Rick Barnes immediately pulled the senior guard from the game at Texas not because of the errant pass. He was pulled for not shooting. "That play was designed for that shot," the Vols coach said.

Kentucky basketball fans have had a long line of Tennessee coaches to hate, but Rick Barnes is the exception to the rule.

For Kentucky, the game before The Game was a tough one on paper — a Tuesday night road contest against Rick Barnes' Tennessee Vols, who were ranked No. 1 in the country just a few weeks ago and listed as 10.

Rick Barnes is now in year 10 on Rocky Top and has another contender at Tennessee. The Vols have a top-five defense for the fifth consecutive season and have a great chance to get to their third consecutive Sweet 16.

Tennessee basketball is angling for another No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It has been a No. 2 seed twice previously under Rick Barnes.

Freshman Tre Johnson leads the Longhorns at 18,8 points per game. He leads Texas in a road game at Ole Miss Wednesday,

Even if the celebrations prove costly. The court-storming after the win over the Vols cost the Commodores a $250,000 fine from the SEC, and a second storming after the win over the Wildcats earned them another $500,000 punishment. “We got to start a GoFundMe page or something to pay fines,” Byington said. “We’ll figure it out.”

There’s more at stake in Tuesday night’s Kentucky-Tennessee basketball game than simply a win against an SEC rival.

How Mark Pope’s Wildcats and Rick Barnes’ Volunteers match up at each position for Tuesday’s SEC men’s basketball showdown.

One week after giving birth to her first child, Kim Caldwell plans to coach the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team Monday night in its SEC showdown with South Carolina, the defending NCAA champion.

Kim Caldwell will be back on the sideline Monday night when her 17th-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols host the defending national champion South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Longhorns welcome in No. 1 Tennessee and former Texas coach Rick Barnes to Moody Center for their next game Saturday, and they have plenty of things to work on over the next few days.