Jamie Vaught: After stellar performances, anticipation is heightened for coming Kentucky-Tennessee showdown

Yes, I know that showdown is over three weeks away, but it’s sure going to be fun to watch the three-point shooting contest between old rivals Kentucky and Tennessee when both schools clash on Tuesday night, January 28 in Knoxville, featuring the nation’s top shooters who are fifth-year players.

Going into this week’s SEC action, Kentucky’s Koby Brea and Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier, a former UK recruiting target, are the conference’s top two 3-point shooters in percentage. Also, Brea is currently ranked first in the nation (and SEC) with 52.3 percent (45 of 86 three-point field goals) and Lanier is at No. 11 in the country and No. 2 in the conference with 46.7 percent (56 of 120).

They were hot Saturday afternoon, shooting long downtown jumpers and leading their teams to SEC season-opening victories at home.  Brea came off the bench to hit seven of nine 3-pointers for a team-high 23 points as No. 10 UK overcame No. 6 Florida 106-100, while Lanier gunned in five of nine 3-pointers for a game-high 29 points in top- ranked Vols’ 76-52 win over Arkansas.

That Kentucky-Tennessee showdown should be dandy to watch.

But for now let’s discuss Brea’s stunning performance against the Gators at Rupp Arena. It was a terrific showdown for both schools that many folks wouldn’t forget for a long time.

A graduate transfer from Dayton, Brea was simply hot, making unbelievable shots from everywhere.  And it’s something that he has done remarkably well in recent years.

Last season, the 6-foot-7, 215-pound Brea led the nation in 3-point percentage, hitting 100 of 201 shots for nearly 50 percent, the nation’s highest mark in six seasons.

“By the numbers, Koby Brea is the most efficient mid-to-high major player in college basketball in the last decade,” said Kentucky coach Mark Pope after signing Brea last May.

Before the 2024-25 season began, Andy Katz of the NCAA.com picked Brea as the nation’s top 3-point shooter.

Moments after UK’s impressive six-point win, Pope said of Brea, “He was magical tonight, wasn’t he? You are hard-pressed to make a real cogent argument that he’s not the best shooter in the country. It’s just ridiculous. The way he shoots it, how he gets it off, where he shoots it, how high he shoots it. Clearly, he was massively important for us and he was also another huge catalyst in those runs. He was spectacular. He has also grown immensely on the defensive end. He’s also like the most beautiful kid you are ever going to meet man. He’s special.”

Added Florida coach Todd Golden, whose Gators lost for the first time this season in 14 games, “We thought if we did a good job defending Koby and Jaxson (Robinson) we would be in good shape and we did not. I thought Koby did a great job taking advantage of his opportunities and there were times when we were standing in space, but it felt like every time we gave him a little bit of room, he was able to separate and knock it down. He did not let us off the hook today.”

Brea said the Rupp Arena atmosphere was wild. “Honestly, it felt amazing—just being able to look up into the stand of the scene,” he said. “The whole gym was crowded, and everybody was super excited and loud about the game. I think that’s the loudest I have probably heard it all year. So, it was unbelievable to just be in that atmosphere and play against such a good opponent.”

On the energy from the Big Blue Nation, Lamont Butler, who had 19 points along with eight assists, said, “(It was) crazy. I think Koby deserves (the love) — he was hot tonight. But it was a great effort from everyone. I try to do my part. At the end of the game, it was just a winning mentality.”

ESPN broadcaster Dan Schulman, who covered the game with Jay Bilas, agreed.  “I’ve been doing this 30 years,” he tweeted on X. “I can count on one hand where both the game and the environment were as good as they were today at Rupp for Kentucky-Florida. College basketball at its best.”

A two-time Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year while at Dayton, Brea is currently UK’s third leading scorer with 12.7 points behind Otega Oweh (15.9 points) and Butler (13.8 points). Brea has made at least one 3-pointer in every game this season and became the third Wildcat with at least seven 3s against a top 25 opponent dating back to 1996-97.

Meanwhile, the 6-foot-5 Lanier is a late bloomer who played four years at North Florida before picking Tennessee over several schools, including Kentucky and Brigham Young.

He is a native of Nashville and both of his parents played college basketball, with his father scoring 1,247 points at Lipscomb during the mid-1990s and his mother competing at Alcorn State in 1988-89.
 
The next game for the Wildcats, now 12-2, is Tuesday night when they visit the Georgia Bulldogs, also 12-2. The 7 p.m. ET contest will be shown on the SEC Network.

Tennessee (14-0) visits Florida in Gainesville on Tuesday.  The 7 p.m. ET matchup will be shown on ESPN2.

Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of six books about UK basketball, including recently-published “Forever Crazy About The Cats: An Improbable Journey of a Kentucky Sportswriter Overcoming Adversity.” Now a retired college professor who taught at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro., he is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at [email protected].