Wednesday, January 17, 2001
Kentucky 84, Tennessee 74
Streaking Wildcats unbeaten in SEC play
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON — Tennessee entered Tuesday night's showdown at Kentucky with a much better record and a much higher national ranking. But the fourth-ranked Vols left Rupp Arena with their seven-game winning streak nothing more than a memory following the unranked Wildcats' wire-to-wire 84-74 victory.
Keith Bogans scored 21 points and Tayshaun Prince added 16 as Kentucky (10-5, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) increased its own winning streak to seven games and remained the only SEC school without a conference loss.
The Wildcats smothered Tennessee from the opening tip and never trailed, pushing their record over the Vols in games played at Rupp Arena to 23-3.
“This helps us gain that killer instinct we've been trying to develop in this team,” said Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, who has watched double-digit leads evaporate in several games this season. “We want to put people away and finish games strong.”
Freshmen Jason Parker and Gerald Fitch added 10 points each as the Wildcats defense pressured Tennessee (16-2, 3-1) into its worst shooting night of the season.
The Vols came into the game shooting 48 percent but managed a season-low 38.7 percent and committed 22 turnovers in front of more than 23,000 raucous fans.
“Kentucky did a great job defensively with their pressure,” Tennessee coach Jerry Green said. “I thought they caught us sitting back on our heels a little bit.
“Kentucky was the best team on the floor tonight. But this is just one loss. It's some thing we deal with and then go on. When Kentucky plays like that, they can play with anyone in the country.”
Vincent Yarbrough scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half to lead the Volunteers, who didn't make a 2-point basket until Yarbrough's jumper from the wing midway through the first half.
Tony Harris added 13 points for Tennessee but was only 4-of-14 from the field and committed six turnovers. The Wildcats also outrebounded the much taller, wider Vols 45-35 and scored 25 second-chance points to Tennessee's 12.
“There was definitely a lot of trash-talking going on,” said Bogans, who practically guaranteed a Kentucky victory before the team's practice Monday. “But tonight, nobody was going to back down from nobody. We stayed focused the entire game and nev er let them back in.”
The Vols missed their first six shots as Kentucky took a 12-2 lead. A 10-2 run pushed the margin to 27-13 midway through the half.
“It was the loudest I've ever heard it in (Rupp Arena),” said Tennessee's Isiah Victor, a Kentucky native who finished with eight points. “We tried to get the crowd out, because that's the only time we could score.”
Marquis Estill's three-point play gave Kentucky its largest lead of the first half, 36-20, with 6:16 remaining.
In the second half, Tennessee cut the lead to 51-47 on a 3-pointer by Jon Higgins at the 16-minute mark. Bogans then scored nine points during a 16-2 run to increase the lead to 67-49 with 11:42 to play.
“We've got to play like this every night,” Bogans said. “We showed tonight the kind of basketball we're capable of playing.”
TENNESSEE (74)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Yarbrough 34 7-12 2-3 1-7 2 3 21
Victor 25 4-10 0-1 2-7 0 2 8
Hathaway 18 0-1 4-4 0-1 1 2 4
Harris 32 4-14 2-2 2-3 2 5 13
Higgins 26 2-4 2-2 2-2 2 1 8
Grindstaff 12 3-6 0-0 1-1 2 2 6
Walker 14 2-7 0-0 1-1 2 4 5
Haislip 9 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
Woods 5 0-4 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Slay 25 4-9 0-1 2-4 1 3 9
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 26-67 10-13 11-28 12 23 74
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.388, FT-.769. 3-Point Goals:
12-28, .429 (Yarbrough 5-7, Harris 3-7, Higgins
2-4, Grindstaff 0-2, Walker 1-3, Woods 0-3, Slay
1-2). Team rebounds: 7. Blocked shots: 3
(Yarbrough 2, Haislip). Turnovers: 22 (Harris 6,
Yarbrough 4, Grindstaff 3, Haislip 2, Higgins 2,
Walker 2, Hathaway, Victor). Steals: 5 (Yarbrough
3, Harris, Slay).
KENTUCKY (84)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Prince 33 7-15 1-1 1-6 2 2 16
Parker 17 5-8 0-0 1-4 1 5 10
Fitch 27 2-5 5-6 2-7 2 3 10
Bogans 37 9-16 2-4 5-9 2 1 21
Smith 32 2-6 2-5 1-3 1 0 8
Hawkins 14 0-1 4-8 0-2 3 3 4
Blevins 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Daniels 8 2-3 0-0 1-2 0 0 5
Stone 13 1-5 1-2 0-2 0 2 3
Estill 12 2-5 3-3 2-3 0 1 7
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 30-65 18-29 13-38 11 17 84
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.462, FT-.621. 3-Point Goals:
6-18, .333 (Prince 1-2, Fitch 1-4, Bogans 1-6,
Smith 2-4, Daniels 1-2). Team rebounds: 7.
Blocked shots: 6 (Fitch 2, Estill 2, Bogans,
Prince). Turnovers: 19 (Prince 4, Smith 4, Bogans
2, Estill 2, Fitch 2, Hawkins 2, Daniels, Stone).
Steals: 11 (Fitch 3, Smith 3, Hawkins 2, Blevins,
Bogans, Prince).
__________________________________
Tennessee 38 36 - 74
Kentucky 46 38 - 84
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 23,621. Officials:
John Clougherty, Jim Burr, Doug Shows.
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Kentucky 84, Tennessee 74