICTORIES
• Over the past four seasons (2020-24), Tennessee leads all SEC teams in AP top-25 wins with 17, good for co-seventh nationally. It is also tied with Arkansas for first among SEC schools in AP top-10 victories with seven, placing co-seventh nationally. UT's five AP top-five wins in that span pace the SEC and are tied for the most of any team in America.
• The seven AP top-10 triumphs during that time are: #1 Alabama (2/15/23), #3 Kansas (11/25/22), #3 Auburn (2/26/22), #4 Kentucky (2/15/22), #5 Kentucky (3/12/22), #6 Arizona (12/22/21) and #10 Texas (1/28/23).
• Over the last four seasons (2020-24), Tennessee has played a league-high 31 games against AP Top 25 opponents, going 17-14 (.548). The Vols are the only SEC team, regardless of number of games, with a winning record against ranked foes during that span, while Alabama is second at 14-16 (.467).
• Tennessee (31), Alabama (30), Arkansas (30) and Missouri (26) are the only SEC teams to play over 25 ranked foes since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
WINNING WAYS
• Over the last seven seasons, dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, Tennessee paces all SEC teams in postseason wins (15), while placing a close second in both total victories (159) and winning percentage (.719). In that span, the Vols have claimed a pair of SEC titles, winning the regular season in 2018 and the tournament in 2022.
• In that same seven-year stretch, the Vols are one of only three SEC schools with an overall winning percentage over .700, alongside Auburn (.724) and Kentucky (.702). No other SEC team is at even .650.
• In SEC play over the same seven-year period, Tennessee (77-37; .675) is second in the league in both victories and winning percentage, trailing just Kentucky (79-36; .687). Only Auburn (74-42; .638) and Alabama (71-44; .621) also have 70-plus wins.
• Over the last three seasons only (2021-24), UT owns a 67-24 (.736) overall record. That is good for the most victories and the best winning percentage of any SEC team in that span.
INAM: "IT'S NOT ABOUT ME"
• The Volunteers have posted 20-plus assists seven times this season, including in six of the past 12 contests. They have 25-plus twice this season, with a high of 27 against George Mason (12/5/23).
• Tennessee has a 61.0 percent assist rate that ranks No. 17 nationally, per KenPom, through 1/31/24.
• Last season, Tennessee placed second nationally, per KenPom, with a 66.2 percent assist rate. It also logged a 64.9 percent mark in SEC play.
POLL PRESENCE
• Tennessee has played 187 games as a ranked team in the AP Poll under Rick Barnes, posting a stellar 139-48 (.743) record. Over 65.0 percent of the Volunteers' games since Barnes arrived in 2015-16 have come with the team ranked in the AP Poll.
• Furthermore, UT owns a 118-43 (.733) record while ranked in the AP top 20 during Barnes' tenure, an 87-30 (.744) mark while in the top 15, a 67-21 (.761) ledger while in the top 10, a 29-9 (.763) tally while in the top five, a 17-2 (.895) record while in the top three and a 7-1 (.875) mark while at No. 1.
• The Vols are 23-20 (.535) in top-25 matchups under Barnes, including 17-13 (.567) with both teams in the top 20, 9-7 (.562) with both in the top 15 and 6-5 (.545) with both in the top 10.
Players Mentioned
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