Kentucky Wildcats and Tennessee Volunteers players nearly came to blows after Kentucky’s comeback win on Saturday.
The Wildcats rallied from 17 points down to beat Tennessee 80-78 at Food City Center in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday. At the final whistle, Tennessee’s Jaylen Carey and Kentucky’s Otega Oweh seemingly got into each other’s faces, and the two teams very nearly had a full fight on the floor.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope had to sprint in from the sideline to keep his players away from Tennessee’s.
The benches had to be separated after Kentucky came back from 17 points down to defeat No. 24 Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/i5YQnDvWWt
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 17, 2026
Both coaching staffs were able to keep things from getting truly out of hand, and the situation never escalated beyond some pushing and shoving.
The Wildcats have had a rough season that, at times, has led to calls for Pope to be fired. There was no doubt some relief and jubilation after a double-digit comeback on the road against a ranked team, and Tennessee may have taken offense to that.
Tennessee will travel to Kentucky for a rematch on Feb. 7. Presumably, this will be largely forgotten by then if it’s up to the coaches.
