With a 33-point second half lead and thunderous applause raining down from the stands in Thompson-Boling Arena, point guard Trae Golden paced the floor telling the crowd, “I told you.” Kentucky didn’t seem to have been told either as Tennessee dominated the Wildcats from start to finish Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
Kentucky took an early 5-3 lead but it was all Vols after that, culminating in an 88-58 beatdown of the No. 25 team in the country. The 30-point win is the largest margin of victory for the Vols over Kentucky in program history.
“Great win,” head coach Cuonzo Martin said. “Guys did a good job of competing out of the gates, from start to finish. Just a tremendous effort on both ends of the floor.”
Golden led the way with 24 points and was joined by Jordan McRae (15) and Kenny Hall (12) in double figures.
The Vols used a 19-2 run midway through the first half to increase their lead to 22 points by the 7:22 mark, and from there the Wildcats couldn’t recover. The closest UK would get to Tennessee for the remainder of the game was 19.
“They went on a few runs where they would score a few baskets, but we did a good job of then being able to get some stops of our own and then hit a basket,” senior Skylar McBee said.
Tennessee (14-10, 6-6 SEC) shot an impressive 56.7 percent from the floor in the first half and went into the break leading the Wildcats (17-8, 8-4) by 24. UT’s 50 first half points were the most scored in any half by the Vols this season.
“We were playing real well and shots were going for us,” McRae said. “Trae was playing his best ball and it really showed with the way he was able to drive and hit layups.”
Tennessee extended the lead to as many as 39 points with 2:28 left to play in the game, but Kentucky ended the contest on an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 30.
With the absence of Nerlens Noel in the post, Tennessee dominated Kentucky inside. The Vols outscored UK 40-22 in the paint and out-rebounded the Big Blue 39-21.
“When you’re so used to having a guy behind you and you have a breakdown on the perimeter, it’s OK because you have a guy who can block the shots,” Martin said. “You can’t all of a sudden switch your mind 20-plus games and say ‘OK, he’s not back there,’ and like that you’re down 15, you’re down 20 and that’s the ballgame.”
Jarnell Stokes’ streak of six-straight double-doubles ended as the forward finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
That didn’t seem to bother the sophomore forward too much.
“I’ll take a 30-point win over a double-double any day. Especially against Kentucky,” Stokes said.
The rivalry game got chippy at times with pushing and shoving from both sides. Kentucky saw Willie Cauley-Stein and Archie Goodwin draw technical fouls as well as assistant coach John Robic’s ejection with 11:17 left in the first half. The Volunteers’ Brandon Lopez was given a technical foul as well.
“In a rivalry game things are always going to be a little chippy,” McRae said. “And when you get down by a whole lot you can get upset. It’s basketball though. It happens.”
By picking up the program’s 67th win over the Wildcats, the Vols snap a six-game losing streak to UK and now have more wins over Kentucky than any other program in college hoops.
Tennessee hosts LSU on Feb. 19 and looks to extend its winning streak to four games. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
