LEXINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) — At the beginning of the season, if you had Kentucky becoming the SEC’s most tough-minded, elbows-out, defense-first outfit, where were you?Â
Mark Pope’s second-edition Wildcats were supposed to be high flyers and sharp shooters. They were built to fly. But somewhere between injury and necessity, Kentucky became something else entirely.
It became a problem.
Tennessee found that out the hard way. Again. The Vols led by 14 at halftime, just as they had led by 17 in Knoxville. And again, Kentucky ran them down like a revenuer chasing the scent of moonshine through the hills.
Final score:Â Kentucky 74, Tennessee 71.
Final verdict: The Wildcats are no longer guessing who they are. They just show up like a jackhammer crew with a three-point permit, and the nerve to chase you down. Their paint touches are punishing.
They have leaned into adversity like a long lunch break, with eight wins in their past nine games. And they’ve emerged from it as SEC contenders, certainly headed back into the AP Top 25 this week.
Kentucky held the Vols — who dropped eight three-pointers in the first half — to exactly zero after halftime. They turned a track meet into a tug-of-war and won it with callouses. They bullied Tennessee, as physical a team as there is in the SEC, for a second straight game. Outscored the Vols 44-24 in the paint.
This was the largest halftime deficit ever erased in a Kentucky win at Rupp Arena, and it happened in throwback denim uniforms. But forget nostalgia. This team isn’t dressing up as anyone. It’s becoming itself.
Collin Chandler hit the dagger, a catch-and-shoot three with 33 seconds left that turned a one-point deficit into a memory. Otega Oweh barreled his way to 21 points, and had the drive and dish that set up Chandler. Denzel Aberdeen chipped in 16. Malachi Moreno had 10. Brandon Garrison came off the bench and grabbed seven rebounds.
And defensively? They cut the lights. Tennessee rolled up 47 points in the first half as Ament looked like the second coming of Allan Houston, just a bit taller. After halftime? Tennessee’s entire team made just six field goals. Ament had 10 of their 24 second-half points. No one else even made two buckets.
Kentucky, meanwhile, shot 50 percent from the field, 50 percent for the half, and 77 percent from the line after the break. They didn’t just survive. They evolved. The other game-saving play, Mo Dioubate grabbing a teammates missed free-throw in the closing seconds.
So yes, Mark Pope imagined something different when this season began. But he’s coaching the team he has, not the one he hoped for. And the one he has may well be tougher than anyone expected.
Oliver Simmons, who played for Kentucky's 1996 NCAA Champions, who were honored at Saturday's game, said the evolution of the Wildcats is visible.
"I came to preseason practice, and I went to yesterday's practice," Simmons told Tom Leach in a postgame radio interview on the UK Network. "The physicality has completely changed with this team. It's being emphasized in practice. I saw that yesterday and I've noticed it the past few games. We're coming out and punching people in the mouth, and we're telling them this is where we're at, and we're going to take care of business."
They were supposed to be a perpetual motion machine. Turns out, they’re closer to a pressure washer. This team doesn’t glide. It grinds.
But they’re leaving their mark on the league, after all. One comeback at a time.
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