The last time these two teams met in Knoxville just a few weeks ago, a ranked Tennessee team controlled the game for nearly 39 minutes against Kentucky.
The Volunteers led by as many as 17 points in the first half and were up by 11 at halftime. It wasn’t until there were 34 seconds left on the game clock that Kentucky took its first lead and never looked back. When the final buzzer sounded, emotions boiled over as the elated Wildcats talked smack to the frustrated Vols.
It was a full-on collapse by Rick Barnes‘ crew, but one that has since made this Tennessee team into a better group. The Volunteers have rattled off four straight wins since that loss, now playing arguably its best basketball of the season. Riding plenty of momentum, they’ll come to Lexington for tonight’s rematch, but Barnes is downplaying the revenge factor of it all…