Traveling to Knoxville, TN, it was quite the underwhelming game all around for the No. 11 Wildcats (17-4, 4-3 SEC), as they fell 60-58 to the No. 17 Lady Volunteers (14-3, 6-0 SEC) on Thursday, Jan. 22.

A top-20 matchup is one that most fans would call a “must see” game, however, this one proved to be anything but that.

Lack of Scoring, Abundance of Turnovers

To end the first quarter, both teams were shooting 25 percent or lower from the field, and between the two ranked teams, only a total of seven field goals were made in the first quarter.

Clara Strack, the Wildcats’ leading scorer for the season, only tallied nine points on 2-7 shooting. Although she did contribute 15 rebounds, it was balanced out by her 4 turnovers that benefited Tennessee greatly.

So great, in fact, that the Lady Vols scored 21 points off of Kentucky’s 21 turnovers.

The final turnover total added 10 on to the Cats’ normal average and would ultimately be the nail in the coffin late in the game.

In the final two possessions, the Wildcats inability to take care of the ball was the reason they didn’t even get a chance to shoot a potential game-tying or game-winning shot.

First, Asia Boone fumbled it up, leading to jump ball in favor of Kentucky. And secondly, with no options, Tonie Morgan was forced to try to bounce the ball off a Volunteer defender during an inbound pass, but Tennessee reacted quickly and snatched the ball away.

Was This Game Destiny?

Historically, games in Knoxville never go the Wildcats’ way. While Kentucky has grabbed four wins in Knoxville, they have fallen short 29 times now.

Last year, in this same matchup, it was the Cats that were the underdogs and celebrated their win as if it was the Super Bowl.

For now, the Wildcats can only focus on their mistakes and return back to the team Big Blue Nation is used to seeing. Up next for Kenny Brooks and the Cats is a home game versus unranked Georgia (17-3, 3-3 SEC) on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 12:00 p.m. ET.

The Wildcats’ return to Historic Memorial Coliseum will stream live on SEC Network.

Only 54 seconds were left in the game. Suddenly, Jordan Obi pokes the ball out, getting the ball to Asia Boone, who hit a pull-up jumper to put the Wildcats up three points!

The very next play, Florida inbounds the ball to the corner, with a chance to tie the game, but a block by Clara Strack basically sealed the game for the blue and white.

That is how the most important sequence of the game went for the Wildcats as No. 7 Kentucky women’s basketball (17-2, 4-1 SEC) held up against the Florida Gators (12-8, 0-5 SEC) by a score of 94-89, in what was supposed to be an easy win at home on Thursday, Jan. 15.

The Wildcats came into the game off a top-five win versus No, 13 Oklahoma while the Gators hadn’t won a conference game yet.

So who would have thought it would come down to Asia Boone hitting a mid-range pull up dagger to give the Cats a three-point lead? And how did UK find themselves in that spot in the first place?

Three-point shooting and foul trouble is what would gave the Cats the most headache, along with some miscommunication on the offensive end. Fouling caught up to Kenny Brooks’ squad when star center Clara Strack fouled out late in the fourth after her clutch block, when her defensive presence was still needed in crunch time.

Key players like Boone, Jordan Obi and Amelia Hassett also came close to coming out the game themselves, each totaling three or more fouls.

Though Kentucky started shooting the lights out from three, the team would get stagnant as the game went on, only shooting 7-23 from deep in the final three quarters.

Kentucky started the fourth quarter down seven, but they gave BBN many reason to get loud quickly, tying the game three times and changing the lead on seven different occasions.

Brooks was unenthusiastic about the win, but this game was one fans in attendance will not soon forget.

Up next, the Wildcats will take on Mississippi State (14-5, 1-4 SEC) on Sunday, Jan. 18 inside of Humphrey Coliseum, streaming live on SEC Network+ at 3:00 p.m. ET.

From down 13 points early to going on unanswered scoring runs, No. 6 Kentucky women’s basketball (16-2, 3-1 SEC) got the best of the No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners (14-3, 2-2 SEC) inside of Historic Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, Jan. 11.

The Wildcats made a statement with the 63-57 win, showing that their defense can hold a team that put up as much as 126 points in a single game earlier this year to under half of that total.

This win served as a great reminder of who the Cats are after a loss to unranked Alabama earlier in the week on Thursday, Jan. 8. So far in conference play, and the season as a whole, Kentucky has made three things very clear – Kentucky has one of the best defenses in the nation, Tonie Morgan is going to lead the Wildcats to points on the board, whether via the pass or her own shot and finally, if Clara Strack has even a sliver of daylight in the post, she is going to hit her signature jumper.

Morgan and Strack combined for forty of the Cats’ points in the win over the Sooners, with Morgan dishing out assists and buckets, some leading to a Strack fadeaway, but holding the new SEC foes to 2-19 from beyond the arc was the more telling statement.

Forcing a team that shoot an average of 31.2% from range to just 10% sends a message to the rest of the conference. Not only is Kentucky one of the best shot blocking teams, making the interior a no-go zone, but now the perimeter is just as well guarded.

The Cats tallied eight blocks and four steals as a team while having three fewer turnovers than the visitors.

Kentucky will host the Florida Gators (12-7, 0-4 SEC) on Thursday, Jan. 15 at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Cats’ fifth conference game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.