LIVE BLOG: No. 12 Kentucky at No. 8 Tennessee

Trent Noah THREE pushes Kentucky’s lead to double digits

01/28/2025 07:30:40 PM

You knew the Eastern Kentucky kid would bring it vs. Tennessee. Trent Noah just hit a three to push Kentucky’s lead to double digits. The Cats have hit their last seven field goals and look firmly in control with 12 minutes to go. You could even hear a “Go Big Blue” chant in the stands. Keep pushing, Cats!

12:00 2H – Kentucky 55, Tennessee 44

Robinson’s fourth three prompts a Tennessee timeout

01/28/2025 07:24:48 PM

Jaxson Robinson is still feeling it. He just made his fourth three of the game to put Kentucky up by eight and prompt Rick Barnes to call a timeout with 14 minutes to go. The Cats are now 10-20 from the outside.

14:00 2H – Kentucky 50, Tennessee 42

Score Update: 15:33 1H – Kentucky 43, Tennessee 37

01/28/2025 07:17:29 PM

At the first media timeout of the second half, we’ve got a review. Officials are at the monitor to see if Amari Williams’ bucket beat the shot clock. If so, the Cats lead 43-37. Koby Brea had the assist on that bucket, and on Kentucky’s previous possession, a three you’ve got to see to believe:

Kentucky reclaims the lead

01/28/2025 07:13:03 PM

Otega Oweh is making them pay. Oweh’s steal and slam took the lead back for Kentucky. Koby Brea scored the Cats’ first bucket of the second half, a nice jumper inside.

19:17 2H – Kentucky 34, Tennessee 33

Zakai Zeigler will attempt to return for the second half

01/28/2025 07:03:29 PM

Zakai Zeigler’s knee is the talk of halftime, and according to a Tennessee spokesperson, he will attempt to give it a go for the second half.

HALF: Tennessee 33, Kentucky 30

01/28/2025 06:54:08 PM

After controlling most of the first half, Kentucky kind of fell apart in the final four minutes. Tennessee closed the half on an 11-0 run despite Zakai Zeigler going to the locker room with an apparent knee injury. The Vols clawed their way back in this one on the offensive glass, doubling the Cats up 8-4.

Jaxson Robinson is the only player in double figures, with 11. Kentucky has hit seven threes so far, but, as mentioned, closed the half with a 3:15 scoring drought. The Cats also have eight turnovers to the Vols’ one. Check out all the numbers below.

Tennessee takes the lead

01/28/2025 06:51:21 PM

An 8-0 Tennessee run just became an 11-0 run after a three by Chaz Lanier, his first bucket of the game. The Vols are starting to take over on the offensive glass, taking advantage of Amari Williams being on the bench with two fouls.

30.4 1H – Tennessee 33, Kentucky 30

1:16 1H – Kentucky 30, Tennessee 30

01/28/2025 06:50:04 PM

We’re all tied at 30 after an 8-0 Tennessee run. The Cats haven’t scored in two and a half minutes.

Zakai Zeigler heads to the locker room

01/28/2025 06:46:32 PM

Some potentially huge injury news. Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler just limped off the court and straight to the locker room after colliding with Koby Brea while driving to the basket. According to Molly McGrath, they are examining his right knee. Both teams could be without their starting point guards.

Score Update: 3:22 1H – Kentucky 28, Tennessee 22

01/28/2025 06:44:35 PM

Ansley Almonor just hits big shots. Tennessee had cut Kentucky’s lead to three when Almonor hit his third three of the night. After a layup by Cade Phillips, a Brandon Garrison dunk kept Kentucky’s lead at six at the under-four timeout.

In other news, check out Upset Mark Pope after this out-of-bounds call. Looking at the replay, the officials got it right but that’s the most ire towards the officials that we’ve seen from Pope so far at Kentucky.

Pope says to keep pushing the pace

01/28/2025 06:36:57 PM

ESPN sideline reporter Molly McGrath just shared what she heard from Kentucky’s huddle during that timeout. Pope told his team to keep pushing the pace because it’s starting to annoy the Vols. “Shoot a three every chance you get.”

Speaking of pace, Rob Dauster is taking note of how hard Kentucky is working against Tennessee’s defense.

Score Update: 6:16 1H – Kentucky 23, Tennessee 16

01/28/2025 06:31:38 PM

Now we’re rolling. Tennessee pulled within two, 15-13, when Jaxson Robinson stepped up and hit his third three of the day to push the Cats’ lead back to five. Ansley Almonor followed it up with another three of his own to make it eight. Tennessee’s Igor Milicic responded with a three of his own and Robinson got another bucket to bring us to 23-16 with 6:16 to go. Robinson is up to 11 points so far.

In bad news, Amari Williams just picked up his second foul. We’ll see how Pope adjusts coming out of this timeout.

Score Update: 11:18 1H – Kentucky 13, Tennessee 9

01/28/2025 06:22:06 PM

Things have slowed down a bit. Kentucky hasn’t scored a field goal in 4:25, since the last media timeout, but still leads Tennessee by four. Tennessee hasn’t been scoring much either, just 3-13 from the floor so far. Zakai Zeigler is trying to find cracks in Kentucky’s defense, while Chaz Lanier, Tennessee’s leading scorer, is 0-1 from the floor so far.

