KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 4 Tennessee was unable to close the regular season with a win, losing to No. 15 Kentucky 85-81 on Senior Day on Saturday inside the Food City Center.
The Vols honored four seniors before the game. Dalton Knecht, Josiah-Jordan James, Santiago Vescovi and Colin Coyne all received their framed jersey. James was in tears as the fifth-year senior was about to play his final home game at Tennessee.
Through the first media timeout, UT struggled shooting, going just 1 of 8 from the field. The lone bucket was made by Knecht from three-point range and Knecht drew a shooting foul that forced the timeout. Thanks to some defense, the Vols were tied 4-4 after Knecht sunk a free throw coming out of the timeout.
The Vols led 12-9 following a jumper from Knecht. However, Kentucky got hot from deep after that. Antonio Reeves, Reed Sheppard and then Reeves again made three three-[pointers in a row to put the Wildcats up 18-12.
The Vols responded with a dunk from Knecht then a steal from Jordan Gainey that led to another dunk to get them within a two-point deficit.
Made baskets continued to be hard to come by for the Vols in the first half. Kentucky went on a 10-2 run that got them up 28-18 at the final media timeout of the first half. The Vols were shooting 18.5% up at this point of the game.
Knecht then provided the answer on offense like he has time and time again. He went on a stretch where he made two three-pointers and three free throws to score nine in a row for the Vols to cut the deficit to just 31-27.
The Vols ended the half with a putback dunk from Jonas Aidoo and trailed 33-29 at halftime.
Tennessee immediately trimmed into the lead more to start the second half. After a Kentucky deadball turnover, James knocked down a three to get UT within one point. Kentucky held on to the lead though. The Wildcats saw the Vols get within one possession of tying or taking the lead through the first four minutes but came up with responses every time.
At the under 16-minute timeout in the second half, Rob Dillingham scored on an and-one to put Kentucky up 45-39 following the free throw. After the timeout, the Wildcats splashed home back-to-back three-pointers from Sheppard and Reeves for a 51-39 lead.
Knecht scored on back-to-back buckets to get the lead back down to single digits as UT trailed 51-43. The Wildcats quickly got back up double digits after Reeves was fouled on a three-point attempt and Kentucky led 54-43. Knecht responded with a three-pointer to make it 54-46.
Gainey wasn’t able to cash in on a free throw following a technical foul on Kentucky head coach John Calipari. Kentucky then cashed in on some big three-pointers again. Sheppard made another and Justin Edwards made one, too. The Wildcats took a 60-46 lead with 11:44 to go.
The Vols were down 68-54 with 8:57 to go. They would not go down quietly. UT went on a 9-0 run powered by an Aidoo layup, a free throw later on and then threes from Knecht and Zeigler.
Tennessee all of a sudden was down 68-63 and the Food City Center went bonkers as UT was back in the game with 7:29 to go.
Kentucky eventually went back up by 10 though as Sheppard hit another three-pointer for a 77-67 lead.
Knecht scored his 40th point of the game on a jumper to make the score 80-71. It marked a season high and he became the first Vol to score 40 points in a game since Grant Williams did so in 2019.
UT trimmed the lead to five following an and-one from Zeigler with 47 seconds to go. On the ensuing Kentucky possession, the Vols forced a turnover and drew a foul. James knocked down both free throws and the Vols were down three.
Tennessee forced another turnover with 21 seconds to go and the crowd erupted again.
With 12 seconds to go, James shot a three from the corner to tie, but missed and the ball went out of bounds on UT. Tennessee couldn't force another turnover and was forced to foul where Dillingham made a free throw to make it a four-point game.
The Vols would fall 85-81.
They finish the regular season 23-7 and 13-3 in SEC play. They claimed the outright SEC regular season championship on Wednesday against South Carolina.
UT will be the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament.
