Rick Barnes is not easily impressed but he used “tremendous” once and “great” three times in his spontaneous description of the Tennessee victory over Kentucky.
The coach was right, it was a great show, 76-63, eighth consecutive win against Southeastern Conference foes. The payoff is a share of second place in league standings.
Barnes said the crowd was great. Attendance was 21,678. He said Vol guards were great. They really were. He said John Fulkerson did a great job. Fulky was a warrior.
“It was a tremendous effort all around.”
OK, Tennessee did not score 107. Revenge was not complete for what happened in January in Lexington. But this was an emphatic triumph. The home team had more intensity. Defense did it. Kentucky shot 34 percent. The Vols cashed in Wildcat turnovers for 20 points.
Tennessee enjoyed balanced scoring. Santiago Vescovi led with 18. Kennedy Chandler had 17 points on 5-of-9 accuracy. He hit three of five long shots. He had six assists. Fulkerson scored 14 and missed but two shots. Zakai Zeigler scored 14 and, as usual, generated excitement.
“How about Jonas Aidoo,” said Barnes. It was not a question. It was an exclamation. The towering freshman, late to join the rotation, contributed seven rebounds, three blocked shots and five points.
Tennessee, as usual, was streaky. The Vols hit 54.8 percent in the first half and 30.4 after intermission.
Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe had foul problems but got his 20th double-double of the season, 13 points and 15 rebounds. Wildcat guards didn’t get their normal quota of open looks.
The start was tense. Kentucky got an early lead. There was a skirmish near the baseline, at the end of the Wildcats’ bench. There was pushing and shoving but nothing that resembled a fight. Three technical fouls were assessed.
Fulkerson’s dive for a loose ball was the trigger. When Vols rushed to help him up, Kentucky strength coach Robert Morris found himself in the middle of the crowd. He and Zeigler were nose to nose, big man, little guard. Zakai said he was pushed. Zakai was assessed one of the technicals.
What happened after that was the decisive series of the game. Chandler responded with eight consecutive points, the launch to a 19-3 run.
“This game was personal,” said Chandler. “We didn’t play our best in Lexington. I felt like Kentucky thought that is the team we are, but we know we are capable of being a better team than that.
“We didn’t play our best in Lexington. We are showing everybody who we are — who we truly are and the type of team we can be.”
Kentucky got the message. It went 6:46 without a field goal and never recovered. The Vols led 46-32 at intermission.
The start of the second half was ragged. Tennessee missed seven of nine attempts. TyTy Washington, UK point guard, suffered a reinjured ankle. The visitors reduced the deficit to eight. Zeigler answered.
Soon, Tennessee was up by 68-48. They made 20 of 23 free throws. Vescovi, of all people, missed two. Kentucky endured another scoreless streak of four and a half minutes.
Barnes had kind words for Fulkerson. He had an additional thought on Aidoo, on adding such potential in February.
“I don’t know if I can say enough about Jonas Aidoo. He made his presence felt. We knew that once he could get his speed to where we needed it to be, we watched him in practice when he has been able to go with how he affects us around the rim.”
Barnes agreed with Chandler on the difference in the two Kentucky games.
“We were much better defensively and much more sound throughout possessions. From playing the entire possession … We didn’t have a lot of breakdowns here tonight. Overall, I think that everyone that came into the game made a major contribution.”
Barnes didn’t say the celebration was “great.” He did say there are time restrictions. Going to Arkansas is high-risk. The coach called it a challenge. Count on it.
Marvin West welcomes reader comments or questions. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com