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Tennessee basketball: Ranking Vols 10 homes wins vs. top 5 Kentucky teams

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 24: Tennessee Volunteers players celebrate after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 24, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Kentucky 82-80. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 24: Tennessee Volunteers players celebrate after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 24, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Kentucky 82-80. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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8. Feb. 15, 1975

This was the first year of the Ernie and Bernie show with Ernie Grunfeld in his second season and Bernard King in his first. Tennessee basketball was struggling at the point of tipoff in the midst of a three-game losing streak and at 13-8 overall. The Kentucky Wildcats, meanwhile, entered the game 18-2 and on a nine-game winning streak.

With a red-hot offense, the Vols jumped out to a 56-44 halftime lead. However, Kentucky didn’t go away, and they fought back to make it a two-point game late. At that point, the Vols kept trading buckets with them, all the way until it was 90-88. That’s when a team effort took over.

Ray Mears had just been playing his starters all game, and they all contributed in the final two minutes. King had a put-back to get it started and put them up by four. Then Grunfeld scored. After that, Rodney Woods scored, and the Vols were up 96-90. They didn’t stop.

Doug Ashworth hit a back door cut and then hit a free throw. Mike Jackson and Grunfeld closed it out with free throws. The Vols won 103-98, and all five starters had double figures with King, Jackson and Grunfeld breaking 20. While this win didn’t put the Vols in the NCAA Tournament, it was an epic upset and helped them make the NCI at the end of the year.

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