LEXINGTON, KY. ? “Billyball” may have finally arrived at Kentucky.
Patrick Patterson scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Wildcats knocked off No. 3 Tennessee 72-66 on Tuesday night.
Ramel Bradley had 16 points and Perry Stevenson added 14 points and seven rebounds for Kentucky (8-9, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) which held the Volunteers (16-2, 3-1) to just three field goals over the final 10 minutes to snap their 11-game winning streak.
Playing with the kind of sustained effort first-year coach Billy Gillispie has been preaching would come once his team was healthy, Kentucky shut down the SEC’s highest-scoring offense with a gritty defensive performance that was the trademark of the teams Gillispie coached at Texas A&M.
Tennessee star Chris Lofton led the Volunteers with 22 points, knocking down five 3-pointers to set the SEC record for career 3s with 367, breaking the mark held by former Arkansas guard Pat Bradley.
Wayne Chism added 12 points and six rebounds and Ramar Smith had 10 points for the Volunteers, but Tennessee lost its composure after building a 10-point lead early in the second half.
Kentucky was 24-of-28 from the free throw line.
No. 11 Wisconsin 64, Michigan 61
Madison, Wis. – Marcus Landry and Michael Flowers both scored 14 points for the Badgers who remained undefeated in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin (16-2, 6-0) couldn’t shake the Wolverines (5-14, 1-6) despite shooting better than 50 percent from the field, committing just 11 turnovers and going 6-of-9 from the free throw line.
Michigan dominated the glass 36-24.
No. 22 Drake 68, Creighton 60, OT
Omaha, Neb. – Josh Young hit a tie-breaking three-pointer in overtime and Drake celebrated its first national ranking in 33 years.
Young, the Valley’s leading scorer, had missed the last three games with a sprained right ankle and was wearing a walking boot as recently as Monday. His 3 from the top of the key broke a 54-54 tie.
Kaleb Korver’s three-pointer with 50 seconds left pulled the Bluejays within 61-59, but the Bulldogs put the game away at the free throw line to extend their school-record winning streak to 16 games.