SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Kentucky at Tennessee

Tennessee-Kentucky

Kentucky visits Tennessee on Saturday in a key SEC basketball matchup. Look inside for a preview of the game along with a prediction of the game’s final score.

By 14Powers Hoops

Stats | RPI | Players | Scouting Report | Prediction | Time/TV

Team Statistical Comparison

FG% 3PT% FT% ORB TRB AST STL BLK TO
Kentucky 0.459 0.319 0.783 216 834 313 113 110 281
Kentucky OPP 0.386 0.289 0.683 238 723 234 110 68 269
Tennessee 0.429 0.306 0.747 218 783 326 134 129 298
Tennessee OPP 0.389 0.312 0.686 233 755 223 161 68 292

Stats | RPI | Players | Scouting Report | Prediction | Time/TV

Statistical Leaders

Kentucky Scoring Leaders

PLAYER TEAM PPG FGM FTM 3PTM
PLAYER TEAM PPG FGM FTM 3PTM
Immanuel Quickley Kentucky 14.6 86 98 37
Nick Richards Kentucky 14.6 121 79 0
Tyrese Maxey Kentucky 13.4 98 74 24
Ashton Hagans Kentucky 12.5 82 97 13
EJ Montgomery Kentucky 6.9 57 17 1
Nate Sestina Kentucky 6.2 40 22 16
Keion Brooks Jr. Kentucky 4.8 44 15 3
Kahlil Whitney Kentucky 3.3 23 10 4
Johnny Juzang Kentucky 2.3 16 6 5

Kentucky Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER TEAM OR DR TR RPG
PLAYER TEAM OR DR TR RPG
Nick Richards Kentucky 63 120 183 8.3
EJ Montgomery Kentucky 29 74 103 5.4
Tyrese Maxey Kentucky 7 84 91 4.1
Immanuel Quickley Kentucky 15 75 90 4.3
Ashton Hagans Kentucky 5 82 87 4.0
Nate Sestina Kentucky 27 57 84 4.4
Keion Brooks Jr. Kentucky 23 45 68 3.1
Johnny Juzang Kentucky 8 32 40 2.1
Kahlil Whitney Kentucky 14 17 31 1.7

Tennessee Scoring Leaders

PLAYER TEAM PPG FGM FTM 3PTM
PLAYER TEAM PPG FGM FTM 3PTM
Jordan Bowden Tennessee 13.0 95 62 33
John Fulkerson Tennessee 12.0 105 55 0
Yves Pons Tennessee 11.2 93 38 23
Josiah-Jordan James Tennessee 7.8 53 28 22
Olivier Nkamhoua Tennessee 3.9 37 10 1
Jalen Johnson Tennessee 3.4 23 13 16
Davonte Gaines Tennessee 2.5 12 22 3
Drew Pember Tennessee 1.7 8 10 3

Tennessee Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER TEAM OR DR TR RPG
PLAYER TEAM OR DR TR RPG
John Fulkerson Tennessee 42 88 130 5.9
Josiah-Jordan James Tennessee 20 94 114 5.7
Yves Pons Tennessee 36 78 114 5.2
Jordan Bowden Tennessee 9 75 84 3.8
Olivier Nkamhoua Tennessee 29 45 74 3.4
Jalen Johnson Tennessee 11 36 47 2.1
Santiago Vescovi Tennessee 8 33 41 4.1
Lamonte Turner Tennessee 7 32 39 3.5
Davonte Gaines Tennessee 7 25 32 1.6
Drew Pember Tennessee 10 12 22 1.3
Uros Plavsic Tennessee 6 4 10 1.4
Zach Kent Tennessee 0 2 2 1.0

Stats | RPI | Players | Scouting Report | Prediction | Time/TV

Thompson-Boling Arena
Thompson-Boling Arena

NCAA RPI

Kentucky: 24

Tennessee: 66

Kentucky Roster

No. Name Pos. HT WT Class City-State
0 Ashton Hagans G 6′-3″ 198 SO Cartersville, GA
1 Nate Sestina F 6′-9″ 234 SR Emporium, PA
2 Kahlil Whitney F 6′-6″ 210 FR Chicago, IL
3 Tyrese Maxey G 6′-3″ 198 FR Garland, TX
4 Nick Richards F 6′-11″ 247 JR Kingston, Jamaica
5 Immanuel Quickley G 6′-3″ 188 SO Havre De Grace, MD
10 Johnny Juzang G 6′-6″ 214 FR Los Angeles, CA
11 Dontaie Allen G 6′-6″ 200 FR Falmouth, KY
12 Keion Brooks Jr. F 6′-7″ 205 FR Fort Wayne, IN
13 Riley Welch G 6′-0″ 185 JR Littleton, CO
14 Brennan Canada F 6′-6″ 198 FR Mount Sterling, KY
21 Zan Payne G 6′-4″ 235 FR Lexington, KY
23 EJ Montgomery F 6′-10″ 228 SO Fort Pierce, FL
33 Ben Jordan F 6′-9″ 250 SO Olive Hill, KY

