Kentucky Wildcats at Tennessee Volunteers: Live Game Thread

Welcome to the Kentucky Wildcats at Tennessee Volunteers game, the opportunity for Kentucky to set the season mark for the most consecutive wins in history. Despite the historic nature of this game, the Volunteers are not going to be interested in being on posters depicting the accomplishment. Instead, they’d rather go down as the group that stopped Kentucky’s historic run.

Essentials for victory

• Take care of the ball — Tennessee forces turnovers. Denying them their usual high percentage will make it very hard for them to win.

• Get the ball inside — Tennessee does not match up well on the interior with Kentucky, and the Wildcats must exploit that.

• Attack the rim — Tennessee has some big guards, but I have to believe that they can’t defend Kentucky’s guards going to the rim without fouling.

• Focus — This is a game that requires the Wildcats, young as they are, to focus on the task at hand. Never mind the 20,000 screaming Vol fans, just stick to your knitting.

• Make free throws — Tennessee does not foul a lot, so Kentucky must take advantage of the opportunities they have.

This is a rivalry game, and rivalry games have a tendency to go in strange directions. Kentucky must understand that the foe they are facing has extra motivation to win this game, and even though they are an inferior team, they only have to be great for 40 minutes in order to make their own version of history.

Go, ‘Cats!