The Kentucky Wildcats continued boosting their resume with a thrilling 74-71 victory over #25 Tennessee on Saturday. Now, the Wildcats sit at 17-7 on the season and 8-3 in the SEC, including winning eight of their last nine games in the conference.

This big win featured some big moments, but it all came down to reliency. Kentucky found themselves down by 14 points at halftime, but they rallied back, thanks to multiple runs. Collin Chandler’s clutch three with 32 seconds left put the Wildcats up by one, but it was exactly what they needed to help them get the job done, as it was sealed by two free throws from Denzel Aberdeen in the final seconds.

Some very interesting notes have came about from Kentucky’s win over Tennessee. Let’s take a look at those, courtesy of statistician Corey Price.

Kentucky’s comebacks are starting to make history

Believe it or not, but Kentucky’s win over Tennessee made history with the way it played out. This win ended up being the largest halftime deficit in a win in program history for any Kentucky team in Rupp Arena. This win also marks the first time in the history of Kentucky basketball that a team has achieved three wins against an opponent when they trail by 11 or more points at halftime. Mark Pope is also the first Kentucky head coach to have 4 career wins after trailing an opponent by at least 11 points at halftime.

The other two wins? LSU and Tennessee, where the Wildcats first played the Vols in Knoxville and stormed back from down 17 points.

Kentucky made series history vs. Tennessee

The Kentucky vs. Tennessee series has a lot of history, but on Saturday, the Wildcats added to that as an unranked foe. This most-recent win is the fourth time an unranked Kentucky team has defeated a top-25 Tennessee squad in Rupp Arena. The Wildcats also now have five-consecutive wins over Tennessee, the longest such streak against the Vols since 2011-13. Saturday was also the fewest points. This is also the second time an unranked Kentucky team has defeated a ranked Tennessee team twice in a single season. The Wildcats allowed their fewest points in the second half to a Tennessee team in Rupp Arena (24) since Jan. 12, 1999, where that team allowed 22 points.

Kentucky is now 12-5 as an unranked team all-time against Tennessee and that good fortune continued on Saturday night in yet another big comeback win against them.

Kentucky senior Otega Oweh is having a career season in 2025-26. The former Oklahoma transfer is setting career highs in points (17.0), assists (2.6), steals (1.8), and two-point shooting percentage (52.8%). The senior has taken on a big offensive load this season and is delivering. Oweh is entering Saturday’s game riding a streak of four consecutive games of 20-plus points. Yet, the preseason SEC Player of the Year is still looking for his first big scoring performance against Tennessee.

Oweh is averaging 16.5 points on .486/.353/.757 shooting splits at Kentucky over 59 games. The veteran has come well short of those averages in four career games against Tennessee.

Otega Oweh is averaging just 13 points per game on 37.8% shooting from two, 25% shooting from three, and 64.3% shooting at the line. All those numbers are much lower than his career averages at Kentucky. For some reason, Kentucky’s top scorer has struggled to get rolling against the Vols. The inefficient scoring has not stopped UK from recording a 3-1 record against Tennessee over the last two seasons, but Rick Barnes‘ defense has been able to take away Kentucky’s top scorer.

In the win over Tennessee earlier this season, Otega Oweh did not get going on the offensive end until crunch time. The Vols typically have a defensive plan that neutralizes Oweh. Kentucky could need some other scoring threats to emerge on Saturday night at Rupp Arena.

Otega Oweh’s next big scoring output against Tennessee will be his first. The senior has reached at least 20 points against nine SEC teams. Can he get there against a 10th in a fourth attempt on Saturday?