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VolReport – Tennessee vs. Kentucky: Game information, lineups, notes

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VolReport  –  Tennessee vs. Kentucky: Game information, lineups, notes


Tennessee and Kentucky enter Saturday’s clash in Lexington in similar positions.

The Vols and Wildcats–both ranked in the top 10 of the major polls–are coming off of surprising losses to unranked teams last week, leaving them with very little room for error in the SEC title race as the last full month of the regular season begins.

The outcome at Rupp Arena late Saturday night could go a long way in the final league standings.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

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Despite another high-scoring night from Dalton Knecht, who posted 30-plus points for the fourth time in the last six games, Tennessee missed 10 shots at the rim and struggled at the free throw line in a rare 63-59 home loss to South Carolina.

Kentucky on the other hand didn’t have a problem scoring against Florida, but its defense couldn’t stop the Gators on the other end as it let a late lead slip away in regulation before losing 94-91 in overtime.

Tennessee and Kentucky feature two of the top offenses in college basketball as well as two of its most productive players.

For the Vols, it’s Knecht, who averages 20.1 points on the season and an even more impressive 28.4 points in conference play while forward Jonas Aidoo has been largely efficient in the paint.

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Antonio Reeves paces the Wildcats with 19.5 points per game and headlines a lineup with three starters that average double scoring figures, including Reed Sheppard, who averages 12.0 points.

Though Vanderbilt and South Carolina found success in slowing down Tennessee in stretches, that likely won’t be the case vs. Kentucky. The stage is set for a fast-paced, up-tempo game that could challenge the Vols’ defense.

Here is a closer look at the match up.

Game Information

Who: No. 5 Tennessee (15-5, 5-2 SEC) at No. 10 Kentucky (15-5, 5-3)

When: Saturday, Feb. 3 | 8:30 p.m. ET

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Where: Rupp Arena | Lexington, Ky.

TV: ESPN (Tom Hart, play-by-play; Jimmy Dykes, analyst)

KenPom Projection: Tennessee 80, Kentucky 78

Series: Kentucky leads, 160-77

Projected Lineups 

No. 5 Kentucky (15-5, 5-2 SEC)

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No. 10 Kentucky (15-5, 5-3 SEC)

Numbers Edge

POINTS PER GAME:

Kentucky 88.7, Tennessee 78.5

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE:

Kentucky 48.9%, Tennessee 44.6%

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THREE-POINT PERCENTAGE:

Kentucky 40.1%, Tennessee 33.7%

ASSISTS:

Kentucky 18.0, Tennessee 16.8

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Everything Rick Barnes said about Kentucky ahead of key SEC road clash

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REBOUNDS:

Tennessee 39.5, Kentucky 38.6

BLOCKS:

Kentucky 6.1, Tennessee 4.8

STEALS:

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Tennessee 8.0, Kentucky 8.0

Pregame Notes

— Tennessee and Kentucky will battle for positioning in the SEC standings. With a 5-2 league record, the Vols currently stand alone in third place while the 5-3 Wildcats are in a three-way tie for fourth place with Ole Miss and Florida. Alabama holds the first spot at 7-1 while South Carolina and Auburn are tied for second at 6-2 each.

— Tennessee has performed well against top 10 teams. The Vols have won seven of their last 10 games vs. teams ranked in the top 10 with Zakai Zeigler playing especially well in those match ups, averaging 13.1 points per game in seven wins and 8.7 points in three losses. Zeigler was held well under his season average with 2 points vs. South Carolina but was averaging 14.3 points in the previous six games.

— Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht continues to carry the load offensively. After scoring 31 points in his last outing, Knecht has totaled 191 points over his last six games and his 20.1 scoring averages leads the SEC. He is just one of three Power Six players in the last decade to score 190-plus points in a six-game span.

— Tennessee is second in adjusted defensive efficiency, allowing just 102.1 points per its opponents 100 possessions according to KenPom. By the same metric, the Vols are 13th in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 119.1 points per 100 offensive possessions.

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MORE FROM VOLREPORT: For Jahmai Mashack, challenge of facing Kentucky offense ‘definitely exciting’

— Kentucky beat Tennessee in two regular season meetings a year ago. The Wildcats won the last meeting at Rupp Arena, 66-54 on Feb. 18, 2023. Prior to those losses, Rick Barnes was 10-7 vs. the Wildcats and had won at least one game per season in the previous six years while winning twice in 2017-18 and 2021-22.

