LEXINGTON — The 2019-20 season has been an exercise of inconsistency and mediocrity for the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team.
The Volunteers’ 17-13 overall record and 9-8 Southeastern Conference mark are certainly proof of that.
But the season has not been without its bright spots for the Big Orange. Tuesday night, the Vols, erased a double-digit deficit against longtime rival and SEC power Kentucky, leaving Rupp Arena with a 71-63 victory.
With the win, the Vols helped their coach, Rick Barnes, make a little history for Tennessee.
Barnes, last season’s Naismith Coach of the year, became the only UT head coach to defeat the Wildcats twice at Rupp Arena.
Tennessee has only beaten Kentucky in that building six times since it opened in 1976 and Barnes is the only Tennessee coach to win there twice. The Vols last beat Kentucky in Lexington in 2018, when they were regular-season conference champions.
Ray Mears guided the Vols to victory there in 1977. Don DeVoe posted a win at Rupp Arena in 1979. After a long drought in the Bluegrass State under Wade Houston and Kevin O’Neal, the Big Orange won at UK under Jerry Green in 1999.
Bruce Pearl guided Tennessee to a win at Rupp in 2006.
Scores of Tennessee’s wins at Rupp Arena
- 1977: Tennessee 71, Kentucky 67, OT
- 1979: Tennessee 66, Kentucky 65
- 1999: Tennessee 47, Kentucky 46
- 2006: Tennessee 75, Kentucky 67
- 2018: Tennessee 61, Kentucky 59
- 2020: Tennessee 71, Kentucky 63