Tennessee basketball: Vols look to break another record beating Kentucky in Rupp

The Tennessee basketball team sets out to break another record in Rupp Arena Saturday night against Kentucky. Playing against the Cat on their home floor won’t faze the Vols.

It’s been over a decade since the Kentucky Wildcats lost back-to-back games in Rupp Arena. It happened in the 2008-09 season when Billy Gillespie was running the show in Lexington.

His Cats finished the regular season with a 20-13 record with six home losses. Four of the losses came in back-to-back games against South Carolina-Mississippi State and LSU-Georgia. Since then, John Calipari holds a 295-68 record with only nine losses in Rupp Arena. Moreover, Calipari hasn’t lost back-to-back homes games in his stint with Kentucky.

Sometimes just how good Tennessee basketball is, goes unnoticed, because they aren’t a ‘blue blood program.’ They’ve had the All-Americans. And, they’ve even had great teams. Yet, somehow the Vols have never won back-to-back games in Rupp Arena.

More from All for Tennessee

There are a handful of times where they have beaten the Wildcats in back-to-back games in Lexington. Tennessee defeated Kentucky in Lexington four times in a row from 1916-1917. Just a couple of years later they won three in a row from the years 1920-1923. And, finally, again in 1976-1977.

Referring to history is important, it draws context to numbers and sometimes plays a part in how games play out, if you believe in that sort of thing.

However, this is a different Tennessee team. They are a veteran led bunch that doesn’t crack under pressure. They hold a 19-game win streak and only have one loss on the season that came in overtime.

The last time the Vols lost on the road was 363 days ago against the Georgia Bulldogs in a fluke game where Derek Ogbeide, who has never averaged over ten points per game, scored 16 points on 6-for-7 from the floor and pulled down 11 rebounds.

Tennessee holds a 13.3 point winning margin in six road games this season with a perfect 6-0 record. KenPom has four of the top eight most efficient games from the Vols this season coming on the road. And, some of the best shooting percentages came on the road as well.

@ Texas A&M: 73.8% – @ South Carolina: 64.4% – @ Memphis: 64.3%

@ Florida: 62.5% – @ Missouri: 61.5% – @ Vanderbilt: 57.9%

Ranking Vols 5 wins at Rupp Arena. dark. Next

I don’t think Tennessee will shoot over 60 percent from the floor, but I expect them to play well. And, as tough as it is to win in Rupp Arena, Big Blue Nation won’t faze the number one team in the nation. After all, the Vols haven’t lost in Rupp Arena since February 14, 2017.

Home/Vols Basketball