Lamont Butler did what he could for the Kentucky Wildcats Friday night in their 78-65 Sweet 16 loss to Tennessee Basketball, going 4-of-5 from three with 18 points. However, he had some nerve guaranteeing a win against the Vols earlier in the week, claiming UK was battle-tested.
That quote was based of Kentucky sweeping the Vols during the regular season. Butler missed the game UK won in Knoxville and was limited in the game they won in Lexington, so he had little to do with either win. Still, he ran his mouth against a veteran team that could dominate them on any given night.
Whoops.
Because of his lack of impact in the sweep, Butler won’t get a break from his comments just because of his elite play Friday night. He lit a fire inside Tennessee Basketball, and the Vols were able to turn that fire into an explosion with the way their defense suffocated Kentucky throughout the night.
Look, UT was the better team all year. Chaz Lanier was still figuring out how to be an elite scorer with less spacing in SEC play in both of the Vols’ regular season losses, and Kentucky shot an elite percentage in both of those games as well, going 12-of-24 from three each time.
Now, they have figured those things out, and the sweep at the hands of Kentucky combined with Butler’s comments meant they were not going to take this matchup lightly. As a result, the sweep turned out to be a good thing for the Vols overall.
If Tennessee Basketball had beaten Kentucky on the road after losing to them at home, they would see that home loss as a fluke. However, if they had won at home but then lost on the road, they would just attribute that loss to being another tough SEC road game. Obviously, sweeping Kentucky would’ve made them feel like they own this series.
Simply put, no matter how things played out, if they had not been swept by Kentucky this year, given the way UK is built, they would have walked into this Sweet 16 matchup feeling like they are the better team and can sleepwalk their way to victory. Losing twice in the regular season made sure that wouldn’t be the case.
Instead, Tennessee Basketball came in level-headed, focused and a little extra angry given what Butler said. It worked out, as the Vols ended up manhandling a team they were always better than. Now, Barnes and co. are in their second straight Elite Eight. Give them credit for not backing down from a challenge and a tough matchup, but two losses in the regular season assured that wouldn’t happen.
