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Tennessee basketball’s top 10 regular season wins of 2010s

By Caleb Calhoun

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Kyle Alexander
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

7. No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats

Jan. 24, 2017

Tennessee Volunteers win 82-80

SEC regular season game (Thompson-Boling Arena; Knoxville, Tenn.)

Wins over Kentucky are always a big deal, especially when the Wildcats are in the top five. A year before they won at Rupp Arena, Tennessee basketball got a win over UK that first showed signs of life for the program under Rick Barnes. Remember, beating the Purdue Boilermakers in November of 2017 is what got them going.

However, before that, a win over Kentucky in 2016-2017 showed Barnes was building something. It breathed a brief amount of life into the program, which they channeled into a developing season. At the outbreak of the game, UT was 10-9 and 3-4 in the SEC. Kentucky was on a seven-game winning streak.

Despite falling behind 8-2 early, the Vols took control in the first half and led 39-34 at halftime and an 11-point lead in the second half. Kentucky fought back, however, and cut it to three with just over a minute to go. Rocky Top never let them take over, though, always responding when they scored, first with a Robert Hubbs III jumper and then a Grant Williams jumper.

With five seconds, the Vols led 82-77, as two Lamonte Turner free throws clinched the game. Hubbs led the way with 25 points, but Williams added 13, and Admiral Schofield and Turner had 15 and 10 off the bench respectively. This put the Vols on a mini-streak where they won five of six and got into the NCAA Tournament race, but lack of depth cost them late, and they finished .500.

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