Earlier this week, there was a sentiment that we were going to learn a lot about this Kentucky Basketball team.
With Jaland Lowe now out for the season, the Wildcats showed their resilience Wednesday night at LSU in coming back from 18 points down in the second half to win on a buzzer-beater by Malachi Moreno.
Saturday, the Wildcats will have a major challenge on their hands in No. 24 Tennessee. The Volunteers are BIG. They can rebound like crazy, and they can score a lot of points. They may be a younger
team than last season, but this Volunteers team is still really talented.
If Kentucky can win this game on the road, a place where they’ve won five of the last six times, they will have some real momentum. The path can start to really open up.
Let’s look at players to watch on the Volunteers, keys to the game, and score prediction.
Players to Watch on Tennessee
1. No. 0: Ja’Kobi Gillespie — 6-1, 188 lbs. Sr. Guard; Greenville, Tenn. (Maryland Transfer)
Stats: 18.2 pts, 2.9 rebs, 93 ast.-43 TO, 29 stl, 42.3 FG%, 34.8 3-PT FG%, 86.9 FT%, 33.2 mpg
Gillespie is a great all-around player. Tuesday night against Texas A&M, he became the fifth SEC player in the last 15 seasons (2011-26) with 18 points, six steals (season high), five assists, and four rebounds in a game in the double-overtime win against Texas A&M (1/13/26), playing a career-high 48 minutes.
Last week in a win over Texas, Gillespie scored a career-high 34 points, including 22 in the first half, on 12-of-18 shooting, also setting a career best in made field goals, and became the second SEC player in the last 20 seasons (2006-26)—the other is LSU’s Ben Simmons (12/2/15)—to compile 34 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals in a game.
Kentucky was in the running for Gillespie last Spring when he was in the transfer portal. At Maryland in 2024-2025, Gillespie became one of three Big Ten players in the last 35 seasons (1990-2025) to average at least 14.5 points, 4.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting at least 40.0 percent from 3-point range, following Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell (2014-15) and Wisconsin’s Tracy Webster (1991-92).
In addition, Gillespie was one of five Power Five players to average at least 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game—the others are Louisville’s Chucky Hepburn, Pittsburgh’s Jaland Lowe (now with Kentucky), West Virginia’s Javon Small and Purdue’s Braden Smith—and the only Division I player to post that line while shooting at least 40.0 percent from long range.
Seven times this season, Gillespie has scored 20+ points, including two games with 30+ points. Gillespie also has eight straight games with multiple three-pointers.
2. No. 10: Nate Ament — 6-10, 207 lbs. Fr. Forward; Manassas, Va. (Highland School)
Stats: 15.4 pts, 6.4 rebs, 40.6 FG%, 27.1 3-PT FG%, 75.4 FT%, 27.8 mpg
The 13th McDonald’s All-American in program history, Ament was unanimously considered a five-star prospect, a top-four overall recruit in the class, and the best player in Virginia. In addition, Ament was tabbed the second-best player in the country by On3, as well as the fourth-best player by 247Sports, ESPN, and Rivals.
In Tennessee’s win over Texas A&M, Ament scored a career-high and game-leading 23 points, with 19 coming after halftime. Ament has four games with 20+ points and has started every game for the Volunteers this season.
Ament is on the Wayman Tisdale and Wooden Awards Midseason Watch Lists.
3. No. 23: Jaylen Carey — 6-8, 267 lbs. Jr. Forward; Southwest Ranches, Fla. (Vanderbilt Transfer)
Stats: 9.4 pts, 6.4 rebs, 52.9 FG%, 0-4 3-PT FG, 52.4 FT%, 18.6 mpg
Carey moved east on I-40 from Vanderbilt to Tennessee this offseason, and he is having a really good first season in Knoxville. Against Texas A&M on Tuesday, Carey had the game-winning basket and the game-clinching defensive rebound in the second overtime period. He has three double-doubles on the season.
At Vanderbilt last year, Mark Byington’s first season in Nashville, which culminated with an NCAA Tournament berth, Carey excelled in SEC play, leading the league in total offensive rebounds (57), as well as ranking second in offensive rebounding average (3.2) and No. 16 in total rebounding average (6.2).
The prior season at James Madison, he was one of 18 players—just two were freshmen—in Division I to shoot at least 65.0 percent from the field on 150-plus attempts, finishing No. 11 among that group.
Carey comes from an athletic family. His older brother, Vernon Carey Jr., was a 2019-20 All-American and the consensus national freshman of the year at Duke. He was selected No. 32 in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, and he played 37 NBA games over three seasons (2020-23) before continuing his career overseas.
