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The Kentucky Wildcats took the court again on Saturday looking to advance to the SEC Tournament championship game in a matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers.
It was a rough start for the Cats as they could not get a shot to fall. It wasn’t that they were just missing shots, they were bad misses as Tennessee built an early 15-6 lead.
Kentucky then locked in defensively and were able to claw their way back into it as they trailed 23-18 with just under 6 minutes left in the half.
Unfortunately, they were not able to maintain the momentum and Tennessee stretched the lead back out down the stretch and went into the break with a 33-22 lead.
The second half got off to a decent start as the Cats quickly cut it to 39-33. However, Tennessee was once again able to stretch it back out to 45-33.
Kentucky was playing very well on the defensive end of the floor, but they could not get the offense rolling as they were stuck on 33 points with just under 12 minutes to go.
However, this team never quits fighting, and they started to gain some momentum late as they went on a quick 6-0 run to make it a 51-43 ballgame with 8 minutes to go.
Kentucky made one more run at it and had the ball trailing 65-60 with just under 2 minutes to go.
Two TyTy Washington free throws would make it 65-62, but that is as close as the Cats would get it as they fell to the Vols 69-62.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the game:
Our five pic.twitter.com/Usl316Fxu6
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 12, 2022
Big O pic.twitter.com/aWwWp92tyd
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 12, 2022
Huge SEC showdown on Semifinal Saturday. A spot in the SEC Championship game awaits the winner. pic.twitter.com/itV3GdOVva
— Shawn Smith (@gbbcountry) March 12, 2022
Keion Brooks isn't blocking any shots from the elbow. Not sure why he's falling for pump fakes from there.
— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) March 12, 2022
Shaping up to be another really, really physical game.
— Chris Fisher (@ChrisFisher247) March 12, 2022
Kellan Grady, as well as the entire team, have gone ice cold.
— Tres Terrell (@TerrellTres) March 12, 2022
Kentucky gets its first basket in almost five minutes in big fashion, a lob to Keion Brooks. Hopefully that's the spark. Tennessee in a 4:39 scoring drought.
— Tyler Thompson (@MrsTylerKSR) March 12, 2022
How the hell is this not a shooting foul? This is egregiously bad.
— Bobby Reagan (@BarstoolReags) March 12, 2022
Typical bullshit by the SEC refs, no way in hell that wasn’t and and ONE
— Jortney (@Wildcatty11) March 12, 2022
Kentucky hasn't just missed today. There have been three or four just absolutely atrocious misses. Not-close misses. Really odd.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) March 12, 2022
Really poor half of basketball for Kentucky. Lucky to only be down 11. Offense has been a disaster.
— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) March 12, 2022
Kentucky just played the worst half of the season.
— Dylan Ballard (@DylanBallard_UK) March 12, 2022
The Cats need a huge push from Oscars return to make a run in the second half
Kellan Grady has developed a bad habit of passing up open shots for harder ones.
— Chris Fisher (@ChrisFisher247) March 12, 2022
Well that was terrible
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) March 12, 2022
Tennessee made 5 threes and Kentucky was 0-8 from three
Hard to win like that
Oscar--head band or not--is POY for a reason.
— John Huang (@KYHuangs) March 12, 2022
“Kentucky is catching some momentum, let’s call for a review for something.”
— Michael Beard (@AllMikedUp_) March 12, 2022
Really hope TV captured John Calipari's reaction to Kennedy Chandler's turnover there. It was a squat and double fist pump for Sahvir Wheeler's defense.
— Tyler Thompson (@MrsTylerKSR) March 12, 2022
John Calipari is as mad at Kellan as I seen him at a player in a long time
— Dylan Ballard (@DylanBallard_UK) March 12, 2022
Dribbling in place for 20 seconds and making one pass to Keion is not great offense.
— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) March 12, 2022
Have to think this might be the worst game we have played all season
— ThrowboyTees (@ThrowboyTees) March 12, 2022
Kentucky has made zero three-pointers. Should I just throw this game out and not worry about March? Probably, but I can't help it. Tennessee makes me crazy and this is as ugly as it gets.
— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) March 12, 2022
This is pathetic
— Shawn Smith (@gbbcountry) March 12, 2022
This is the worst Kentucky has looked in a long time. Just an awful showing in Tampa.
— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) March 12, 2022
This game has been very hard to watch. Nobody can get open, no one can make a shot. Frustrating.
— Michael Beard (@AllMikedUp_) March 12, 2022
Me, you, and Kentucky have a combined zero 3-pointers.
— Drew Franklin (@DrewFranklinKSR) March 12, 2022
The fact that Kentucky has 39 points in 31 minutes blows my mind.
— Tres Terrell (@TerrellTres) March 12, 2022
Cats need to finish this one strong--even if they lose--just to not enter tournament on a sucky note.
— John Huang (@KYHuangs) March 12, 2022
Momentum? Kentucky goes on a quick 6-0 run in 36 seconds to cut Tennessee's lead to just eight. 51-43 UT with 8:05 to go.
— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) March 12, 2022
There’s zero offense being ran or even considered by Kentucky. Just a poor coaching, and execution, display
— Ian Teasley (@ianteasley) March 12, 2022
Sahvir Wheeler, Kellan Grady, and Davion Mintz a combined 3 for 22 from the floor. Won't cut it.
— Chris Fisher (@ChrisFisher247) March 12, 2022
Keion had a good game. Good games from him are key. Too many no shows from other guys though.
— The Kentucky Logo (@TheKentuckyLogo) March 12, 2022
Kentucky ball. Folks, buckle up. Incredibly, Cats are alive.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) March 12, 2022
Worst Offensive performance of the year comes at a terrible time
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) March 12, 2022
Tough loss but let’s win 6 in a row and win a damn National Championship
— Big Blue Nation (@BigB1ue9ation) March 12, 2022
Kentucky's now 2-5 against top-20 defenses (kenpom) and 24-2 against everybody else. Seems significant.
— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) March 12, 2022
!&@^@%$!^! !*!*@^$^@*£[¥{÷》× d didn't @&!^!%$!$!%%@&#&
— Ryan Lemond (@ryanlemond) March 12, 2022
People are gonna make elaborate conclusions in both directions, but it really just boils down to Grady making shots. If he makes shots, we can go win the tournament. If he keeps playing like this, we can’t win the tournament.
— Brandon Patterson (@brandonpatt) March 12, 2022
Period.
Shot distribution
— Adam Luckett (@AdamLuckettKSR) March 12, 2022
Kentucky
Rim: 14/18 (77.8%)
3: 2/20 (10%)
Midrange: 8/26 (30.8%)
Tennessee
Rim: 9/12 (75%)
3: 6/15 (40%)
Midrange: 8/25 (32%)
The three ball. It's not any more complicated than that.
I liked the fight at the end.
— The Kentucky Logo (@TheKentuckyLogo) March 12, 2022
I will be optimistic. We have the best player in the country. Gotta have someone step up and lead the way when he's not on the floor.
Hopeful we will play our best ball for the next 6.
Final from Tampa. pic.twitter.com/WahVeFkDPV
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 12, 2022
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