Kentucky-Tennessee matchup history: SEC rivals meet for third time in Sweet 16 after surprising regular season results Billy Heyen

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Kentucky-Tennessee matchup history: SEC rivals meet for third time in Sweet 16 after surprising regular season results

Billy Heyen

23 hours ago

•

5:10 am WAT

Kentucky-Tennessee matchup history: SEC rivals meet for third time in Sweet 16 after surprising regular season results image

Kentucky and Tennessee have been conference rivals since the very beginning, both joining the SEC at its inception in 1932.

And in this year of the Southeastern Conference in men’s basketball, it’s fitting that the Wildcats and Volunteers meet for the third time this season, now in the Sweet 16 trying to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

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“It’s the first time a league has had seven teams in the Sweet 16,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said Thursday, via NCAA transcripts. “It’s just been a magical, brutal, beautiful year in the SEC. We’ll still see how that pans out as we move forward. But you want to be in the most competitive league. There’s no doubt. I mean, it’s really remarkable what this league has been. And it’s been a blessing to all of us. It’s been painful for all of us, too. That’s what you want.”

The Wildcats might be the only reason the Volunteers aren’t a No. 1 seed.

“Sometimes it doesn’t make rhyme nor reason how it works out, other than the fact that we’re both here again, which I think is a compliment to our league and to both programs,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said Thursday. “And we have a chance to do it again.”

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What happened when Kentucky played Tennessee this season?

The Wildcats took home a 2-0 record against the Volunteers during the regular season.

If not for those two results, Kentucky would’ve been much lower than a 3-seed and Tennessee might’ve been on a 1-seed line.

But that was the nature of the SEC this season, great teams battling it out over and over again.

MORE: Ohio State legend says Buckeyes have ‘the LeBron James of football’ on their roster

Kentucky-Tennessee first meeting this season

These teams met for the first time on Jan. 28, when Kentucky was ranked No. 12 in the country and Tennessee No. 8.

The Wildcats won, 78-73. They trailed by three at the half but won a wild second half by a 48-40 margin.

All five Kentucky starters that day (Jaxson Robinson, Otega Oweh, Koby Brea, Ansley Almonor, Amari Williams) scored in double figures. Williams also grabbed 15 rebounds.

Tennessee’s Zakai Ziegler (5-18) and Chaz Lanier (5-14) struggled through poor shooting nights.

MORE: Could Cooper Flagg stay at Duke?

Kentucky-Tennessee second meeting this season

The rematch came after just two weeks, on Feb. 11. The Volunteers had ascended to No. 5 in the AP poll, while the Wildcats had fallen to No. 15.

Kentucky led at the half and pulled away in a 75-64 win.

Williams was kept quiet, but 13 points apiece from Oweh and Almonor were enough.

Ziegler was much better the second time around for Tennessee, scoring 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Lanier struggled again, going just 3-for-13 from the floor including 0-for-7 from 3.

MORE: LSU’s Kim Mulkey predicts what Will Wade will do at NC State

Is it harder to beat a team three times?

That’s every coach’s favorite cliche. Is it true?

In this case, it very well might be. It doesn’t hold true if one team is way better than the other, but that’s not the case here.

Instead, you’re looking at two high-level basketball teams that are super familiar with one another. The first two meetings aren’t necessarily predictive of the third, but they certainly will inform gameplans and playstyles.

We’re likely in for an instant classic when Kentucky and Tennessee play for a third time, this time in the Sweet 16.

MORE NCAA:

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

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