Men's Basketball

Kentucky vs. Tennessee: TV/Streaming Info, Keys to the Game, & Predictions

Published

8 months ago

January 13, 2023

UK Athletics

The Kentucky Wildcats will enter Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday coming off back-to-back historic losses. Going up against a 5th-ranked Tennessee Volunteer team, it will be a tough task to put an end to the losing streak.

Tennessee is playing their best basketball of the season, while Kentucky is playing their worst basketball of the season. This leads the Volunteers to be a heavy favorite at home, a place where Kentucky has struggled of late, holding a record of just 3-6 in their last nine games in Knoxville.

With that said, this is Kentucky basketball, and realistic or not, we believe we have a chance to win every contest. Let’s take a look at three keys for Kentucky to have a shot at the win.

Show more effort on the boards

Under John Calipari, Kentucky has traditionally been a good rebounding team, and even more so with Oscar Tshiebwe on the team. With that said, Kentucky’s effort on the boards against South Carolina was unacceptable, largely due to effort.

Not only did the Wildcats lose the rebounding batter 32-28, but they gave up 15 offensive rebounds, their most since – ironically enough – against South Carolina last season (20). With that said, Tennessee is much better at rebounding than South Carolina, ranked 5th in the country, twenty spots ahead of Kentucky.

If Kentucky wants any shot at winning, they are going to have to show more fight on the glass. Getting extra possessions and limiting Tennessee to just one, is going to be key.

Value possessions and take care of the ball

Kentucky is not a great offensive team. While it may not look like it, analytics are showing that is improving. Case in point, the Wildcats put up 68 points in 57 possessions against South Carolina, for an impressive 1.19 points per possession.

On Saturday, the Wildcats will be going up against the stoutest defense in the country, rated No. 1 in defensive efficiency by KenPom. Limiting their opponents to just 53,4 points per game, scoring is not going to come easy against the Volunteers. Also accounting for the fact that Tennessee forces 17.1 turnovers per game, every possession will be valuable.

To put it simply, Kentucky is going to have to make shots to space the floor, which has been a struggle for them on the road this season. If they can do that and continue to effectively run some ball screen action, the Wildcats will have scoring opportunities. That is easier than done.

Show improvement on the defensive end

Given the length and athleticism of this team, this should be “a hell of a defensive team” as Calipari has put it. Yet, that is far from the case.

Countless times this season have the Wildcats beat beaten on straight-line drives. While Kentucky has played some great guards, this ultimately comes down to a lack of focus and not executing the scouting report.

Against power five opponents, the Wildcats are allowing more than 75 points per game and if the Wildcats want to improve, this has to be the area they grow the most. As great as Tennessee is defensively, they have only been ‘good’ offensively, well until late. It should be noted they have scored 77 points or more in four of their last five games.

The Volunteers do not rely on one player and have more of a balanced scoring attack. Therefore, all five players on the floor will need to be engaged on the defensive end.

Kentucky Basketball vs. Tennessee Volunteers

Time/Date: 12:00 pm ET on Saturday, January 14th, 2023.
Location: Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee.
TV Channel: ESPN
Online Stream: WatchESPN, ESPN+, SEC Network+ or ESPN app
Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens have the UK radio network call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
Replay: SEC Network (check local listings).
Rosters: UK | UT
Team Sheets: UK | UT
Stats To Know: UK | UT

Odds: DraftKings Sportsbook has yet to release the odds, but they probably won’t look pretty. ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Wildcats one of their worst chances to win a game for the remainder of the season at just 9.4 percent. Bart Torvik is even less confident in the Cats at 4%.

Predictions: Bart Torvik picks the Wildcats to lose in blowout fashion 74-56.

Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball Has “Pure Hoopers That Love the Game” According to Former Kentucky Guard

Published

4 days ago

September 19, 2023

Chris Beasmore

Tyler Ulis coaching Robert Dillingham during GLOBL Jam.

