National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Kentucky 66, Tennessee 48
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee
Officials: # Ron Groover, # Mike Nance, # Doug Shows
Attendance: 21678

No. 1 Kentucky 66, Tennessee 48: Devin Booker had 18 points and seven rebounds as the visiting Wildcats overcame a sluggish 30 minutes to slay the Volunteers in SEC play.

Andrew Harrison added 14 points as Kentucky (26-0, 13-0) set a school record for best start, surpassing the 25-0 mark of the 1953-54 squad. Trey Lyles scored 10 points, Willie Cauley-Stein contributed nine points and seven rebounds and Tyler Ulis added eight points and six assists.

Kevin Punter scored 14 points for Tennessee (14-11, 6-7), which lost for the sixth time in eight games. Josh Richardson had 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting for the Volunteers, who committed 15 turnovers and went 4-of-10 from the free-throw line.

The margin was four points with nine minutes remaining before Kentucky pulled away with 10 consecutive points, the last two on free throws by Lyles with 5:15 to go. Harrison hit two free throws to make it a 16-point margin with 2:22 left and the advantage reached 18 on Lyles’ tip with 50 seconds left.

Tennessee took its first lead at 23-21 on Punter’s basket with 4:43 remaining in the first half and later led by three before the Wildcats closed with a 12-5 surge to take a 35-31 halftime lead. Kentucky took a seven-point lead on Booker’s 3-pointer early in the second half before the Volunteers pulled within 44-40 on Punter’s putback with 12:14 remaining.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Wildcats F Karl-Anthony Towns had three points after landing in early foul trouble. … The Volunteers shot 37.5 percent from the field. … Both teams struggled with 3-point shooting – Kentucky was 5-of-22 and Tennessee was 2-of-17.
Top Game Performances
 
Kentucky   Tennessee
Devin Booker 18 Scoring Kevin Punter 14
Tyler Ulis 6 Assists Derek Reese 2
Devin Booker 7 Rebounds Armani Moore 8
Devin Booker 6 Free Throws Made Devon Baulkman 1
Andrew Harrison 2 Steals Armani Moore 3
Karl-Anthony Towns 2 Blocks Armani Moore 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Kentucky 66 41.5 5-22 17-21 11 32 5 6 11
Tennessee 48 37.5 2-17 4-10 6 30 3 7 15