In addition, his father, Vernon Carey Sr., was a national champion (2001) and All-American (2003) offensive lineman at Miami before going No. 19 in the 2004 NFL Draft to the Miami Dolphins, for whom he started 107 games over an eight-year NFL career (2004-11) and was on their 2008 AFC East-winning team.
4. No. 13: J.P. Estrella — 6-11, 240 lbs. R-So. Forward; Scarborough, Maine
Stats: 9.1 pts, 4.7 rebs, 65.2 FG%, 3-7 3-PT FG, 70.8 FT%, 13.4 mpg
Estrella is a tall, strong player. He owns a max reverse band back squat of 510 pounds, a 7-1.75 wingspan, and 9-3 standing reach, plus dropped 10 pounds and reduced his body fat by 5.2 percent in the offseason prior to his redshirt sophomore campaign. That tells you the kind of player he is.
So far this season, Estrella has three double-doubles. It’s amazing considering he hasn’t started a game this season. Keep in mind, though, that Estrella only played in three games last season and 25 the season before that. Tennessee is also deep in the frontcourt.
J.P.’s mother, then Allie Booth, played basketball at Boston College from 1995-99, after claiming the Maine Miss Basketball distinction in 1995. Her career ended in Knoxville on March 15, 1999, when the eighth-seeded Eagles fell to the top-seeded Lady Volunteers, the three-time reigning national champions, in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32, with Allie unable to play due to knee injuries that kept her out the entire season. But she still had a decorated career.
5. No. 34: Felix Okpara — 6-11, 243 lbs. Sr. Forward; Lagos, Nigeria (Ohio State Transfer)
Stats: 7.1 pts, 5.4 rebs, 28 blk, 51.7 FG%, 4-9 3-PT FG, 64.9 FT%, 25.5 mpg
Okpara is a beast inside, adding eight pounds in the offseason before his senior year, has a max reverse band back squat of 530 pounds, a plus-4 wingspan differential (7-3), and a team-best 9-4 standing reach, plus generates 1,626 pounds of vertical force in his isometric belt test. He’s coming off a 10-point, 12-rebound game against Texas A&M Tuesday in which he played a career-high 38 minutes. This season, Okpara has eight games with multiple blocks.
Last season, Okpara tied for the fourth-most blocks (64) in a single season by a Volunteer, as well as placed No. 11 in offensive rebounds (93), No. 12 in blocks per game (1.68), and No. 19 in offensive rebounding average (2.45).
Born in Nigeria, Okpara moved to the United States in August 2018 and settled in Chattanooga, Tenn. He is the third player from Nigeria to play for Tennessee.
6. No. 3: Bishop Boswell — 6-4, 204 lbs. So. Guard; Charlotte, N.C.
Stats: 6.1 pts, 4.4 rebs, 59.1 FG%, 60% 3-PT FG, 66.7 FT%, 23.7 mpg
Braswell enjoyed a career night Tuesday, setting career highs in points (13), rebounds (11), made free throws (eight), free-throw attempts (12), and minutes (43) in the double-overtime win versus Texas A&M (1/13/26), plus he tallied three assists and hit the game-tying free throw with 12.2 seconds left in regulation. Only three times has Braswell played fewer than 20 minutes
Braswell went to the same high school as New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. He comes from the same hometown as six former Tennessee players, including one-and-done first-round pick Jaden Springer (2020-21), SEC Player of the Year honoree Tony White (1983-87), and two-time SEC Player of the Year designee Grant Williams (2016-19).
7. No. 6: DeWayne Brown II — 6-8, 251 lbs. Fr. Forward; Hoover, Ala. (Hoover HS)
Stats: 5.7 pts, 4 rebs/gm., 66% FG, 62.5 FT%, 14.8 mpg
Brown has started seven straight games, pulling down 14 rebounds in his first start against Gardner-Webb. He has two SEC games with 10+ points.
In high school, Brown’s teams went 117-17, including notching a 96-7 ledger over his final three campaigns, while totaling over 1,800 points, 1,100 rebounds, and 300 blocks. He was named the Gatorade Alabama State Player of the Year, Alabama Mr. Basketball, and the MaxPreps Alabama State Player of the Year, the first basketball player from his school to win those awards, as well as the Starnes Media All-South Metro Co-Player of the Year.
Brown went to the same high school as several notable sports and entertainment people, including former MLB pitcher Jeff Brantley, “The Bachelor” Season 23 finalist Hannah Godwin, 2006 “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks, NFL wide receiver George Pickens, NFL placekicker Will Reichard, former WNBA player Sidney Spencer (Tennessee alumna), and 1995 Miss America winner Heather Whitestone.
