Same old, same old

Stop me if you have heard this before. Kentucky played well for most of the game building a lead in the second half as they battled the Tennessee. But a lengthy scoring drought allowed the Volunteers to get back into the game and take a late second half lead.

Turnovers and empty possessions at the end of the game provided Tennessee with the opportunity to build and hold a lead winning 82-71.

Throughout the drought, Dontaie Allen, UK's best shooter, sat on the bench.

"Its a one bucket game with five minutes to go then all of a sudden, turnover, turnover, layup, layup, bad shot because we passed up a shot. And all of a sudden its a six, seven point again. I was at a loss for words," lamented Coach John Calipari. "Disappointing. I don't know what to tell you. We are playing good enough to win then we hit a stretch we don't score a basket."

Keion Brooks, Jr led the Cats as they built their lead. He finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Olivier Sarr and Devin Askew both added 14 points. No other player approached double digits in scoring.

In 19 minutes of play, Allen went 1-5 from behind the arc finishing with three points and three rebounds with an assist, blocked shot and turnover.

Calipari is not ready to give up on the 2020-21 edition of the Kentucky Wildcats.

"We are not that far off. We just played three ranked teams and had a chance to beat them all. We break down at critical times. Do I have the wrong guys in. I made some changes and the guys who came in did not make any shots and turned it over."

He continued, "I owe it to these kids and this program to do whatever to get this thing flipped around. This team can paint the picture they want."