The final game of a tremendous Saturday in college basketball will feature the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats against the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers in Lexington. While both teams are listed in the top 10 in the AP poll, they are both struggling heading into the Saturday night game.tuky wild
Tennessee is coming off a four-point loss at home against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Kentucky just lost by three points at home in overtime to the Florida Gators, the team’s second loss in three games. The other one was a 17-point road loss to none other than South Carolina.
One of these SEC juggernauts will finish the weekend with a two-game losing skid. It would be the Wildcats’ first losing streak of the season (the Vols had previously lost three consecutive games to Purdue, Kansas, and North Carolina).
From Kentucky’s perspective, this game is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how big of a nuisance the Wildcats can be to opponents in March. The talented, young team has turned the tables on many who called for John Calipari’s firing early this year, emerging as a viable Final Four and title candidate.
This game might also set the stage for Kentucky’s regular-season finale in Knoxville next month. It would be nice to have a victory in hand when it comes time to make the trip.
Here are three keys to Kentucky’s triumph.
Overall, Tennessee (15-5) is having another excellent season and may be in better health than previous years. The Volunteers struggled against top opponents early in the season, but have improved in subsequent months. Big wins over Wisconsin, Illinois, and Alabama bolstered their resume, albeit the Volunteers are coming off a surprising home upset of South Carolina.
Tennessee added a big weapon in the offseason in Dalton Knecht (20.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg), a Northern Colorado transfer who has become the team’s offensive face. Zakai Zeigler (9.8 ppg, 5.0 apg) remains healthy and a valuable player. Junior forward Jonas Aidoo (11.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg) makes significant contributions, but we’d be remiss not to highlight Santiago Vescovi (7.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg), even if his stats don’t stand out.
The Volunteers entered this week ranked fifth in the AP Top 25, but that was before their loss to the Gamecocks. They are still ranked sixth in KenPom, with the nation’s second-ranked defense based on efficiency ratings. Stale offense killed the Volunteers in previous years and was a factor in their two SEC losses this season, as they aim to improve on a 5-2 conference record.
