On Friday night, Kentucky and Tennessee will meet for the third time this season. This matchup will come in the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (7:39 p.m. ET, TBS).
Kentucky won each of the first two matchups this season. On Jan. 28 in Knoxville, UK played without point guard Lamont Butler and essentially without power forward Andrew Carr (he played less than two minutes). But the Cats placed five players in double figures, led by 18 points from Koby Brea, on the way to a 78-73 win.
On Feb. 11 at Rupp Arena, Kentucky got 13 points apiece from Ansley Almonor and Otega Oweh on the way to a 75-64 win over the Vols. UK was able to hold UT to 3 of 18 (16.7%) shooting from behind the arc in the victory.
Now, Kentucky will try to beat Tennessee three times in a season for the first time since 2005. UK head coach Mark Pope takes a little from the previous two games this season but thinks this game stands alone.
“If we really parse details, there’s certainly, maybe the emotional advantage of winning two that you feel like you know you can,” Pope said. “There’s the strategic side of coming to know to consider you might have a better idea of, if you’re going to make changes, a better idea of how and why. But I think that’s like the .1 percent. I think mostly this is a free-standing game. This is a great Tennessee team. It’s one of the top teams in the country. It’s the best defensive team in the country. They have one of the best offensive teams in the country.”
Brea doesn’t think the Cats need to change much, despite seeing the Vols twice already this season.
“I don’t think we have to do anything different,” Brea said. “I think we’ve got to do the same thing against every team, continue to be ourselves. We trust each other on the court. We know what we’re capable of doing.”
Pope has great admiration and respect for Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes.
“Rick Barnes is, if not the best, one of the best coaches in all of college basketball right now,” Pope said. “He’s one of the people that I really, really admire. I admire him because he puts together great teams every year. And I admire him because, everything I know about him, he’s a way better man than he is a basketball coach. When you’re one of the best basketball coaches that’s saying a lot about him.”
Friday night, it’s the Cats and the Vols meeting for the third time this season, with the winner advancing to Sunday’s Elite Eight round.
