Vols Top No. 4 Kentucky, Remain Perfect at Home

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.– The No. 16 Tennessee Vols defeated the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats 76-63 in Thompson-Boling Arena on Tuesday night, earning their first win against a Top 5 opponent and improving to 19-6 on the season with a perfect 14-0 record in Knoxville.

The Vols and the Wildcats traded blows early, but Tennessee took complete control after a triumphant 8-0 run for Kennedy Chandler featuring back-to-back three-pointers at the 12:00 minute mark in the first half.

The Vols were heavily backed by Kennedy Chandler's performance, as the five-star freshman put together one of his best games of the season with 17 points, five rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals in a team-high 36 minutes.

"Not even close," Tennessee Vols head coach Rick Barnes said of Kennedy Chandler's performance against Kentucky the second time around compared to the first. "Overall, defensively we were so much better getting off screens, so much better job not giving up separation."

Chandler facilitated a Vols offense that shot 44 percent from the field and 47 percent from beyond the arc, and the freshman was responsible for three of Tennessee's eight made triples. Chandler's fellow freshman point guard Zakai Zeigler also delivered in a significant way yet again for the Vols, recording his seventh straight double-digit performance with 14 and tacking on four assists and four steals to his stat line.

After heading into halftime with a 14-point lead, the Vols allowed the Wildcats to go on a 7-0 run early in the second half to cut the lead to eight points. But Zakai Zeigler helped Tennessee go on a 17-5 run to take a 20-point lead with five minutes remaining. The freshman bucketed two three-pointers and a jumper to total eight of Tennessee's 17 points in the run. The performance mirrored that of Zeigler's second-half effort against South Carolina, in which the New York native erupted for 18 points after the break to tie a career-high single-game total.

Tennessee eventually coasted to the 13-point win, their eighth consecutive conference victory.

This week, Rick Barnes and Josiah-Jordan James said that the Vols were a much different team now than the one that lost to Kentucky in Rupp Arena a month ago by 28 points, and Tuesday night proved them right.

Below are storylines from a night in which Tennessee showed it could be a real contender moving forward and that Thompson-Boling Arena is Tennessee's best weapon.

Post Defense, Jonas Aidoo Keep Wildcats Stars at Bay, Rack Up 8 Blocks

The Vols' four-star freshman forward/center Jonas Aidoo put together a career performance against Kentucky, setting career-highs in every statistical category except steals and made and attempted free throws. Aidoo recorded five points, three blocks and seven rebounds against the Wildcats, serving as an excellent defensive option to match up with Oscar Tshiebwe. Tshiebwe came into Knoxville boasting a 16 points per game average and was limited to 13 points against the Vols, as the star junior could never truly get going on the offensive side of the floor.

Aidoo and fellow post player John Fulkerson were a significant reason. Like Aidoo, Fulkerson delivered in a big way for Tennessee, turning in one of his best performances of the season and his best in conference play. Fulkerson finished the night with 14 points, shooting 4-6 from the field and a perfect percentage from the line to go with a team-high eight rebounds.

Kentucky found more common success down low in the second half but was limited to a mere eight paint points in the first.

Aidoo continues to prove he is a reliable option down low for the Vols on both sides of the ball, and with his Fulkerson's growth since his disastrous start to SEC play, Tennessee's reserve big men duo will present a tough, tough challenge for anyone in the country defensively.

Just ask Kentucky.

Rick Barnes Knows How to Coach Against Kentucky

With the win, Vols head coach Rick Barnes moves to 9-7 against Kentucky during his time on Rocky Top, boasting a 5-2 record in Thompson-Boling Arena.

Barnes' success against Kentucky has been met with much praise from the Tennessee fanbase, and deservedly so, as Barnes does not have much company when it comes to UT coaches finding ways to top the Wildcats.

In addition, the Vols have not been swept by Kentucky since Barnes took the reins and have won seven of the last 12 meetings.

Early Chippiness Sets the Tone, Crowd Delivers

Before Kennedy Chandler led the Vols to a double-digit lead within the first 10 minutes, Zakai Zeigler and a conditioning coach for the Wildcats were involved in a scuffle that resulted in double technical fouls called on Zeigler and the Kentucky bench. The tensions set the tone for how the rest of the game would go, and Kennedy Chandler noted post-game that it gave them more fire.

"Zakai said Kentucky's condition coach shoved him, and I was like 'Why would they do that when you are trying to help Fulky?' So it gave us more fire."

Rick Barnes also discussed the happenings between Zeigler and the Wildcats coach, noting he was not pleased how the rules work involving punishment for a conditioning coach being involved in a confrontation with a player from the opposite team.

"They called it on Zakai but he got into it with a trainer," Barnes said. "I didn't think that was a good rule. What do you do about the trainer? Something should be done about that."

For a game that already had enough going on considering how the last time out against the Wildcats went for the Vols, the Zeigler situation only caused tempers to flare more.

"This game was personal," Kennedy Chandler said following the game. "We knew we were more capable of being a better team than when we played in Rupp. And we didn't let up tonight. Kept pushing. Finished out strong."

After the altercation, the Vols outscored Kentucky 59-46 to win, and select players even celebrated with the crowd, including Uros Plavsic, who blew kisses as the Wildcats exited the tunnel. 

And the crowd in which the players stormed after the final seconds ticked away was one of the most significant aspects of the Vols' win. Several times, Thompson-Boling Arena erupted, especially after the Vols' 20-5 run in the first half and Zakai Zeigler's splash plays in the second half.

"I couldn't even hear what my coaches were telling me," Jonas Aidoo said during the post-game press conference due to the noise. 

"You expect it," Barnes said of the crowd against Kentucky. "It's one of the greatest rivalries in college basketball. It was electric from the get go."

And the electric crowd helped the Vols secure an electrifying win. A win that shows Tennessee cannot be taken lightly. A win Tennessee has the chance to make noise in the SEC Tournament in Tampa Bay and the chance to make noise in March. A win that shows Tennessee still has Kentucky's number in Knoxville. A win that will continue to build a team's confidence that was already high. A win that shows this team is continuing to play for each other, especially since the Olivier Nkamhoua injury. 

A win that is a statement. 

"This game was a statement," Jonas Aidoo said following the game. "That team that lost to 30 in Lexington is not who we are. This is who we are."

"We're showing everybody who we truly are, and what type of team we can be," Chandler also said of the 'statement' win. "We wanted to let Kentucky know we aren't the same team from last time. And we showed it."

The 'statement' win brings the Vols to a five-game winning streak with No. 23 Arkansas on deck this Saturday. The Vols have suffered all of their losses on the road, and the Razorbacks were the team that ended Auburn's reign at No. 1 in the rankings earlier this season. But with the energy, consistency and explosiveness Tennessee played with on Tuesday night, a ninth straight SEC victory may be in the Vols' future. 

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Photo Credit: Tennessee Athletics