< PreviousMike Pratt previews the Tennessee game 8 @KentuckyMBB 10 @KentuckyMBB 2020 UK Sports Partnership Football Program Ad (8.5x11) 265-20801.indd 12020 UK Sports Partnership Football Program Ad (8.5x11) 265-20801.indd 111/13/20 11:01 AM11/13/20 11:01 AMWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m.110920 BBN Tonight RUPP Ad.indd 1110920 BBN Tonight RUPP Ad.indd 111/9/20 4:39 PM11/9/20 4:39 PMAround the SEC Around the Country 2020-21 SEC Standings Team SEC Overall Home Road Alabama 10-0 15-4 9-1 4-1 Missouri 5-3 12-3 7-1 4-2 Arkansas 6-4 14-5 12-1 2-4 Florida 6-4 10-5 5-2 3-3 LSU 6-4 11-6 8-2 2-4 Tennessee 5-4 12-4 10-2 2-2 Kentucky 4-5 5-11 3-3 2-6 South Carolina 3-4 5-6 3-1 1-4 Georgia 4-6 11-6 9-3 2-3 Ole Miss 4-6 9-8 7-3 2-5 Mississippi State 4-6 10-9 8-3 2-3 Auburn 4-6 10-9 6-3 2-5 Texas A&M 2-6 8-7 6-3 2-3 Vanderbilt 1-6 5-8 5-4 0-4 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Cameron Thomas, LSU ..................................................22.3 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY ...............................................21.7 AJ Lawson, USC ............................................................17.6 D.J. Stewart Jr., MISS ST .................................................17.1 Iverson Molinar, MISS ST ...............................................16.9 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Tolu Smith, MISS ST.........................................................8.4 Dylan Disu, VANDY ........................................................8.3 Jeremiah Tilmon, MIZZOU ..............................................7.9 Darius Days, LSU ............................................................7.9 Emanuel Miller, TAMU ....................................................7.7 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Sahvir Wheeler, UGA ......................................................7.4 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY .................................................5.5 Jalen Tate, ARK ................................................................4.5 Ja'Vonte Smart, LSU .........................................................3.8 Tre Mann, UF ..................................................................3.8 Steals Player-Team ................................................................... SPG Justin Kier, UGA ..............................................................2.1 Dru Smith, MIZZOU .......................................................1.8 Tyree Appleby, UF ...........................................................1.8 Herbert Jones, ALA ..........................................................1.8 Luis Rodriguez, MISS .......................................................1.8 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Isaiah Jackson, UK ..........................................................3.0 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................2.6 Connor Vanover, ARK ......................................................2.0 Abdul Ado, MISS ST ........................................................1.9 Yves Pons, UT .................................................................1.7 2020-21 Associated Press Rankings As of Jan. 31, 2021 (week 11) Team Record Points 1 Gonzaga (61) 17-0 1,597 2 Baylor (3) 16-0 1,539 3 Villanova 11-1 1,458 4 Michigan 13-1 1,402 5 Houston 15-1 1,348 6 Texas 11-3 1,228 7 Ohio State 14-4 1,133 8 Iowa 12-4 1,079 9 Oklahoma 11-4 966 10 Alabama 14-4 958 11 Tennessee 12-3 869 12 Illinois 11-5 850 13 Texas Tech 12-5 797 14 Virginia 11-3 752 15 Creighton 13-4 732 16 Virginia Tech 13-3 718 17 West Virginia 11-5 669 18 Missouri 11-3 589 19 Wisconsin 13-5 452 20 Florida State 10-3 393 21 UCLA 13-3 260 22 Florida 10-4 196 23 Kansas 11-6 171 24 Purdue 12-6 130 25 Drake 16-0 117 14 @KentuckyMBBFrom Press Row 16 @KentuckyMBB Up Next: Third Straight Associated Press Top-25 Foe With all of the struggles this Kentucky team has faced this season enduring the third-toughest schedule in the country ac- cording to KenPom.com, UK is in the midst of its toughest stretch yet. Kentucky will take on its third straight Associated Press Top 25 opponent in No. 11 Tennessee. Kentucky's stretch also includes five straight opponents ranked in the top 40 of the NET rankings (LSU, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas). Although its yet to pull off an upset, Ken- tucky has gone toe-to-toe with both the Tide and Tigers in its last two times out. The Wild- cats have put together admirable second-half performances that have given them a chance to win in both contests -- but late four-minute breakdowns (more below) -- have halted the upset bid. Up next for Kentucky is only its lon- gest-standing opponent in program history in its border-state rival. UK owns a 156-74 all-time record, including a 92-18 mark in Lexington. However, the series has been a war since John Calipari arrived. During his tenure, the Wildcats lead the series 