PJ Washington scored 23 points, Keldon Johnson added 19 and No. 5 Kentucky flexed its muscles in taking down No. 1 Tennessee 86-69 in an SEC showdown Saturday night in Lexington, Ky.
The Wildcats (21-4, 10-2) had a plus-13 rebounding edge and 16 more points in the paint while ending the Volunteers' school-record 19-game winning streak. Tennessee (23-2, 11-1) dropped into a tie for first in the SEC with No. 19 LSU.
Washington made 9 of 12 shots and reached 20 points for the seventh time in the past eight games.
Johnson made 3 of 6 3-point shots and scored 11 consecutive Kentucky points in the first half. Freshman guard Tyler Herro posted his first double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman point guard Ashton Hagans had nine points and seven assists with just one turnover.
Jordan Bone led Tennessee with 19 points. Admiral Schofield scored 17 points. Grant Williams, the reigning SEC Player of the Year, had 16 points and eight rebounds, but the physical Kentucky defense limited him to four shots from the field.
Kentucky led by six at halftime and scored five straight points early in the second half, prompting Tennessee coach Rick Barnes to call timeout with just 53 seconds gone.
When the Wildcats' Reid Travis made two free throws at the 18:47 mark, Kentucky led 44-31, giving Tennessee its largest deficit of the season -- and it got worse for the Volunteers. The Wildcats used a 14-0 run at the start of the half and built a 24-point lead with 12:36 left.
Tennessee showed fight, switching to a 2-3 zone defense that helped ignite a 13-0 spurt to close within 62-51 with 8:49 to go. But the Wildcats would not relinquish their double-digit advantage.
Kentucky, which was coming off a loss to LSU on a controversial tip-in at the buzzer, avoided losing back-to-back home games for the first time in coach John Calipari's 10 seasons with the Wildcats.
This was Kentucky's eighth win over a team ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, and the first since defeating No. 1 Ohio State in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
The game marked the 11th time an SEC game featured a matchup of teams ranked in the top 5 -- and Kentucky has been involved in all of them. There might be another such matchup when the Wildcats and Volunteers play in Knoxville, Tenn., on March 2.
--Field Level Media
Tennessee | Kentucky | |
Jordan Bone 19 | Scoring | PJ Washington 23 |
Jordan Bone 6 | Assists | Ashton Hagans 7 |
Grant Williams 8 | Rebounds | Tyler Herro 13 |
Grant Williams 8 | Free Throws Made | Tyler Herro 8 |
Grant Williams 2 | Steals | Ashton Hagans 2 |
John Fulkerson 1 | Blocks | Reid Travis 2 |