KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WDRB) – There were many who thought Kentucky did not have a prayer at Tennessee Tuesday night. And by many, I mean, me. And sure, there were others. Oddsmakers, for starters.
It wasn’t just that No. 12 ranked Kentucky was without two starters. Nor was it that one of those starters was Lamont Butler, who figured to be a key piece against Tennessee All-American point guard Zakai Zeigler. The biggest factor, perhaps, was that Tennessee is the nation’s top-ranked defensive team, hadn’t given up more than 70 points all season, and hadn’t lost a home game all season.
And Kentucky had shown a propensity to struggle with more physical teams, and was 0-4 when failing to score 70 points.
Final score: Kentucky 78, Tennessee 73.
What in the world allowed a 10.5-point underdog without two of its best players to go into the home of the No. 8-ranked team in the nation and spring an upset for the third straight year as a heavy underdog?
Well there was coaching, first of all, and shooting, and a high-risk defensive game plan.
But before all that, there was, in fact, a prayer. The team that seemed to have no prayer had a pretty good one, according to head coach Mark Pope. It was delivered by associate head coach Alvin Brooks.
“He prayed that we would have confidence, but more importantly, he prayed that we could have God-fidence,” Pope said. “I'd never heard God-fidence before, but I love it, because that's just -- there's a little bit of this team for me, and we're a pretty faithful team, there's a little bit of us that is kind of in some ways performing for audience of One the best we can. And we're trying to take all the other noise and just kind of set it aside a little bit. So, when you see a game like this, where for us is God-fidence was a real factor, it ranks pretty high. It's pretty special.”
Of course, God helps those who help themselves. And Kentucky was, for much of Tuesday night’s game, inspired.
Kentucky's Amari Williams prepares to bring the ball up the court in the second half of a win at Tennessee on Jan. 28, 2025.
There was Jaxson Robinson sliding into Butler’s point guard role and executing, scoring 17 points but also setting up teammates. In the second half with his hamstrings cramping, he’d leave the game several times, but he always returned about a minute after leaving.
“I knew I couldn’t come out,” he said.
Aiding Robinson with the ball-handling was an unlikely candidate – 7-foot center Amari Williams. He brought the ball up the court for a good portion of the second half and triggered the offense as he usually does. He also scored 10 points and grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds. It was a bit of a page from the Rick Pitino playbook. He liked to have Walter McCarty or other bigs bring the ball up the court, because opposing big men weren’t adept and putting on pressure.
“Amari Williams is like one of one,” Pope said. “I'm asking him to do an impossible job right now. Come into this gym, sold out. Like, what are they ranked? Something I don't know, Top 10 team, the No. 1 defense in the country. No point guard to be found on our roster. And like Amari, it's up to you . . . You’ve got to control the whole game, and like, Amari brought the ball up against the press, probably more than anybody else on our team. I'm telling you, this kid is special, man, and it's his birthday today, and we, on purpose, didn't sing to him. We were saving it till after the game. I was like, please let us win, because if we have to sing Happy Birthday after loss, it's going to be really sour and sad. But it was a joyful locker room. He’s incredible.”
Koby Brea didn’t put up his best numbers of the season, but he did play his best game of the season. He had shot 10 free throws all year coming into Tuesday night’s game. Against the Vols, he shot seven.
Ansley Almanor made four three-pointers. Trent Noah came off the bench to score five points and hit a big three in the second half from the edge of the Tennessee logo.
Otega Oweh was physical and drove the ball and made four straight free throws to ice the win, finishing with 14 points.
Mark Pope argues with an official after an out of bounds call in the first half of Kentucky's victory at Tennessee on Jan. 28, 2025,
And then there’s Pope. He knew his team wasn’t going to press up on Tennessee’s athletes and stop them from going to the rim, so he had his defenders sag off, and invited the Volunteers to shoot from distance. And boy, did they. Tennessee shot 45 three-pointers. It was a record number for a Kentucky opponent. It’s also not Tennessee’s game. It made only 11.
Pope was as fired up as he’s been all season in the first half, leaping into the air on a ball called out of bounds on Kentucky, after what could’ve been called a Tennessee foul but wasn’t. Sarandon Raboin, shooting video of the game for WHAS, did some quick lip-reading and said, “I think he might’ve said bullcrap.”
His energy, however, fired up the Wildcats.
Pope also had faith in his bench, another Pitino principle. Collin Chandler had played only five minutes since the Wildcats began SEC play. He gave them 15 productive minutes against Tennessee.
And a Kentucky team that looked destined for a third straight loss now has some wind at its back as it comes home for a Saturday showdown with Arkansas and former Wildcat coach John Calipari in Rupp Arena.
“We're really blessed,” Pope said. “This is a team that we believed from the first few months that we would have resilience. That's what we thought. We will have resilience because these guys are loving each other enough. You know, we’re a really good team. But it’s also challenging, right? But we do feel like we can withstand punches and withstand rough stretches, and get better from them. And we were really fortunate tonight and really blessed. It was a good ngiht for us.”
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