Somehow, this was a foul on Koby Brea

01/28/2025 06:19:51 PM

I don’t get it either.

Carr checks in, Carr checks out

01/28/2025 06:18:07 PM

Andrew Carr checked in and just a minute and a half later, checked back out. The big man is still knocking off the rust after a week and a half of rest. Mark Pope said they will closely monitor his minutes tonight in hopes of avoiding a setback.

Score Update: 15:19 1H – Kentucky 12, Tennessee 4

01/28/2025 06:09:43 PM

Ansley Almonor has joined the three-point party. Almonor’s trey brings Kentucky’s lead to 12-4 at the first media timeout. The Cats are 4-5 from the outside so far, while Tennessee is 1-4 from three, 1-7 from the field. Keep. It. Coming.

Check out this assist by Amari Williams. Even on his birthday, the big man is happy to give to others.

Another three for Jaxson!

01/28/2025 06:07:32 PM

Jaxson Robinson is feeling it from the outside so far. He just hit his second three of the game to take Kentucky’s lead to 9-3 at the 17:16 mark. Just keep shooting…

Koby Brea, Jaxson Robinson connect early from three

01/28/2025 06:05:32 PM

Good news: Koby Brea and Jaxson Robinson have already hit threes to give Kentucky a 6-3 lead. Bad news: The Cats have also already turned it over twice. I’ll take the threes.

17:41 1H – Kentucky 6, Tennessee 3

Happy birthday, Amari Williams!

01/28/2025 05:53:56 PM

Kentucky’s starting big man turns 23 years old today. Another upset over a top-ten team sounds like a great way to celebrate.

5-star SF Nate Ament in the house

01/28/2025 05:51:15 PM

2025 five-star small forward Nate Ament is down to 11 schools, including Kentucky and Tennessee. The top-five prospect is visiting Tennessee today for today’s game. Hopefully, he comes away more intrigued by Mark Pope’s offense than all that orange.

Kentucky’s starting lineup

01/28/2025 05:44:25 PM

As expected, Jaxson Robinson will shift over to Lamont Butler’s spot to start things off. Ansley Almonor will get his second start at Kentucky in place of Andrew Carr, who is available but whose minutes will be limited.

02 Jaxson Robinson
04 Koby Brea
00 Otega Oweh
15 Ansley Almonor
22 Amari Williams

Tonight’s officials…

01/28/2025 05:41:40 PM

…are Owen Shortt, Courtney Green, and Ron Groover. Per Aaron Gershon, Kentucky is undefeated in games called by those officials this season.

Tennessee student section’s “cheer sheet” for Kentucky

01/28/2025 05:38:00 PM

Here’s the list of taunts the Tennessee student section has in store for Kentucky tonight. I expected better.

Mark Pope on Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr

01/28/2025 05:26:03 PM

During his pregame conversation with Tom Leach, Mark Pope shared the latest on Lamont Butler (shoulder) and Andrew Carr (back). When asked for a timeline for Butler’s return, Pope quipped that he was hopeful Kentucky would have him back by halftime. If not, he sounds confident in Jaxson Robinson and Travis Perry, and even teased some minutes at point for Collin Chandler and Otega Oweh.

“I like to think about it as we’re up a couple of point guards because Jaxson is going to get to run the point, TP is going to play the point, Collin play a little point, maybe Otega run some point so we’ll actually have four point guards. We have great players. We have a great team with a ton of heart and a ton of juice so I can’t wait to get out on the floor. I think our guys are excited to go compete and we’re going to go find a way to win.”

Based on Pope’s comments after the Vandy loss, it seemed Carr might sit out a few more games to give his back some more rest to avoid setbacks. Pope said his minutes will be closely monitored tonight.

“Andrew is, ooh, we’re going to hold our breath a little bit and we’re really going to monitor his minutes. Winning is the No. 1 priority but No. 1A is can we get him through this night without having a major setback. That’s weighing heavy on my heart.”

See the scene in Knoxville

01/28/2025 05:06:33 PM

Jack Pilgrim and Steven Peake made the trip to Knoxville for KSR. Join them as they walk to the Food City Center and talk about tonight’s game, including the news that Andrew Carr will play:

How to Watch, Listen

01/28/2025 05:03:21 PM

I hope you like the duo of Jimmy Dykes and Karl Ravech because they’re once again on the call for tonight’s game. If you’d rather listen to Tom Leach and Goose Givens on the radio, you can do that too. Here are all the details on how to watch and listen to the Cats vs. the Vols:

– Time: 7 p.m. ET
– Television: ESPN (Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes, Molly McGrath)
– Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
– Online Radio: iHeart
– Satellite Radio: Sirius 160 or 191
– Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Earlier today, Ravech shared his thoughts outside the Food City Center:

Andrew Carr is warming up

01/28/2025 05:01:46 PM

In case you missed the big news about 40 minutes ago, Andrew Carr (back) is available to play tonight. He was not listed on the final SEC Availability Report, meaning he’s good to go. In fact, he’s already on the floor warming up.