“Respect” was a word spoken often in Tennessee’s locker room Friday night after the Volunteers beat Mississippi State 83-76 in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Team leaders Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams said Kentucky showed its disrespect of Tennessee during the 86-69 victory over the Vols on Feb. 16 in Rupp Arena.
“This is a big-time rivalry for us,” Schofield said of Saturday’s UK-UT game in the SEC Tournament semifinals. “I don’t know about for them. Because we sense they don’t respect us as much.”
Williams described the attitude of UK players toward the Vols was “these dudes have all this hype, but they’re not that good.