Kentucky vs. Tennessee: Score and Reaction from 2017 Regular Season

A wild day of college basketball continued with Tennessee upsetting No. 4 Kentucky, 82-80.

No. 1 Villanova and No. 2 Kansas had already lost Tuesday night in what will cause a major shakeup of the rankings.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports described the crazy results across the country:

Robert Hubbs III was a difference-maker for Tennessee, finishing with 25 points and seven rebounds. Grant Williams also lit up the stat sheet with 13 points, six rebounds, six assists, four blocks and three steals, while Admiral Schofield added 15 points off the bench.

The Volunteers went 5-of-10 from three-point range as well, making the only negative on the day the free-throw shooting. Dana O'Neil discussed the problem during the final stretch:

Despite going 17-of-27 at the charity stripe, the team did enough to pull out the win.

Kentucky saw a fantastic effort from Bam Adebayo, who ended his night with 21 points and two blocks on 7-of-8 shooting.

The game also showed Malik Monk's positives and negatives. He finished with 25 points but shot 7-of-19, including 3-of-13 from beyond the arc. He also had five turnovers in the loss.

Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports summed up the effort:

Unfortunately, the team's overall struggles from the perimeter (6-of-24 from three-point range) and 14 turnovers helped lead to the upset.

Kentucky came into the game as the favorite, but Tennessee did not appear intimidated. After overcoming an early 8-2 hole, the two teams were neck-and-neck throughout much of the first half.

Eventually, a 9-2 run toward the end of the half helped the Volunteers pull out a 39-34 lead at intermission.

This big dunk by Hubbs, who had 15 at halftime, showed the confidence in the home team:

It took only a few minutes into the second half for this lead to balloon up to double digits as the Vols went up 50-40.

As the game continued, Tennessee appeared to be clearly in charge as they not only held the lead but also even extended it.

Kyle Tucker of the Courier-Journal described the atmosphere:

Of course, Kentucky was not going to go down without a fight. Adebayo had a number of big plays with the team taking advantage of the size inside.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello noted the strategy:

Still, Kentucky couldn't stop making mistakes, and a turnover led to this run-out dunk in the final minutes:

Each time the game seemed ready to get away from them, the Wildcats would make a big shot to keep the score within reach. Despite that, they were not able to do enough to take the lead in the second half.

A De'Aaron Fox three-pointer cut the lead to just three with less than a minute remaining, but Tennessee made the shots necessary to stay in front. Two Lamonte Turner free throws effectively sealed the game as the squad earned its biggest win of the season.

Kentucky will need a much better effort if it wants to earn a win Saturday. The Wildcats will host Kansas, which lost Tuesday but still ranks No. 2 in the country.

Although Tennessee's game won't be as high-profile, a matchup against Kansas State could help build on the recent momentum.

Postgame Reaction

It's not surprising after a win like this, but Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes was complimentary of his team after the game.

"By far this is the best we played all year," he said, per Patrick Brown of the Times Free Press.

"I hope they love this feeling," Barnes added, per Grant Ramey of 247Sports. "Because this is where we want to move the program."

There was less excitement in the opposing locker room as Kentucky coach John Calipari questioned not only the game but his team's potential going forward as well.

"I'm not getting through to some guys. We will continue to lose (if that doesn't change)," the coach said, per the team's official Twitter account.

"I hate to lose, but sometimes it's good," Calipari said, per Tucker. "Maybe we got arrogant."

The Wildcats will show next game if the loss was beneficial or it was the start of a slide.