LEXINGTON — The Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball team won at Rupp Arena for the sixth time Tuesday night.
The Vols defeated their SEC rival Kentucky Wildcats, 81-73, behind a dominant second-half performance that included a 29-9 run.
Tennessee has now won at Rupp Arena in the following years: 1977, 1979, 1999, 2006, 2018 and 2020.
Junior John Fulkerson had a career-high 27 points for Tennessee.
The Vols (17-13, 9-8 SEC) trailed by as many as 17 points in the contest.
“Our guys were confident,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said following the win. “Even when we were down, and I would walk into the timeout, they were talking to each other about ‘Hey we just can’t keep making those turnovers and mistakes that we’re making.’ They were great at driving the ball and we really said, ‘Hey we’re going to get into those gaps and they’re going to have to make some jump shots.’
“And we actually made some plays in the gap where we knocked it through, got out in transition and got some baskets like that. We also tried to speed the tempo up some. But, when we got into a dead ball situation, we knew we were going to play through Fulky.”