Big Blue Preview: Kentucky at Tennessee

Kentucky guard Jaxson Robinson has played a lot of college basketball. In fact, Robinson has played in 115 college games, so he knows the nature of the college game, and that things are not always going to go in your favor.

“I’ve been doing this for five years and I know that conference play is up and down,” Robinson said. “It’s not going to be uphill the whole time. You’re going to have your ups and downs but you have to keep pushing through it. Eventually, you will see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Robinson and his Cats have lost two games in a row, falling to Alabama then to Vanderbilt. Now, Kentucky goes on the road to face eighth-ranked Tennessee in what’s sure to be a hostile Thompson-Boling Arena. Robinson knows how good the Vols are and that they will pose a big challenge for Kentucky.

“They’re a tough team, everybody knows that,” Robinson said. “So, just going in there with a chip on our shoulder, knowing we’ve got something to prove, especially after the last game and the performance we put out there in the first half. We’re just looking to fix it and change it and hopefully come out with a win.”

Tennessee has lost two of its last three games. Like Kentucky, the Vols lost at Vanderbilt, but UT was able to rebound to beat Mississippi State before falling in a tough game at Auburn on Saturday.

On that same Saturday, in UK’s loss at Vanderbilt, Kentucky was uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball. The Cats had 17 turnovers, which tied a season high. Robinson believes that Saturday’s game was the exception rather than the rule.

“I think we were just careless,” Robinson said. “I think there were a lot of errors that we don’t normally make. But we’re human, we make mistakes. All we can do is go and learn from it. I think we’ll see that the rest of this year.”

The Cats are currently on the roller coaster that is the 2025 season in the Southeastern Conference. As Robinson said, there are going to be plenty of ups and downs, and Kentucky hopes to get back on an upward trajectory on Tuesday in Knoxville.

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