Kentucky basketball bounces back from consecutive SEC losses with win at No. 5 Tennessee

Kentucky men’s basketball was without a starter. Its freshman point guard was hampered again by a back injury. Its top player had been “exposed” in recent games defensively. Its head coach was facing increasing scrutiny. And preseason dreams of a Final Four run seemed laughable months later.

So of course the Wildcats, losers of two straight Southeastern Conference games and trying to avoid their first 1-4 start in conference play since 1978-79, came into Knoxville, Tennessee, and took it to No. 5 Tennessee and its top-ranked defense Saturday afternoon.

"I told the guys in the locker room, we've been through a lot, but I love each and every one of you," CJ Fredrick said during a postgame radio interview. "Where we go from here, we determine.

"We use this as momentum. We need this same mindset each and every game and at practice."

UK, at least for one day, looked like the UK of old, shocking the Volunteers 63-56 at Thompson-Boling Arena. It played with fire. Oscar Tshiebwe took over during key stretches and was not a liability on defense. Fredrick led a 3-point effort that found some success against the nation’s best perimeter defense.

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The result was the kind of win that, if the Wildcats (11-6, 2-3 SEC) end up in the NCAA Tournament and make a run, will be considered the moment an uninspiring season turned around.

“Here’s what happened today: we defended and fought like my teams normally do," said UK head coach John Calipari. "We haven’t been that to this point. They made a commitment to each other that they would fight this game, and it was between them. I wasn’t in a couple of the meetings that they had.

“Today every guy was locked in and focused on us."

It wasn’t easy to see this coming. Calipari has faced questions about his tactics, his command of the locker room, his coaching staff and whether he’s ready to bolt for Texas.

The conference seemed to have solved Tshiebwe, the reigning unanimous player of the year, tormenting him on defense with an unrelenting number of pick-and-rolls he couldn’t defend consistently, then overpowering the 6-foot-9 center with 7-footers in the paint.

And Tennessee entered its home arena healthy — Josiah-Jordan James returned two weeks ago after a four-game absence with knee soreness — against a depleted Kentucky team without starter Sahvir Wheeler (shoulder) and reserve Daimion Collins (foot), while point guard Cason Wallace was limited to just 22 minutes and no points (he did have six assists) while nursing a back injury.

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No wonder the Wildcats were 11.5-point underdogs.

No wonder ESPN’s Jay Bilas, on College GameDay before tipoff, had this to say: "Usually, you look at Kentucky's schedule and you say, where can they lose? Now, you're looking and saying, where can they win?"

And no wonder the Vols (14-3, 4-1) sprinted out to an 8-0 lead in the first 2:35 of the game.

But then things clicked into place.

Kentucky drained 3s at a clip Tennessee has rarely allowed all season. Reeves and Fredrick drilled two of them to tie the game 8-8, and Fredrick added another for a 13-10 UK lead. The pair went on to knock down all five Kentucky's treys. UK’s 31.3% performance from beyond the arc (5 of 16) was the third best this season for a team against a Tennessee defense that entered Saturday's game holding teams to a nation-leading 20.9% from 3-point range.

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Fredrick scored 10 of the first 15 UK points and finished with 13 on the day (3 of 9 from 3), while Reeves had 18 points.

"Antonio was the most impactful player, he did great," Calipari said.

More important than that development, though, was the game Tshiebwe played. He was not perfect and again got caught a few too many times in between defenders on pick-and-rolls or was overpowered by 7-foot-1 Uros Plavsic (19 points, three rebounds). But Tshiebwe finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds — he had a double-double five minutes into the second half — and took over in key stretches.

Perhaps more important than Fredrick and Reeves’ spark to erase the 8-0 hole was what Tshiebwe did at the end of the half.

The senior, who until the final five minutes of the half had been held to 0-of-2 shooting, grabbed a rebound and slammed it home with 4:49. Except the basket didn’t count as the officials ruled he was fouled on the rebound attempt.

No matter. Tshiebwe drained two free throws.

Thirty seconds later he sank a short jumper.

With 3:33 left he threw down a dunk in transition after Jacob Toppin hit him in the lane.

And after a Chris Livingston jumper a minute later, Tshiebwe knocked down one more jump shot to the right of the paint.

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In 2:14 of play, Tshiebwe scored eight points and turned Tennessee’s 20-19 lead into Kentucky’s 29-23 advantage.

The Wildcats trailed just once after that, briefly in the second half when Zakai Zeigler dropped in a layup with 9:30 to play, only for Reeves to score 13 points right after to retake the lead and keep UT at bay for good.

Kentucky did not play a perfect game. Calipari and his staff need to continue working on Tshiebwe’s defense and figure out a way to defend more bigs. And the Wildcats turned the ball over 19 times, 11 of them in the second half to nearly cough up the game.

But it was as close as they’ve come in some time. UK won on the boards emphatically, 43-23, and held UT to just 3 of 21 shooting from 3-point territory. A bad free-throw shooting team this season, UK sank 22 of 25 at the line. And Tennessee also hurt itself with several brutal missed layups in the second half.

Any win, especially against a top-5 team, is welcome at this stage for a team that has spent weeks starving for answers.

The Wildcats desperately needed a Quad-1 victory and got it to make a case for the NCAA Tournament. But they must build on the showing they had. Kentucky can prove Saturday's win was no fluke starting Tuesday at 9 p.m. against Georgia (12-4, 2-1).

“I’m so happy to be coaching that group of guys," Calipari said. "Now I’m gonna do everything I can to help them break through and be what they can be. That’s my job.”

Follow assistant sports editor Jake Adams on Twitter @jakeadams520 or email him at jadams@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky vs Tennessee college basketball game: Cats upset No. 5 Vols