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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Kentucky 66, Tennessee 54
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 18, 2023
Where: Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center, Lexington, Kentucky
Officials: # Don Daily, # Joe Lindsay, # K.B. Burdett Jr.
Attendance: 20323

Cason Wallace collected 16 points, six rebounds and six assists and Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points and seven boards, lifting host Kentucky to a 66-54 win over No. 10 Tennessee on Saturday in Lexington, Ky.

Behind an overwhelming defense effort in the opening half, the Wildcats (18-9, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) trotted to the locker room with a commanding 20-point lead.

The Volunteers (20-7, 9-5) got as close as eight in the second half but lost for the third time in four games.

The Wildcats' Chris Livingston had 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, and Jacob Toppin scored 11 points.

Kentucky moved into a tie for third place in the SEC with the season sweep of its border rival to the south. It won on the road over then-No. 5 Tennessee 63-56 on Jan. 14.

The two victories gave the Wildcats their first regular-season sweep of the Volunteers since the 2011-12 campaign.

Tennessee's Santiago Vescovi scored all of his team-high 17 points in the second half, and Jahmai Mashack added a season-high 16 points and eight rebounds. However, the Volunteers were just 4 of 14 (28.6 percent) from the foul line.

In the 237th meeting between the schools in a series that dates back to 1910, neither side could generate much offense early or get deep into the paint. Kentucky led 4-2 after five minutes as the Volunteers missed 8 of 9 shots.

Tshiebwe's conventional 3-point point play on a drive, dunk and free throw pushed the home side's lead to 22-10. Daimion Collins' two foul shots with four second left capped an 8-0 run and gave the Wildcats their biggest first-half lead at 18 points.

In a dominant display of defense and rebounding over 20 minutes as it led 39-19, Kentucky held the visitors to 7 of 27 shooting (25.9 percent) and just 1 for 13 (7.7 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Wildcats got 12 points from Wallace and held a 22-14 edge on the boards, with Tshiebwe and Livingston each collecting five rebounds.

To start the second half, Vescovi netted five points to key a 7-0 Tennessee run. Olivier Nkamhoua's layup at 7:25 made it 62-54 at 2:09, but the Wildcats held on to go to 13-3 on their home court.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Tennessee   Kentucky
Santiago Vescovi 17 Scoring Oscar Tshiebwe 16
Santiago Vescovi 3 Assists Cason Wallace 6
Jahmai Mashack 8 Rebounds Chris Livingston 10
Zakai Zeigler 2 Free Throws Made Oscar Tshiebwe 10
Jahmai Mashack 2 Steals Oscar Tshiebwe 3
Jonas Aidoo 1 Blocks Chris Livingston 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Tennessee 54 37.3 6-27 4-14 10 31 2 4 8
Kentucky 66 44.4 3-8 23-35 11 35 2 5 12