Mark Pope's Kentucky team made the trip to Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers in a game no one thought the shorthanded Wildcats would win. Despite this, without Lamont Butler and Andrew Carr,

Five things you need to know from No. 12 Kentucky’s gut-check 78-73 win at No. 8 Tennessee in SEC men’s basketball: 1. Mark Pope, slayer of rivals. There is a school of thought that one of a college head coach’s primary jobs is beating the teams his/her fan base dislike the most.

Heading into the matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers, not many believed Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats would win without point guard Lamont Butler. Andrew Car

Vols senior point guard Zakai Zeigler, who injured his right knee late in the first half, returned to action and scored 13 points but was only 1-of-10 from 3-point range. Igor Milicic led Tennessee with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Lanier had 15 points and was 3-of-10 on 3-point tries.

There were many who thought Kentucky did not have a prayer at Tennessee Tuesday night. And by many, I mean, me. And sure, there were others.

Kentucky and Tennessee traded blows for the full 40 minutes in Knoxville. Ultimately, No. 11 Kentucky prevailed over the No. 8 Vols, 78-73.

Pope took over after John Calipari left for Arkansas in a stunning turn of events. However, Pope wasted no time winning over the fanbase, especially since he is a former Kencutky basketball player. Moreover, moves such as this one only helped Pope's case more, and fans were excited to see the fan interaction with the Wildcats coach.

Kentucky, playing without both of its veteran point guards, scored a major upset over No. 8 Tennessee in Knoxville on Tuesday night.

Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 78-73 win against the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville on Tuesday night:

The Kentucky Wildcats have lost two back-to-back games as the Alabama Crimson Tide won in Rupp Arena and the Wildcats lost to Vanderbilt in Nashville. As expect

Auburn has all but sewn up its first one-seed since 1998-99 with an incredible 12-1 record against Quad 1 opponents. Houston led all teams with 13 Quad 1 wins in the regular season last season, and the Tigers have a chance to smash that mark with eight more Quad 1 matchups over their final 11 games of the regular season.