Five things you need to know from No. 10 Kentucky’s 103-92 loss to No. 5 Tennessee

Five things you need to know from No. 10 Kentucky’s 103-92 loss to No. 5 Tennessee in men’s SEC basketball at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center:

1. Two more unlikely players go off on Kentucky. Tennessee super-senior Josiah-Jordan James came to Rupp Arena in an offensive funk.

The 6-foot-7, 220-pound wing had failed to score in double figures in eight straight games. In that stretch, James was 12-for-45 on field-goal attempts. Against SEC foes, James had shot 9-for-38 overall, 1-for-18 on treys.

Against Kentucky’s struggling perimeter defense, things were very different for James.

The Charleston, South Carolina, product hit 9 of 18 shots, 4 of 9 treys and all four of his free throws for a season-high 26 points.

James was not the only UT player struggling with his shot who got well against Kentucky.

Tennessee junior guard Zakai Zeigler shot a combined 6-for-23 in UT’s three games prior to UK, including an 0-for-6 showing in the Volunteers’ 63-59 loss to South Carolina in Knoxville on Tuesday night.

Versus UK, the 5-9, 171-pound junior hit 8 of 11 shots, 3 of 6 3-pointers and 7 of 10 free throws en route to 26 points of his own.

Of course, the reason it seems like so many unlikely guys go off on Kentucky is because the Cats are not very good at guarding.

In nine SEC games, UK has now surrendered 85 points or more in five.

The 103 points Tennessee hung on the scoreboard is the most tallied against UK at Rupp Arena since VMI hung a 111-103 loss on Billy Gillispie’s Wildcats in the 2008-09 season opener.

UT star Dalton Knecht was the player who came to Rupp Arena in the midst of a scoring rampage. Over his prior six games before Saturday night’s, Knecht was averaging a robust 31.8 points.

Containing the 6-foot-6, 213-pound super-senior figured to be a gargantuan challenge for UK. Instead, Knecht had a relatively quiet 16 points.

2. Not enough front-line production. The losses Kentucky (15-6, 5-4 SEC) has suffered in 2023-24 tend to track with offensive games in which Tre Mitchell is not productive.

The 6-9, 221-pound Mitchell had his least effective game of the season versus Tennessee, scoring no points and seeming a step slow throughout the game.

When Mitchell does not score, the problem for UK is they have no other front-court player they can count on to fill the void.

3. UK wastes a Dillingham explosion. In defeat, Kentucky freshman guard Rob Dillingham was electric.

The 6-2, 176-pound freshman from Hickory, North Carolina, rifled in a career-high 35 points. He made 14 of 20 shots and 6 of 8 treys.

4. Struggles vs. AP Top 25 continue. With its loss to the No. 5 Vols, Kentucky is now 2-2 this season against foes ranked in the AP Top 25.

Since the start of the 2020-21 season, the Wildcats are 8-18 against AP Top 25 opponents.

By way of comparison, the Kentucky football team is 11-15 in its last 26 contests versus foes ranked in the AP Top 25 (which goes back to the start of the 2018 season).

5. Rick Barnes continues to be a UK foil. Tennessee’s win made the Volunteers head man 12-11 all-time against Kentucky, and 11-9 versus the Cats as Vols coach.

Of the three UT men’s basketball coaches with double-digit wins over UK — Ray Mears (15-15), Don DeVoe (11-12 as Tennessee coach, 11-14 overall) — Barnes is now the only one with an overall winning mark against the Cats.

In the entire history of Kentucky men’s basketball, there are 13 opposing coaches who have beaten UK at least 10 times. Of that 13, only Barnes and former North Carolina head man Dean Smith (13-3 vs. the Wildcats) have winning overall marks versus Kentucky.

It was the fourth win for Barnes over UK at Rupp Arena. That ties Tennessee with Florida for the most victories vs. John Calipari-coached Kentucky teams in Lexington.

Tennessee powers past Kentucky, hands the Wildcats their second straight loss in Rupp

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