247Sports Embed Resource
Tennessee and Kentucky have played basketball against one another 241 different times since 1910. This Friday's matchup in Indianapolis, Ind. will be the first time the two rivals play each other in the NCAA Tournament.
The postseason matchup will be the third time the two teams have played each other this season. Kentucky won both matchups during the regular season.
Kentucky point guard Lamont Butler is confident about the Cats' chances heading into the Sweet Sixteen, given UK's success against the Vols this year.
"We're just battle tested," Butler said after beating No. 6-seed Illinois on Sunday evening, 84-75, to advance to the second weekend of the tournament.
"(The) conference was a beast," Butler continued. "We had a lot of good teams that we played, but we stayed resilient, stayed together. And it showed today.
"Everybody was playing with love and passion for one another and we can't focus about anything but the next game. We just have a lot of love, and we're going to win that game (vs. Tennessee)."
Tipoff between the two rivals inside of Lucas Oil Stadium — the home of the Indianapolis Colts — is scheduled for 7:39 p.m. ET. Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Evan Washburn will have the call on TBS and truTV.
A win over Kentucky would send Tennessee to the Elite Eight for the third time in program history and for the second consecutive season. UT would play No. 1 Houston or No. 4 Purdue, with a trip to the program's first ever Final Four on the line. San Antonio, Texas is the host of this year's Final Four.
Cats won in Knoxville despite being shorthanded
No. 12 Kentucky upset No. 8 Tennessee 78-73 inside of Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Jan. 28. It did so despite Butler missing the game with a shoulder injury and starting forward Andrew Carr playing just two minutes. UK still managed to shoot 12-of-24 from three.
Fifth-year guard Koby Brea led Kentucky with 18 points on 3-of-3 shooting from distance. Fifth-year guard Jaxson Robinson — who is out for the remainder of the season due to a wrist injury — added 17 points on four mades threes, and junior guard Otega Oweh finished with 14 points and six rebounds. Senior forward Ansley Almonor made four threes on his way to 12 points, and fifth-year center Amari Williams had a double-double with 10 points, a season-high 15 rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Tennessee shot 11-of-45 from distance in the loss. The 45 three-point attempts are the second-most UT has attempted in program history.
Senior forward Igor Miličić Jr. led Tennessee with a game-high 19 points. He shot 6-of-10 overall and 4-of-8 from three, and added a team-best nine rebounds and four assists.
Vols fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier scored 15 points and grabbed four rebounds, while senior point guard Zakai Zeigler scored 13 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Zeigler missed the final 2:17 of the first half due to a right knee injury. He did return and play in the second half.
Kentucky also beat Tennessee in Rupp
Almonor and Oweh each scored 13 points apiece to lead No. 15 Kentucky past No. 5 Tennessee 75-64 inside of Rupp two weeks later. Brea, who started in place of an injured Robinson, added 11 points. Freshman guard Trent Noah came off the bench to score 11 points.
Kentucky shot 12-of-24 from three while Tennessee finished 3-of-18. Zeigler led the Vols with 17 points and six assists, both of which were game highs. He shot 7-of-11 from the field thanks to 11 second-half points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Miličić scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three. 13 of his points came in the final frame on 5-of-6 shooting. He also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Lanier added 10 points and six rebounds.