National Basketball Association
Kentucky 66, Tennessee 48
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee
Officials:
# Ron Groover, # Mike Nance, # Doug Shows
Attendance:
21678
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 1 Kentucky 66, Tennessee 48: Devin Booker had 18 points and seven rebounds as the visiting Wildcats overcame a sluggish 30 minutes to slay the Volunteers in SEC play.
Andrew Harrison added 14 points as Kentucky (26-0, 13-0) set a school record for best start, surpassing the 25-0 mark of the 1953-54 squad. Trey Lyles scored 10 points, Willie Cauley-Stein contributed nine points and seven rebounds and Tyler Ulis added eight points and six assists.
Kevin Punter scored 14 points for Tennessee (14-11, 6-7), which lost for the sixth time in eight games. Josh Richardson had 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting for the Volunteers, who committed 15 turnovers and went 4-of-10 from the free-throw line.
The margin was four points with nine minutes remaining before Kentucky pulled away with 10 consecutive points, the last two on free throws by Lyles with 5:15 to go. Harrison hit two free throws to make it a 16-point margin with 2:22 left and the advantage reached 18 on Lyles’ tip with 50 seconds left.
Tennessee took its first lead at 23-21 on Punter’s basket with 4:43 remaining in the first half and later led by three before the Wildcats closed with a 12-5 surge to take a 35-31 halftime lead. Kentucky took a seven-point lead on Booker’s 3-pointer early in the second half before the Volunteers pulled within 44-40 on Punter’s putback with 12:14 remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Wildcats F Karl-Anthony Towns had three points after landing in early foul trouble. … The Volunteers shot 37.5 percent from the field. … Both teams struggled with 3-point shooting – Kentucky was 5-of-22 and Tennessee was 2-of-17.
Top Game Performances
Kentucky |
|
Tennessee |
Devin Booker 18 |
Scoring |
Kevin Punter 14 |
Tyler Ulis 6 |
Assists |
Derek Reese 2 |
Devin Booker 7 |
Rebounds |
Armani Moore 8 |
Devin Booker 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Devon Baulkman 1 |
Andrew Harrison 2 |
Steals |
Armani Moore 3 |
Karl-Anthony Towns 2 |
Blocks |
Armani Moore 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Kentucky
|
66 |
41.5 |
5-22 |
17-21 |
11 |
32 |
5 |
6 |
11 |
Tennessee
|
48 |
37.5 |
2-17 |
4-10 |
6 |
30 |
3 |
7 |
15 |