Game Notes: Kentucky 66, Tennessee 54

Game Notes: Kentucky 66, Tennessee 54

Below are game notes from Kentucky's 66-54 win over No. 10 Tennessee inside Rupp Arena on Saturday afternoon:

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is now 18-9 overall, 9-5 in the Southeastern Conference.
• Tennessee is 20-7 overall and 9-5 in the league.
• Kentucky leads the series 160-77 and has won two in a row.
• UK swept a regular-season two-game series vs. Tennessee for the first time since 2012. (Note: only one game was played between the teams in 2014 and 2015 and UK won each season.)
• UK leads 94-19 in games played in Lexington.
• Next for the Wildcats: Kentucky has its penultimate true road game of the regular season Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Florida. The game will be televised by ESPN.

Team Notes

• Kentucky honored the 1996 and ’98 national champions and the ’97 national runner-up during a halftime ceremony.
• Kentucky limited Tennessee to 54 points. UK is 87-0 under John Calipari, including 4-0 this season, when keeping the opponent to 55 points or fewer.
• Tennessee shot 37.3% from the field. UK is 230-24 (90.6%) under Calipari when the opponent shoots 40% or less from the field.
• Kentucky led by as many as 20 points. The Wildcats are 325-13 (96.2 percent) under John Calipari when leading by at least 10 points at some point during the game.
• UK won the rebounding 40-32, leading to a 14-9 advantage in second-chance points.
• UK is 18-4 this season when winning the rebounding.
• Kentucky came into the game leading the SEC and ranking eighth nationally in rebounding margin at plus-7.7 while also leading the conference and sitting ninth nationally with 39.88 rebounds per game.
• Kentucky shot a season-high 35 free throws, making a season-high-tying 23. UK is 5-0 this season when getting to the charity stripe for at least 25 attempts.

Player Notes

• Chris Livingston had 12 points and a season-high 10 rebounds, his first double-double as a Wildcat.
• It’s his fifth game this season in double figures and first time to do it two games in a row.
• Oscar Tshiebwe totaled 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
• With seven rebounds today, he totals 840 in only 59 UK games and remains in the 10th place in UK history.
• He entered the game leading the nation in rebounding at 13.3 boards per game.
• It is the sixth time this season he has had three steals in a game.
• Cason Wallace tied Tshiebwe for scoring honors with 16 points, adding a game-high six assists.
• Wallace entered the game as one of only two freshmen in the nation averaging at least 11.6 points, three rebounds. 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
• Jacob Toppin had 11 points, his 10th-straight game in double-figure scoring.

Coach John Calipari

• This was Calipari’s 182nd SEC regular-season win, tied with legendary Tennessee coach Ray Mears for fifth place in league history.
• Calipari is 21-15 vs. Tennessee, including 18-12 at Kentucky.
• Calipari has an 828-250 all-time on-court record and is 383-110 in 14 seasons at UK.
• UK is 69-48 (59.0%) against ranked competition under Calipari.

In the First Half

• Kentucky opened with a starting lineup of Cason Wallace, Antonio Reeves, Chris Livingston, Jacob Toppin and Oscar Tshiebwe for the third game in a row.
• Adou Thiero was the first substitute at the 10:21 mark.
• Each team struggled to score early and after eight minutes Kentucky led 10-2.
• UK scored the final eight points of the half and took its largest lead, 39-19, into halftime.
• Wallace led with 12 points and Tshiebwe and Livingston had nine each.
• Limiting Tennessee to 19 points is Kentucky’s best defensive half of the season.
• UK is now 16-0 this season when leading or tied at halftime.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky opened the second half with the starting lineup.
• Kentucky began the half with three straight turnovers and Tennessee scored each time to make it 39-26 and prompt a Kentucky timeout at 18:37.
• Tennessee kept its hot streak going and pulled within 49-39 at the 13:30 mark.
• Tennessee got within single digits, 55-46, with 8:37 on the clock.
• Tennessee got within eight, 58-50, at 7:25, and the margin stayed within 8-12 points for the remainder of the game. 

More on Kentucky's win over Tennessee HERE.

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