It took a team effort for No. 15 Kentucky to complete a regular-season sweep of fifth-ranked Tennessee on Tuesday night.
Playing without their second-leading scorer, the Wildcats (17-7, 6-5 Southeastern Conference) used a makeshift lineup to overcome the absence of Jaxson Robinson and ended the Volunteers’ three-game winning streak with a 75-64 win.
“For us, it's going to be a team effort every single night,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. “It just takes every single one of our guys making key, important plays. Every single guy on our roster has played and made important plays and I like Kentucky being that way. … It was a heroic effort on behalf of our whole team.”
Pope liked the way his team responded to adversity and praised the way his players handled Tennessee.
“It was really great to be a part of this epic, epic game tonight,” he said. “It just was like it was awesome. I'm so proud of our guys. We have guys that just want to fight, compete and and we got ballers. … guys step up and made huge plays.”
Robinson, who sat out because of a wrist injury, scored 17 points in Kentucky’s 78-73 triumph two weeks ago in Knoxville and the Wildcats used a “next man up” mentality to hold off their border rivals.
Veterans Otega Oweh and Ansley Almonor each had 13 points, followed by Koby Brea with 11, but freshman guard Trent Noah provided the biggest spark for Kentucky off the bench. Noah scored a career-high 11 points and made three clutch 3-pointers, also a career-high, in a career best outing.
“We were ready from the jump and that's a credit to our five guys that started the game,” Noah said. “I mean, they were ready. They got stops early and set the tone.”
Ironically, Noah’s breakthrough off the bench began when he tallied five points in the team’s five-point win over Tennessee earlier this season.
“This is definitely one of the most fun games on the schedule,” Noah said. ”I mean, there's nothing like it growing up watching this go down in my living room and and crying whenever we lose, being so happy when we win and then being able to be a part of it. It's just so cool.”
Already shorthanded with Robinson out of the lineup, Kentucky was dealt another blow when guard Lamont Butler reaggravated his shoulder injury with 8:40 remaining and didn’t return.
After Butler’s exit from the floor, Tennessee took a short-lived 60-58 lead, but a 3-pointer by Brea put the Wildcats in front for good. The trey ignited a 12-2 run to put the game away. Kentucky outscored the Volunteers 17-4 in the final four minutes.
“(There were) Way too many defensive breakdowns on our part,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “Give Kentucky credit. They did it, but we had way too many defensive breakdowns on things that you can't do there at the end of the game. … We were there and we had a chance, we just didn’t finish it.”
As for Robinson and Butler, Pope didn't have a definite timetable for their return to the lineup.
GAMETRACKER: Kentucky at Texas, 7 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.
Freshman Trent Noah had his breakout game with 11 points for Kentucky. (Photo by Les Nicholson)
