Rob Dillingham scored a career high 35 points, but No. 10/8 Kentucky lost to No. 5/5 Tennessee 103-92 on Saturday night at Rupp Arena.
The Cats got 21 points from Antonio Reeves and 16 from Reed Sheppard, but the Cats never led in the game. UT scored on its first possession and the Vols held the lead for the rest of the game.
Kentucky (15-6, 5-4 Southeastern Conference) fell behind early as Tennessee scored the first eight points of the game. The Cats got a Reed Sheppard three to get on the board, but the Vols scored the next five points, taking a 13-3 lead in the process.
The Vols would go up 19-7 before the Cats started chipping away. Dillingham would score 11 points as part of a 13-4 run that got UK within three, 23-20, with 11:16 left in the half.
Tennessee (16-5, 6-2 SEC) would respond with a 13-2 run, taking a 36-22 lead with 8:26 left in the half. Kentucky responded with a 12-2 run, including five points from Justin Edwards, to make it 38-34. The Vols scored the next four points to lead 42-34 and from there, UK could get no closer than four in the first half, including the halftime score, 46-42. Dillingham led all scorers with 17 points in the first half.
In the second half, Kentucky got within one, 46-45, on a Sheppard three but again, Tennessee answered, scoring 13 of the next 15 points to lead 59-47.
Kentucky would cut the deficit to single digits but was never able to get closer than seven, the final time being at 69-60. Tennessee scored seven in a row to lead by 16, 76-60, and the Vols would secure the victory from there.
The Cats return to action on Tuesday, visiting Nashville to take on Vanderbilt. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on the SEC Network.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter’s Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.
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Vanderbilt vs Kentucky (On time)
