Tennessee basketball’s NCAA Tournament matchup against Kentucky will tip off at 7:39 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Friday night. Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Evan Washburn are on the call for both TBS and TruTV..
It’s the 242nd matchup between Tennessee and Kentucky on the hardwood but is the first ever between the two teams in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols have faced Kentucky three times in the SEC Tournament during Rick Barnes tenure and holds a 2-1 record in those three meetings.
Kentucky won both the meetings between the two teams in the regular season. The Wildcats knocked off Tennessee 78-73 in Knoxville in late January and defeated the Vols’ 75-64 two weeks later in Rupp Arena. Despite the final score differential, the meeting in Lexington was closer. The game was up in the air at the final media timeout before Kentucky ran away with the game in its final minutes.
Mark Pope’s first Kentucky team torched Tennessee from deep in the two meetings. The Wildcats shot 24-for-48 (50%) from three-point range in the two meetings while Tennessee shot 14-of-63 (22%) from beyond the arc.
The Vols are back in the Sweet 16 for the third straight season after knocking off Wofford and UCLA in their first two NCAA Tournament games this past weekend. Tennessee and UCLA were neck-in-neck for most of the first half before the Vols took control of the game with a 8-0 run to end the first half.
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Rick Barnes’ 10th Tennessee team carried its momentum from late in the first half to early in the second half and opened up a lead that peaked at 19 points before coasting to a 67-58 victory.
Chaz Lanier was fantastic for the second straight game, scoring a game-high 20 points on four-of-five shooting from three-point range. Tennessee’s front line didn’t provide much offense but did a strong job on the defensive end and on the glass where the Vols earned a 36-26 advantage.
Kentucky is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. The Wildcats turned in two impressive wins in the opening weekend of the tournament, coasting past Troy 76-57 and six-seed Illinois 84-75.
Tennessee and Kentucky are two of six SEC teams that have already punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 along with Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn and Kentucky.
The Vols are searching for the first Final Four appearance in program history after losing in the Sweet 16 in 2023 and in the Elite Eight a season ago.