Tennessee Roster

No. Name Pos. HT WT Class City-State
0 Davonte Gaines G 6′-7″ 178 FR Buffalo, NY
1 Lamonte Turner G 6′-2″ 187 SR Florence, AL
3 Drew Pember F 6′-9″ 207 FR Knoxville, TN
4 Jacob Fleschman G 6′-3″ 176 JR Austin, TX
5 Josiah-Jordan James G 6′-6″ 208 FR Charleston, SC
10 John Fulkerson F 6′-9″ 212 JR Kingsport, TN
12 Victor Bailey Jr. G 6′-4″ 186 JR Austin, TX
13 Jalen Johnson G 6′-6″ 196 JR Durham, NC
21 Olivier Nkamhoua F 6′-8″ 224 FR Cumberland, MD
23 Jordan Bowden G 6′-5″ 193 SR Knoxville, TN
30 Brock Jancek F 6′-8″ 222 SO Knoxville, TN
33 Zach Kent F 6′-11″ 235 SO Magnolia, DE
34 Uros Plavsic F 7′-0″ 240 FR Chattanooga, TN
35 Yves Pons G 6′-6″ 215 JR Paris, FR

Stats | RPI | Players | Scouting Report | Prediction | Time/TV

Scouting Report

Kentucky (17-5, 7-2 SEC) defeated Mississippi State 80-72 on Tuesday night in Lexington. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and then never lost the lead the entire game. The Cats led by as much as 10 in the first half and headed to halftime up 31-23. In the second half UK’s biggest lead was 14 points. Mississippi State pulled to within six points with 2:43 remaining in the game but that was the closest they would get. Nick Richards led the Wildcats with 27 points while Robert Woodard II and DJ Stewart Jr. co-led the Bulldogs with 15 points each. UK won this one at the free throw line hitting on 31 of 36 attempts while the Bulldogs made 17 of 21 free throws.

UK is averaging 75.4 points per game so far this season and allows 65.8 points a contest. Immanuel Quickley leads the Cats in scoring (14.0 ppg). Quickley’s shooting is second to none on the team. The other players who also average at least 12 points a game include Ashton Hagans, Nick Richards and Tyrese Maxey. Richards also leads the team in rebounding (8.3 rpg) Hagans is one of the best guards in the country both offensively and defensively. Kentucky as a team is shooting 45.9% (3rd SEC) from the field, 32.3% (5th SEC) from 3-point range and 77.4% (2nd SEC) from the line. The Cats are second in the league in 3-point shooting defense (28.9%) and first in the conference in field goal shooting defense (38.6%).

Tennessee (13-9, 5-4 SEC) defeated Alabama 69-68 on Tuesday in Tuscaloosa. This was a battle between the SEC’s top defense and offense. In the first half the Crimson Tide built a 15-point lead with 2:06 remaining in the half. Alabama led at halftime 40-32. Tennessee took its first lead at 54-53 since early minutes of the game on a Jordan Bowden free throw with 8:22 to play. The Vols then used their strong defense to help them escape with the win.

Jordan Bowden leads the Vols in scoring at 13.0 points per contest. John Fulkerson is the Vols’ second leading scorer for the season averaging 12.0 points per game. Fulkerson also leads the Vols in rebounding pulling down 5.9 boards a game. Tennessee is currently No. 1 in the SEC in scoring defense (61.5 ppg). A big reason for that is that the Vols are very stingy at allowing opponents to make field goals (38.9%, No. 3 SEC). For the season, the Vols are hitting 42.9% of their field goals, 30.6% of 3-point shots and 74.9% of free throws.

This is a hard game to predict. The Cats have a knack for winning big road games but Tennessee playing at home could be tough. Look for the Wildcats to prevail though.

Kentucky-Tennessee Prediction

Kentucky 68, Tennessee 66


Saturday‘s game tips off at 1:00 p.m. ET. TV: CBS.

Stats | RPI | Players | Scouting Report | Prediction | Time/TV

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