Tennessee basketball: Vols preview, live stream, prediction vs. Kentucky Wildcats
Tennessee basketball travels to Lexington, Ky. to take on the Wildcats. Here is the preview, streaming and television info for the UT Volunteers.
Tennessee and Kentucky had their first matchup in 1910. The Wildcats prevailed with a high scoring affair, 20-5. And yes, they were playing basketball. Kentucky has been dominant, leading the series 153-70. Even more bad news for Vol fans is Tennessee basketball hasn’t beat Kentucky at Rupp since the 2006 season.
Now on to the good news, Tennessee (17-5, 7-3 SEC) has won two of the last three games and three of the last five games against the Cats. The Vols are on a five-game winning streak and have won eight of the previous ten games. This matchup marks the first time Tennessee is ranked above Kentucky in a matchup since the 2009 season.
In the previous game against Ole Miss, the Vols made a convincing statement in what could have been a trap game right before Kentucky. No trap for Tennessee basketball, there wasn’t a lousy stretch of play or a stretch of bad shooting. It was a game the Vols dominated from start to visit.
According to Seth Walder, a sports analytics writer for ESPN says Tennessee has the best chance to earn a No.1 seed per BPI. Mentioning that Villanova, Virginia, and Purdue are near locks, the fourth one seed is up for grabs with both Duke and Kansas losing on Saturday.
No.1 seed in the tournament would be insane, but this team has proved skeptics wrong all year. Let’s get through this week of difficult matchups and see where the Vols stand.
*BRACKET UPDATE* In the latest bracketology, from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, still has Tennessee as a four seed in the Midwest region playing Buffalo. In the CBS Sports projection from Jerry Palm, Tennessee basketball is a three seed in the East region playing Charleston.
On to Kentucky where big blue nation isn’t too happy with the Wildcats right now. A team loaded with talent, but like always that talent is young. The Cats are having growing pains as of late, but Coach John Calipari still believes his team can figure it out before its too late.
In the last game against Missouri, the Cats shot 10% from the 3-point line. Don’t get me wrong, Missouri is excellent defensively, but 10%? However, Kentucky’s press looked great near the end of the game. It will be interesting to see if the Cats start to call on their press in earlier stages of games to get momentum going.
The Vols have an opportunity to sweep the season series against Kentucky for the first time since the 1999 season. This team could be the second team in the history of Tennessee basketball to sweep Vanderbilt and Kentucky in the same season. Before we preview both teams and give our prediction, here is the information you need for Tuesday’s game.
No. 15 Tennessee Volunteers at Kentucky Wildcats
When: Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 7:00 p.m. E.T.
Where: Rupp Arena; Lexington, Kentucky
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Line: Kentucky -2.5
Over/Under: 141
TENNESSEE PREVIEW
It would be crazy not to mention the 5-game winning streak again. In which three of those games the Vols won by 20 points or more.
Kyle Alexander was a man among boys on Saturday as he scored 14 points tying a career high. 14 point games are rare from Alexander, but he provides Tennessee so much more. I think the big man deserves more credit for the way the Vols have improved this year. Along with the 14 points he had four blocks and six rebounds.
Have you noticed what Lamonte Turner has been up to lately? In the past five games, Turner has recorded 81 points. In the last game against Ole Miss, he had 17 points and shot 5-6 from beyond the arc. Turner is on a hot streak of sorts with three games in a row where he has scored in double digits. If Tennessee can continue to get this type of play from Turner, watch out, Tennessee needs to continue to get Turner involved in the offensive.
KENTUCKY PREVIEW
These young Wildcats are up and down. We saw them come back from a double-digit deficit in Morgantown to beat West Virginia in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. When that happened, I think everyone thought this is the Kentucky team that many thought they would be from the start of the season.
Just when you thought the young guns had it figured out they play Vanderbilt to a two-point OT win. A game Vanderbilt should have won in regulation if it wasn’t for a last-second foul that gave the Wildcats two free throws.
The last game against Missouri had to be hard for Kentucky fans to watch. The team looked selfish and had a horrendous shooting night especially from the 3-point line.
The one consistent spot for the big blue is freshman forward, Kevin Knox. Other than the Missouri game and Tennessee, Knox has had an outstanding first and only season in Lexington. He scored 34 points against West Virginia on 5-8 shooting from beyond the arc and was the reason the Cats won that game. In the first matchup against the Vols, Knox was relevantly silent with only six points with four fouls. Tennessee needs to bring that same defensive intensity to keep Knox quiet.
WATER-COOLER CHAT
- Lamonte Turner has connected on his last 20 free throws. The last time he missed a free throw was against Kentucky on January 6th.
- With a win, the Vols would sweep the season series against the Wildcats since the 1999 season.
- With a win, Tennessee would have its first six-game winning streak since the 2012-2013 season.
PREDICTION
By now you all know that I’ve picked the Vols in each game since Missouri.
I know its Kentucky, and I know the game is at Rupp Arena. I also know the Vols haven’t won there in over ten years but this is a different Kentucky team, and this is a different Tennessee team.
The Vols are so talented with playmakers all over the court. Oh, and there’s Grant Williams, only one of the hardest players to guard in the entire country.
It sounds crazy, but I think the Alabama in Tuscaloosa is more dangerous. So, with that, I’m going with Tennessee in a squeaker. 78-72 Vols!