According to Tennessee Athletics, The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team fell to #15 Kentucky, 85-81, Saturday evening at a sold-out, over-capacity Food City Center in the final game of the 2023-24 regular season. Fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht, in his final home outing, registered a career-best 40 points, the 16th such showing in program history and most by any player against the Wildcats in over 11 years, for fourth-ranked Tennessee (24-7, 14-4 SEC). Kentucky’s Reed Shepard led the way for the Wildcats with 27 points. With the regular season complete, Tennessee now heads to Nashville, Tenn., where it begins play Friday at 12 p.m. as the top seed in the SEC Tournament against either Mississippi State or LSU in a quarterfinal matchup, live on the Vol Network stations, from Bridgestone Arena.
According to Tennessee Athletics, the Tennessee Lady Vols overcame a 23-point first-half deficit and took a two-point lead with 24 seconds remaining before South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso banked-in a three-pointer as time expired to give the top-seeded and #1 ranked Gamecocks a 74-73 win on Saturday night in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson, who flirted with a triple-double for UT (19-12), finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and a career-high eight assists. The Gamecocks (31-0) were led by 13 points from Cardoso. Tennessee will return to Knoxville on Sunday and await the NCAA Selection Show. It will be televised next Sunday, March 17, at 7 p.m. on ESPN