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Live updates: Kentucky Wildcats at Tennessee Volunteers college basketball

john clay
·4 min read

Kentucky men’s basketball returns to the road Tuesday when the Wildcats play the Tennessee Volunteers in an SEC matchup at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes and Molly McGrath have the television broadcast on ESPN.

Ben Roberts, Ryan Hermens and yours truly will be reporting on the action from the Food City Center. Mark Story and Cameron Drummond will be monitoring from Lexington. You can follow Ben on Bluesky at @benrobertshl. You can follow the rest of us on X/Twitter at @ryanhermens, @markcstory, @cdrummond97 and @johnclayiv.

Follow a dedicated Kentucky men’s basketball X/Twitter list.

Officials for Kentucky-Tennessee are Owen Shortt, Courtney Green and Ron Groover.

Kentucky point guard Lamont Butler out

If you missed it, Kentucky point guard Lamont Butler will miss the game because of his shoulder injury. Butler hurt his shoulder against Texas A&M on Jan. 14. The San Diego State transfer has been trying to play through the pain. He turned the ball over six times, compared to two assists, in UK’s 74-69 loss at Vanderbilt on Saturday.

With Butler out, we could see Jaxson Robinson play the point, with UK freshman Travis Perry as backup. Robinson played some point guard earlier when Butler missed the Gonzaga and Colgate games with an ankle injury.

Andrew Carr is off the injured list and expected to be available on Tuesday. The Wake Forest transfer missed the Vanderbilt game to rest his bad back. The 6-foot-11 forward has been held out of practice the last two weeks in hopes that the back would heal.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope talks with an official during Tuesday’s game against Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
Kentucky head coach Mark Pope talks with an official during Tuesday’s game against Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.

Scouting report: Tennessee

Coach Rick Barnes’ Volunteers are 17-3 overall and 4-3 in the SEC after a 53-51 loss at Auburn on Saturday. According to Ken Pomeroy, Tennessee is ranked No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency. The Vols are ranked No. 34 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 6 in adjusted overall efficiency. UT is No. 4 in the NCAA NET rankings. It is 5-3 against Quad 1 opponents.

North Florida transfer Chaz Lanier leads Tennessee in scoring at 18.0 points per game. Charlotte transfer Igor Milicic leads UT in rebounding at 8.1 per game. Veteran guard Zakai Zeigler leads Tennessee in assists at 7.5 per game. The Vols are shooting 34.2% from 3-point land, but lead the nation in 3-point defense at 25.4%.

Scouting report: Kentucky

Coach Mark Pope’s Wildcats are 14-5 overall and 3-3 in the SEC after a 74-69 loss at Vanderbilt on Saturday. KenPom ranks Kentucky fourth in adjusted offensive efficiency and 81st in adjusted defensive efficiency. The Cats rank No. 22 in adjusted overall efficiency. Kentucky is No. 16 in the NCAA NET rankings. It is 6-5 versus Quad 1 opponents.

Coming off a 21-point, 12-rebound game at Vanderbilt, Otega Oweh leads UK in scoring at 15.7 points per game. Amari Williams leads the Cats in rebounding at 8.8 per game. Lamont Butler leads the team in assists at 4.9 per game but is out Tuesday because of a shoulder injury.

Without Lamont Butler, what is Kentucky’s Mark Pope going to do against No. 8 Tennessee?

How No. 12 Kentucky matches up against No. 8 Tennessee — with a game prediction

Kentucky and Tennessee are heated basketball rivals, but Rick Barnes is a hard man to hate

Why games like Kentucky-Tennessee are a big deal for Mark Pope’s vision for his program