UK Athletics | Chet White

In recent seasons, Kentucky has struggled to find players to make plays when they need it most. That hasn’t always been the case, some examples of players that had the ability to make a play to secure a win include: Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and John Wall among others.

Well speaking of some of the players I just mentioned, former Kentucky guard and current student assistant Tyler Ulis recently joined the Sources Say podcast and talked about how great this team can be this upcoming year.

Ulis calls this year’s team “pure hoopers”.

“They’re basketball players. Hoopers. Pure hoopers, all of them. And they love the game,” Ulis said. “How me and Devin (Booker) were in the gym, me and Zay (Briscoe), me and Jamal (Murray), that’s what these guys are doing. They all want to get better — scared to fail, scared not to make it. That’s what shows they want to be great.”

As what defines a pure hooper, according to Ulis. “Anyone can make a play, anyone can get in the lane, anyone can knock a shot down,” Ulis said. “We have so many options and so much depth, it’s hard not to have fun with this team.”

With the new roster and additions to the coaching staff, the goal is for Kentucky to make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament this year. As for Ulis, he is excited to see what this year’s team can do.

“I can’t say it enough: I’m extremely excited to see how this goes. We’re deep with a lot of players, and they’re skilled.”

Men's Basketball

Texas Women’s Basketball Takes A Shot at Kentucky Basketball

Published

1 week ago

September 14, 2023

Tristan Pharis

entucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari reacts in the first half against the Providence Friars at Greensboro Coliseum.

Earlier this week the Kentucky basketball team caught an unexpected shot. From who? The Texas women’s basketball team. On Tuesday, the Longhorns’ social media team tweeted a video of Drake, a professed Kentucky fan, coming to visit campus and the team.

However the caption is what caught people’s attention, “we don’t have to go to Drake’s house… he comes to ours,” Clearly trying to throw a shot at Kentucky for visiting Drake’s Toronto mansion back in July, during the team’s trip to Canada for GLOBL Jam.

we don’t have to go to Drake’s house… he comes to ours 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/PZGFe29KkS— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) September 12, 2023

It didn’t take long for the Big Blue Nation to respond, as just 12 minutes later the Tweet’s caption was edited to say “thanks for stopping by🤘”.

That being said, let’s not act like Drake made a specific trip just to visit the Texas Longhorns, he was in Austin for a stop in his music tour. Not to mention that Drake has attended multiple Kentucky games and events.

Texas will soon be in the SEC, and maybe Drake will be there in Kentucky gear to set the record straight.

BB Recruiting

Top Kentucky Target Tre Johnson Pushes Decision Date To Spring

Published

1 week ago

September 14, 2023

Wyatt Huff

UK Athletics

One of the top players in the class of 2024, Tre Johnson recently made the move to Link Academy in search of high-level competition on a big stage, which is a reason he says is why he will wait until the Spring before making a decision.

The top five guard possesses all of the scoring tools, and is a player that Kentucky really wants. He still has a few visits to take, with Alabama and Arkansas visits coming soon, plus another visit to Kansas, and another visit to Baylor. Johnson previously visited Kentucky back in late January.

Johnson has a final list of Kentucky, Baylor, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, and pro options. The Wildcats are rumored to be a top-three option long with Baylor and Texas. This delay may give Kentucky a better chance. With that said, he is not in a big rush to decide, as he is more focused on getting acclimated to his new home at Link Academy, as well as improving as a player.

Tre Johnson is one of the best pure scorers in all of high school basketball, and is certainly being prioritized by multiple top schools. Current intel suggests that Baylor and Kentucky are the top contenders, but with him pushing back his decision, there is more time to tell.

One of the top five players in the class of 2024, Tre Johnson says that he'll likely wait until the spring before making his decision. He breaks down the latest with @247Sports https://t.co/Cv86O2hQQ5 pic.twitter.com/ZZnLXnlfVg— Eric Bossi (@ebosshoops) September 13, 2023