Santiago Vescovi’s 18 points and Kennedy Chandler’s 17 points helped No. 16 Tennessee stretch its winning streak to five games with a 76-63 victory over No. 4 Kentucky on Tuesday at Knoxville, Tenn.
Zakai Zeigler and John Fulkerson gave the Volunteers a huge lift off the bench with 14 points apiece. Tennessee (19-6, 10-3 Southeastern Conference) improved to 14-0 in home games.
Kentucky (21-5, 10-3), which had a six-game winning streak snapped, committed 14 turnovers to Tennessee’s eight giveaways. The Wildcats shot 34.3 percent from the field while the Volunteers hit 44.4 percent.
Oscar Tshiebwe led Kentucky with 13 points and 15 rebounds, though he was the team’s only starter with a double-digit point total. Reserves Jacob Toppin and Davion Mintz both added 11 points.
Despite Tshiebwe’s presence in the lane as the NCAA rebounding leader (15.3 per game entering the night), the Volunteers made an impact on defense with eight blocked shots to the Wildcats’ one. Still, Kentucky held a 40-32 rebounding edge.
The Wildcats went 5-for-16 on 3-point attempts.
Chandler connected on three of Tennessee’s eight 3-point baskets. The Volunteers made 20 of 23 free throws.
Tennessee built a 46-32 lead by halftime, then stretched the margin to 17 points early in the second half.
Kentucky used a 9-0 run to close within 51-43 with more than 13 minutes to play.
The Volunteers later churned out a 12-0 spurt to stretch the margin to 65-45 as Kentucky went more than five minutes without scoring.
Zeigler’s 3-pointer put the Volunteers on top at 68-48 with 5:41 to play. It was part of Zeigler’s 10-point second half.
Kentucky was hurt by playing a large part of the game without TyTy Washington Jr. The team’s second-leading scorer sustained a leg injury Saturday against Florida and then exited early in the second half Tuesday and didn’t return to action.
The Wildcats blew out Tennessee 107-79 on Jan. 15 in Lexington, Ky., behind 28 points from Washington.
–Field Level Media