— Tennessee has been successful against ranked Kentucky teams under Barnes. The Vols are 6-1 vs. Wildcats teams ranked in the top 10 over the last seven years and are 6-2 when both teams are ranked AP Top 25. Tennessee holds a 3-1 edge over Kentucky in games where both teams are ranked inside the AP Top 10 under Barnes.

— Kentucky is ranked 10th in adjusted offensive efficiency per KenPom, averaging 119.9 points per its 100 offensive possessions but the Wildcats have struggled defensively. In adjusted defensive efficiency, they are giving up 101.1 points per their opponents 100 possessions, which ranks 75th nationally.

— Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves has been its offensive headliner. Joining Knecht as one of three SEC players on the Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 Watch List, Reeves averages 19.5 points per game and has scored 20-plus points in 10 games. He finished with 19 points vs. Florida.

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Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say

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Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say


MUHLENBERG, Ky. (WFIE) – Kentucky officials says there are multiple people injured in a three-car accident on Western Kentucky Parkway.

According to a post made by the Central City Fire Department, three vehicles were involved in a crash between the 64 and 65 mile markers eastbound of the parkway.

They say both the eastbound and westbound lanes are closed at this time. The closure should last around 3 hours.

Two people were extricated from a vehicle. Four adults and three juveniles are being taken to the hospital. No update has been given on their conditions.

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They say a mass casualty incident was declared, and Ohio County Fire and EMS were called to the scene due to the number of patients.

We will update you when we learn more.

Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say(Central City Fire Department)



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2027 top in-state prospect talks about his Kentucky unofficial visit on Tuesday

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2027 top in-state prospect talks about his Kentucky unofficial visit on Tuesday


Kentucky’s recruiting efforts in the 2026 class have hit a current rough patch, but things are looking promising in the 2027 class, as the staff has already casted a very wide net in the class, with a number of top targets in the fold. As they’re continuing to pursue mostly national targets, a local star is now on the staff’s radar.

2027 in-state guard Braxton Keathley, one of the state’s top prospects even regardless of class, took an unofficial visit to Kentucky on Tuesday for the game against NC Central. Keathley is native of Martin County, KY, and has took the state by storm as he has really stuffed the stat sheet. Just recently, he dropped a triple-double of 34 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds last weekend.

The Kentucky staff has certainly seemed to take notice really quickly. He’s also getting plenty of other interest, too, including having frequent contact with Louisville, LSU, Purdue, South Carolina, and Florida State, plus offers from Eastern Kentucky, UT Martin, Ohio, and Bowling Green, among others. Keathley sat down with Kentucky Wildcats on SI to talk about his recent visit to Kentucky. What were his impressions of the staff? He shared a conversation he had with them before Tuesday’s game. He also had some interactions with others, too.

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“They really talked about how well I scored it and how they’ve been hearing about me for a long time,” Keathley said of his conversation with the Kentucky staff. “One of the (Kentucky) assistants mentioned he had a coaching friend tell them that they better jump on me quick cause I was really good. I had several fans come up to me and take pictures. Jack Givens welcomed me and talked to me for a little bit and said he’s highly impressed with my game and plans on coming to a game soon. A couple of other UK players came up, they were really nice and said they been keeping up with me.”

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Braxton Keathley | Photo via Jessica Adkins

As a Kentucky kid, Keathley says he been a fan of the Wildcats since he was little, even getting to train with Tyrese Maxey this summer, and he also had some great things to say about what he saw from fellow Kentucky natives and current Wildcats Trent Noah, Jasper Johnson, and Malachi Moreno. “I looked up to players like Tyler Herro, SGA, Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker, Malik Monk and Reed Sheppard. I got lucky that I got to train with Maxey for a week in August,” Keathley said. “I saw Trent Noah last night having great energy and keeping a smile on his face during warmups. You could tell he loved every minute wearing that Kentucky uniform. He cares and it shows. I saw Jasper and Moreno warming up hard. The one thing about it, and my dad always told me, it’s a different place. You got to be special to play there and be willing to accept everything that comes with wearing that jersey.”

