Life And Death Situation” Volunteers Star Suffer A Life Threatening Injury….

Kentucky basketball sophomore Adou Thiero talked to the media after the Wildcats’ 103-92 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, at Rupp Arena. It was UK’s second straight home loss and dropped the team to 5-4 in the SEC. BY JOHN CLAY

Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 103-92 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday at Rupp Arena: 1. KENTUCKY NEEDS TO GET D.J. WAGNER BACK This isn’t to say that 10th-ranked Kentucky would have beaten No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday had D.J. Wagner been in the lineup. At this point in the season, Tennessee is the better team. The Vols are older, more experienced, better on defense and better on the glass. This year’s Volunteers could take coach Rick Barnes back to the Final Four for the first time since 2003. Still, one fact is undeniable. Kentucky is 0-3 without its freshman point guard. Back on Dec. 2 at Rupp, the Cats lost 80-73 to UNC Wilmington as Wagner sat the bench with an injury. Last Tuesday at Rupp, the Cats lost 94-91 to Florida in overtime as Wagner sat the bench with an ankle injury. Saturday, that ankle kept him from his second straight game, and again his teammates went down to defeat. “He’s our point guard and our leader,” Adou Thiero said. “When the offense breaks down, he can drive it to the basket and score.” Wagner can also be a presence on defense, especially playing on-the-ball defense. He also keeps the team’s successful rotation intact, starting alongside Antonio Reeves before Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard sub in off the bench. After playing all 45 minutes against Florida, Sheppard played 37 on Saturday. Reeves played 35. Dillingham played 27 — and scored 35 points. Wagner won’t fix all of John Calipari’s problems, but his return would certainly help. 2. KENTUCKY NEEDS TO GET TRE MITCHELL BACK Unlike Wagner, Tre Mitchell isn’t injured. Or not so we’ve been told. The 6-foot-9 senior is out on the floor, but he’s not the same invaluable Tre Mitchell we’ve seen in so many games this season. Just not in the last two games. In that home loss to Florida, Mitchell scored just five points after making just two of his 10 shots. He missed all five of his 3-point shots. He did grab nine rebounds and dish three assists, but he was not the all-around presence that this team needs. Saturday against Tennessee, Mitchell went scoreless for the first time all season. In 24 minutes, he took just three shots and missed all three. Two were from 3-point land. He missed his only free throw, the front end of a bonus situation. He grabbed just five rebounds and was credited with just one assist. “We’ll have to sit down and talk about it,” Calipari said afterward when asked about Mitchell. Whatever the problem might be, the Cats need to figure it out. For this team to regain its footing, it needs the return of Tre Mitchell. 3. KENTUCKY NEEDS TO GET, WELL, YOU KNOW … Tennessee came out of the gate firing. The Vols drained two 3-pointers in the first minute, five 3-points by the 14:20 mark on the way to an early 21-10 lead. By game’s end, Barnes’ club had made 12 3-pointers in 30 attempts. Not-so-fun fact: Kentucky has given up double-digit 3-pointers in four SEC games this season. The Cats have lost all four. Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler scored 26 points, dished 13 assists and made three of his six 3-point shots. Vols forward Josiah-Jordan James had made one of 18 3-point attempts in UT’s seven SEC games. He was 4-for-9 against Kentucky on the way to 26 points. After averaging 31.8 points per game over his last six games, Dalton Knecht was held to 16 points, and the Vols won by 11.

Even with all the 3-pointers, the difference in the game might have been three inbounds plays in which Tennessee scored easy baskets. “When you don’t have the right guy on the ball, that stuff happens,” Calipari said. For Kentucky, defensive breakdowns keep happening. Tennessee was the first SEC team to score 100 points at Rupp Arena since Arkansas in 1992. The Vols averaged 1.367 points per possession, the eighth time in nine SEC games the Cats have allowed more than 1.0 PPP. Another not-so-fun fact: The 1.367 PPP was the highest by a UK opponent since Duke averaged 1.409 in that 118-84 beatdown of the Cats in the 2018 Champions Classic.