Tennessee Basketball: Kentucky ends Vols 19-game winning streak

The No. 5 ranked Kentucky Wildcats handled the No. 1 ranked Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night, handing the Vols their first loss in over two months.

The Tennessee Volunteers were beaten in every facet of the game last night against the Kentucky Wildcats and there is no hiding that.

The Volunteers headed into a very tough environment last night at Rupp Arena and it showed. It’s always a tough place to play, and when you have the No. 1 team heading to town with College Gameday in town, it’s a rowdy atmosphere.

The Wildcats were more physical to start the game, and it stayed that way throughout the game, with them out-rebounding the Volunteers by 13.

The Tennessee Volunteers mainly had three guys on the night that contributed on the scoring end. Jordan Bone led the Volunteers with 19 points on 8-13 shooting, including 3-4 from beyond the arc. He also finished with six assists. Admiral Schofield finished with 17 points and six rebounds.

Grant Williams finished with 16 points and eight rebounds on the night, also contributing from beyond the arc, hitting the two three-pointers he attempted.

Why the Vols lost

The referees were atrocious last night, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not the reason the Volunteers lost to the Wildcats in Rupp Arena. Yes, all six of the Tennessee players that played more than 25 minutes finished with three or more fouls which put the Volunteers with 10 more fouls calls than the Wildcats, but that didn’t affect the outcome of the game. Yes, the Volunteers had numerous questionable calls go against them, including Kyle Alexander’s fourth foul and the missed call when Williams was decked by P.J. Washington, but the reason the Volunteers lost last night is that the Kentucky Wildcats were more physical than the Volunteers.

For the first time this season, I thought the Volunteers didn’t look like the more physical team in the ballgame, and that resulted in their second loss on the year.

Jayson Swain, host of The Swain Event, put it best. You can make excuses about the referees having an impact on the game, but the Volunteers took themselves out of the game on numerous occasions involving bad turnovers or selfish shots.

In order for the Volunteers to win a game against a tough team like Kentucky, they will need to get contributions from all over, and that didn’t happen last night. Bone, Schofield, and Williams combined for 52 of the Volunteers 69 points. Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bowden went a combined 3-18 from the floor and 0-11 from beyond the arc. Plain and simple, that won’t win you ballgames against tough teams like Kentucky.

Vol Nation, there is no reason to overreact to this loss though. It’s the Volunteers first loss since November 23rd. The Volunteers only two losses on the year have come against a fully healthy No. 1 ranked Kansas squad on a neutral court and a road loss to No. 5 Kentucky.

I personally think this loss will put a chip on their shoulders. This team will be able to rebound from this loss. The one reason I think the Volunteers will move forward and become a better team after last night’s loss: Accountability.

The Volunteers held themselves accountable last night, and I think we will see this team take it to the next level from here on out.