13-8, but the Volunteers have a 5-3 clip over the last eight meetings. The teams split the matchups a season ago with both visiting teams earn- ing the win. The last time the teams met in Rupp Arena, Tennessee erased a 17-point UK lead to storm back for a signature comeback win and spoil the Southeastern Conference champions final home contest of 2019-20. This season, the tables have turned and Tennessee enters the contest as the hunted. The Volunteers were picked to take home the SEC crown and are 12-4 overall and 5-4 in league play. Tennessee has lost three of five entering Saturday's matchup with the Wild- cats, including a 52-50 loss at Ole Miss on Tuesday. John Fulkerson -- who scored a ca- reer-high 27 points in last year's upset -- leads the Volunteers with 11.0 points per game and a team-best 5.9 rebounds. Tennessee is out- scoring its opponents by 12.8 points this sea- son, while shooting at a 44.7% clip. It's a Different Game with Four to Play Kentucky has a mix of talented veterans and highly-rated freshmen. The Wildcats look the part as the fifth-tallest squad in the country. John Calipari's squad has put to- gether a stout defense, and though the of- fense has struggled, the pieces are there with nine players registering at least two games in double-figure scoring this season. The issues Calipari and Co. are having were never more evident than their last two games. In what has become an on-go- ing trend this season, UK has been in nearly every contest this season but has been unable to close out games in the final minutes. "Let me say this about my team: They fought like crazy," Calipari said after a valiant effort against the Southeastern Con- ference-leading Alabama Crim- son Tide. "We changed how we played them. They end up, one of those teams that scores all of those points, and, you know, they're in the 60s. Think about that. We guarded it different, we played it a little different, we still gave them a couple of 3s. But, you know, I mean, we had our chanc- es. We, again, got out-toughed. Just makes me sick. We got out- toughed. Not throughout the game. We fought like crazy. The last three minutes, dudes backed away. Playing – you ready? – not to lose vs. playing to win." Then at Missouri, after erasing a 13-point halftime deficit to pull to within one posses- sion on a multitude of occasions the Wild- cats couldn't get over the hump to pull off the upset. Whatever the case may be, the numbers are telling. UK is outscoring its opponents by 17 points over the first 36 minutes of regulation in games this season but is minus-39 in the final four minutes of regulation in games (does not count any of the overtime periods vs. Mississippi State). Kentucky held Alabama to 39.2% shoot- ing and has held six of its last seven oppo- nents to less than 40% from the floor, in- cluding five straight games. Kentucky held Alabama to six 3-pointers, the Tide's sec- ond-lowest total in a game this season. The Kentucky bench outscored Alabama 21-13. The Wildcats held the Tide without a field goal for the first 10:12 of the second half and the only points the home team netted were 10 from the charity stripe during that stretch. The Wildcats ultimately limited Alabama to just six field goals in the second half, but three of them came over the final 3:09 of game time to help propel the Tide to a 10-0 run and erase a 54-52 lead by the Wildcats with 4:27 to play. Kentucky trailed by three following the final media timeout at Missou- ri on Tuesday. The Tigers quickly scored six straight points following the timeout to pull away for a 75-70 win. It's been a familiar feeling for Kentucky. The Wildcats let a late six-point lead at Geor- gia slip away. They had chances to beat Lou- isville and Notre Dame in the final minutes. Games against Kansas and Auburn were right there to take. Big-Game Cal, Cats John Calipari’s teams aren’t just good against the best teams in the country, they’re great. Not only does Kentucky own a 63-37 record (.630) vs. Associated Press Top 25 teams under John Calipari, UK is 7-4 when both teams are ranked in the AP top five. All-time, Calipari is 13-8 when both teams are ranked in the AP top five. When both teams are ranked in the AP Top 25, Calipari’s all-time record is 86-57, including a 55-30 mark at Kentucky. When both are ranked in the top 10 he has a 27-19 record, including 16-12 at UK. By defeating top-ranked Michigan State to start the 2019-20 season, UK knocked off the No. 1 team in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. Kentucky downed Tennessee on Feb. 19, 2019. With the win over MSU to begin 2019-20, the Wildcats have nine victories over the No. 1 team in 25 tries in program history. Calipari improved to 6-4 vs. the No. 1 team in his career with the win vs. Michigan State, including 3-2 at Kentucky. According to ESPN, Calipari is the only coach with a winning (.600) percentage against No. 1 ranked teams with a minimum of 10 games faced against the No. 1. Next >