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Interestingly enough, Keathley’s dad coached former Kentucky greats Anthony Epps and Wayne Turner after their time at Kentucky, so Keathley has a family history of being around all that comes with the passion of Kentucky basketball. What did Keathley’s dad learn about the two former Wildcats he got the privilege to coach? “He said they carried a chip on their shoulder and were great leaders always humble but tough. and I have to do the same.” Now, for Keathley, it’s about climbing the ranks nationally. “A couple (recruiting services) don’t have me ranked yet and that’s ok. I’m going to walk in the gym every night and know I outworked you and I’m going to outplay you,” he said. “I’m going to compete like every game is a championship. I’m going to to play with the same passion that the fans have. I’m always all in there’s no going back or in-between.”

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Keathley has so much passion for his community in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, and he has plans of doing big things at Martin County. He also shared a message Trent Noah’s dad had for him during their interaction at Tuesday’s Kentucky game. “Something he said that really stuck out. ‘Us mountain people have got to stick together.’ He’s right, Eastern Kentucky has great people and basketball players. Kentucky basketball as whole, we got to stick together through the highs and lows. That’s what we do.”

That’s a great message from a parent of a current Wildcat who was in his shoes before, being a fellow native of that part of the state. The Kentucky staff is certainly going to keep an eye on him as he continues the impressive run he is on so far this season, because he just continues to catch more and more people’s attention with his play.



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Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduces legislation for U.S. to leave NATO – UPI.com

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Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduces legislation for U.S. to leave NATO – UPI.com


Dec. 10 (UPI) — U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican serving a House district in Kentucky, introduced legislation for the United States to pull out of NATO.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida, posted on X that she would be a co-sponsor of the Not a Trusted Organization Act, or NATO Act. Utah Republican Mike Lee introduced the same legislation in the Senate earlier this year.

“NATO is a Cold War relic,” Massie said in a statement Tuesday. “We should withdraw from NATO and use that money to defend our own country, not socialist countries.

“NATO was created to counter the Soviet Union, which collapsed over 30 years ago. Since then, U.S. participation has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars and continues to risk U.S. involvement in foreign wars.”

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He added: “Our Constitution did not authorize permanent foreign entanglements, something our Founding Fathers explicitly warned us against. America should not be the world’s security blanket – especially when wealthy countries refuse to pay for their own defense.”

NATO was founded in 1949 by 12 members as a military alliance involving European nations, as well as the U.S. and Canada in North America. There are now 32 members, with Finland joining in 2023 and Sweden in 2024.

The NATO Act would prevent the use of U.S. taxpayer funds for NATO’s common budgets, including its civil budget, military budget and the Security Investment Program.

Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty allows nations to opt out.

“After the Treaty has been in force for 20 years, any Party may cease to be a Party one year after its notice of denunciation has been given to the Government of the United States of America, which will inform the Governments of the other Parties of the deposit of each notice of denunciation,” the treaty reads.

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During the last NATO summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, President Donald Trump told reporters he agrees with NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense treaty.

“I stand with it. That’s why I’m here,” Trump said. “If I didn’t stand with it, I wouldn’t be here.”

Article 5 was invoked for the first time after the 9/11 attacks in the United States, leading to NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan.

The Kentucky Republican, who calls himself a “fiscal hawk” and a “constitutional conservative,” has been at odds with Trump on several issues, including fiscal spending, foreign policy/war powers, government surveillance and transparency.

Trump has also been critical of NATO.

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During his 2016 election campaign, Trump called the alliance “obsolete.”

He urged nations to spend at least 3.5% of gross domestic product on core defense needs by 2035.

In June, NATO allies agreed to a new defense spending guideline to invest 5% of GDP annually in defense and security by 2035.

Five nations were above 3% in 2024: Poland at 4.12%, Estonia at 3.43%, U.S. at 3.38%, Latvia at 3.15% and Greece at 3.08%. In last is Spain with 1.28% though Iceland has no armed forces and Sweden wasn’t listed.

Some Republican senators want stronger involvement in the alliance, including Joni Ernst of Iowa and Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi. Wicker is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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For passage, a House majority is needed, but 60 of 100 votes in the Senate to break the filibuster and then a majority vote. Trump could also veto the bill.



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