8. No. 77: Amaree Abram — 6-5, 220 lbs. Sr. Guard; Pittsburgh (Louisiana Tech Transfer)
Stats: 4.3 pts, 1.8 rebs, 40% FG, 36.4 3-PT FG%, 13-16 FT, 13.7 mpg
Abram has started three games and has two games with 15 points this season.
At Louisiana Tech last season, Abram led the team in made 3-pointers (66) and free-throw percentage (min. 1 FTA/gm), as well as placed second in scoring, steals, minutes, made field goals (145), and 3-point percentage (min. 10 3PA).
Abram is from the same high school as former All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles and former tight end Kevin Everett. His second cousin, J’Covan Brown, scored 1,376 points under Rick Barnes over three years at Texas from 2009-12 before beginning a successful professional career overseas.
Head Coach: Rick Barnes (11th Season, 244-114; 39th Season Overall, 848-428)
With a 12-12 record against Kentucky in 24 games as the head coach at Tennessee, Rick Barnes is, arguably, the most underrated head coach in college basketball today. His track record of turning the tide in several programs and producing high-end talent who have gone on to play in the NBA is impressive.
The Volunteers have been to the Elite Eight in each of the last two seasons, and they have been to the Sweet 16 four times in Barnes’s first 10 seasons. In addition, the Volunteers have won two SEC regular-season titles and won the SEC Tournament in 2022. Barnes was the SEC Coach of the Year in 2018. Barnes has coached 10 NBA Draft picks at Tennessee, all since 2019.
Barnes most notably led Texas for 17 seasons prior to arriving in Rocky Top. The Longhorns reached the Final Four in 2003, with three Elite Eight appearances and five Sweet 16s. In addition, the Longhorns won three Big 12 regular-season titles and four Big 12 Coach of the Year awards. Barnes also coached 17 NBA Draft picks, including 11 first-rounders, most notably 2007 National Player of the Year Kevin Durant. He signed 15 McDonald’s All-Americans in 17 seasons at Texas.
Prior to Texas, Barnes led Clemson for four seasons. The Tigers reached the Sweet 16 in 1997, a season when they were ranked as high as No. 2 in the country.
Even before Clemson, Barnes was changing the tide of mid-major programs. At Providence for six seasons, the Friars made three NCAA Tournament appearances and won the 1994 Big East Tournament. Barnes’s first season as head coach was at George Mason in 1987-88, when the Patriots won 20 games, and Barnes was named CAA Coach of the Year.
Keys to the Game
1. Rebounding
Kentucky was bothered by LSU’s size Wednesday night in Baton Rouge, at least in the first half. Tennessee has even more size. Look at the players mentioned above, and their heights. Two of them are 6-8. One of them is 6-10. Two more are 6-11. Nine players overall are 6-5 or taller.
Rebounding will be paramount for the Wildcats if they want any shot at winning this game. In their 87-82 win over Texas A&M on Tuesday night, the Volunteers out-rebounded the Aggies 60-35. 60-35. Of those 60 rebounds, 24 were on the offensive glass.
Tennessee has five games with 50+ rebounds this season, and they have just one game below 10 offensive rebounds.
Keeping the rebound battle close, at the very least, is the biggest key to Saturday’s game.
2. Create opportunities to get out in transition
When the Wildcats do secure the defensive rebound, get out and run. Speed up the Volunteers, who are only allowing 68.1 points per game. Kentucky is good in transition, and it can help them in Saturday’s game.
3. Guard the paint, but don’t give up too much space on the perimeter
Give LSU credit on Wednesday night for hitting tough shots when the Wildcats were guarding the paint. LSU went 9-of-19 from three-point range but only scored 22 points in the paint.
A lot of LSU’s threes came because Kentucky gave the Tigers’ shooters a little too much space guarding the perimeter. Against Tennessee, Kentucky can’t give shooters like Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Bishop Braswell, and Amaree Abram any room to create shots. In addition, guarding the paint will be paramount on Saturday against Tennessee’s bigs. Seven players on Tennessee are shooting over 50% from the field.
4. Get off to a good start
This goes without further explanation. Falling behind by 12 to Mississippi State and 18 to LSU are two different things from what potentially falling behind by 18 against Tennessee could be. Falling behind by either of those margins will be asking for a repeat of the game against Gonzaga. How about setting the tone and putting Tennessee behind early? That would be another improvement for this Wildcats’ team that may be starting to find its rhythm.
Score Prediction: Volunteers 83, Wildcats 77
This is going to be a very interesting game, and I think it will be a good game. Right now, though, I think the Volunteers are a little further along than the Wildcats. But the Wildcats beat them in Knoxville last January without Lamont Butler, so they can win this game even without Jaland Lowe and, potentially, Jayden Quaintance. Regardless, this game will be very physical and a potential defensive battle.
