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Kentucky sneaks past Vols

Jan 14, 2012 - 10:20 PM Knoxville, TN (Sports Network) - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 17 points, 12 rebounds and three steals, as the second-ranked Kentucky Wildcats snuck past the Tennessee Volunteers, 65-62.

Anthony Davis added 18 points, eight boards and four blocks for the Wildcats (17-1, 3-0 SEC), who have won nine in a row since losing against Indiana on December 10.

Kentucky head coach John Calipari was impressed by Tennessee, particularly their toughness.

"I don't really care what their record is," Calipari said, "(Tennessee) is an NCAA Tournament team."

Jeronne Maymon ended with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Volunteers (8-9, 1-2), who have lost three of four. Cameron Tatum tallied 16 points.

With the game tied at 54-54 with seven minutes to play, the Wildcats ripped off eight straight points. Kidd-Gilchrist made a three-pointer during the surge, which Davis capped with a jumper to make it a 62-54 game with under a minute remaining.

Tennessee was able to make things a bit interesting, thanks to three-pointers from Skylar McBee and Tatum. Kentucky's Doron Lamb missed a free throw between the three-pointers.

Darius Miller made a pair of free throws with 19.4 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 64-60 edge. Them, after Tatum missed a three, Kidd-Gilchrist made 1-of-2 from the foul line to make it 65-60.

"I thought Kidd-Gilchrist kind of set the tone for those guys down the stretch and made big plays at the right time," said Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin. "I thought we did a good job competing. Down the stretch, we didn't score the ball. They did a good job knocking it out of our big guys' hands late. I thought we did a good job across the board."

Kentucky used an 8-0 spurt late in the first half to grab a 28-25 lead with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.

But Tennessee scored the final nine points of the first half to go back in front. Maymon tallied four points during the flurry to help the home team take a 34-28 edge into the locker room.

Game Notes

Kentucky owns a commanding 147-66 lead in the all-time series with Tennessee, and the Wildcats have won the last four meetings...The Volunteers went 6- for-17 from three-point range...Kentucky made 21 free throws, compared to 14 for Tennessee.