Cason Wallace collected 16 points, six rebounds and six assists and Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points and seven boards, lifting host Kentucky to a 66-54 win over No. 10 Tennessee on Saturday in Lexington, Ky.
Behind an overwhelming defense effort in the opening half, the Wildcats (18-9, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) trotted to the locker room with a commanding 20-point lead.
The Volunteers (20-7, 9-5) got as close as eight in the second half but lost for the third time in four games.
The Wildcats’ Chris Livingston had 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, and Jacob Toppin scored 11 points.
Kentucky moved into a tie for third place in the SEC with the season sweep of its border rival to the south. It won on the road over then-No. 5 Tennessee 63-56 on Jan. 14.
The two victories gave the Wildcats their first regular-season sweep of the Volunteers since the 2011-12 campaign.
Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi scored all of his team-high 17 points in the second half, and Jahmai Mashack added a season-high 16 points and eight rebounds. However, the Volunteers were just 4 of 14 (28.6 percent) from the foul line.
In the 237th meeting between the schools in a series that dates back to 1910, neither side could generate much offense early or get deep into the paint. Kentucky led 4-2 after five minutes as the Volunteers missed 8 of 9 shots.
Tshiebwe’s conventional 3-point point play on a drive, dunk and free throw pushed the home side’s lead to 22-10. Daimion Collins’ two foul shots with four second left capped an 8-0 run and gave the Wildcats their biggest first-half lead at 18 points.
In a dominant display of defense and rebounding over 20 minutes as it led 39-19, Kentucky held the visitors to 7 of 27 shooting (25.9 percent) and just 1 for 13 (7.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Wildcats got 12 points from Wallace and held a 22-14 edge on the boards, with Tshiebwe and Livingston each collecting five rebounds.
To start the second half, Vescovi netted five points to key a 7-0 Tennessee run. Olivier Nkamhoua’s layup at 7:25 made it 62-54 at 2:09, but the Wildcats held on to go to 13-3 on their home court.
–Field Level Media
