Bone's big game helps No. 7 Vols beat No. 4 Kentucky 71-52


STEVE MEGARGEE (AP Sports Writer),The Associated Press•March 2, 2019

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee didn't like the way it got pushed around at Kentucky two weeks ago. The Volunteers pushed back in the rematch and delivered a knockout blow.

Jordan Bone scored a career-high 27 points and No. 7 Tennessee beat No. 4 Kentucky 71-52 on Saturday to maintain its home-court dominance. The decisive win came two weeks after the Vols fell 86-69 at Kentucky, a loss that snapped a school-record 19-game winning streak and dropped Tennessee out of the No. 1 ranking.

Tennessee (26-3, 14-2 SEC) earned its 25th straight home victory to remain tied for first place in the Southeastern Conference with No. 13 LSU - the Tigers beat Alabama 74-69 earlier in the day. The Vols haven't lost a home game since falling 94-84 to Auburn on Jan. 2, 2018.

The Vols also beat Kentucky (24-5, 13-3) at home for a fourth straight year to delight a sellout crowd in the first regular season matchup of top-10 teams at Thompson-Boling Arena since the facility's 1987 opening. Tennessee is 4-0 at home against Kentucky under coach Rick Barnes.