No. 15 Kentucky Upsets No. 5 Tennessee 75-64 For Series Sweep

Trent Noah and Lamont Butler discuss during Kentucky's upset victory over Tennessee Tuesday night at Rupp Arena. (Photo by Rob Raymond)

By Hayden Kennedy

KySportsStyle.com Magazine

No. 15 UK won its second straight SEC game, beating fifth-ranked Tennessee 75-64 Tuesday night before an electric Rupp Arena crowd. The victory completes the Wildcats' regular season sweep of the Vols as they won the first matchup in Knoxville.  

Kentucky natives Trent Noah and Travis Perry played exceptionally well for the Cats, eclipsing their season-high in points. Perry ended the night with eight points on 3 of 4 shooting from the field, including two three-pointers, while Noah finished with 11 points on 3 of 4 shooting from three.

Noah, who starred at Harlan County High School, commented on what UK-UT rivalry means to him.

"It's amazing, definitely one of the most fun games on the schedule," he said. "There's nothing like it growing up, watching them go down in my living room, and then crying when they lose and so happy when they win. Being able to be a part of it is so cool."

Noah was asked if he liked the win at Tennessee or at home better.

Otega Oweh of Kentucky drives around a Tennessee defender during Tuesday night's action at Rupp Arena. (Photo by Rob Raymond)

"I loved them both, they were both really special," he said. "It's cool whenever you can do it in front of your home crowd and it's cool whenever you can be the villain and go into Knoxville and leave with the win, so I would say it's 50/50."

Ansley Almonor and Otega Oweh both led the team in scoring with 13 points each. Almonor knocked in two three-pointers and a perfect 3 for 3 from the free throw line. 

“Ansley Almonor, guys, come on. I know I told you all that he was going to win some games before the season," Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. "I didn't even expect he would win us this many. I honestly did not recruit him to be a downhill, euro-step, through contact finisher in the crucial moment of the game against the best defensive team in the country, but he did it. He's been so good. Man, he's just super fun. You love having him in the locker room. And he came here for all the right reasons. He's reaping the rewards beyond his wildest imagination right now. Like this is super cool. How fun for him. I love every second of it.”

Kentucky set a new program record with seven victories over Top 15 competition, a record previously held by the 2002-03 Wildcat team with six. 

UK will travel to Austin, Texas, to take on the Longhorns on Saturday. The contest will be shown on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET with Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes on the call. 

Hayden Kennedy, a recent UK graduate, is a contributing writer from Lexington.

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