It has been a good final four weeks of the regular season for the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team. After dropping a third straight home game to Gonzaga, the Cats began to roll, winning seven of their last eight games.
Saturday’s win over the Tennessee Volunteers was their biggest win of the year. They got revenge for a home loss to the Vols, got a win over a top five team, and jumped into a two seed in the SEC Tournament.
The win also landed them on the list of big winners from this past weekend for USA TODAY Sports. Here’s what writer Eddie Timanus had to say about the Wildcats:
The Wildcats claimed a measure of revenge against Tennessee, putting on a shooting exhibition on the Volunteers’ home floor just as the Volunteers had done to the Wildcats last month in Rupp Arena. Kentucky went 15-for-29 from behind the arc in Knoxville and needed just about all of them to overcome Dalton Knecht’s 40-point outburst for Tennessee. Kentucky enters the SEC tournament as the No. 2 seed, but the Wildcats’ high level of play down the stretch will make them a team no one wants to see in their part of the bracket on Selection Sunday. The loss isn’t all that damaging for Tennessee, which already had the regular-season conference title wrapped up, but the Vols have company in their quest for a top regional seed.
The Wildcats would love to continue their momentum into the SEC Tournament later this week. They grabbed the coveted double bye and will play the winner between Texas A&M and Ole Miss on Friday.
Kentucky is also working to improve their seeding for the NCAA Tournament. A good run in the conference tournament, coupled with the Tennessee win, might just get them into a top two seed.