Tennessee player says Volunteers are still 'a better team' than Kentucky despite another loss

For the second straight season, Kentucky swept the Tennessee Volunteers during regular-season play.

The Wildcats won the rematch on Saturday in Rupp Arena, 74-71, overcoming a 14-point halftime deficit while holding Tennessee to just a 6-30 shooting clip in the second half. That win came a few weeks after Kentucky fought back from a 17-point first-half hole in Knoxville to complete the comeback victory. The Volunteers thoroughly outplayed UK in the first halves of both matchups, but basketball games are 40 minutes long for a reason.

And even with all of that in mind, Tennessee guard Bishop Boswell still thinks his team is better than the one with two checks in the win column.

“I think the most frustrating thing is we know we’re a better team than (Kentucky),” Boswell said after Saturday’s loss in Lexington. “We haven’t put 40 minutes of basketball together against them. That comes down to me especially on the defensive end, just being that anchor, and I didn’t do the job I needed to.”

Bishop Boswell on what is most frustrating after suffering a pair of losses to Kentucky this season.

"We know we're a better team than them." pic.twitter.com/nNDW7wQDx4
— Paige Dauer (@PaigeDauerFDP) February 8, 2026

One would argue that a better team would put together a complete 40-minute game. Kentucky couldn’t even do that and still picked up wins in both contests. Across 80 minutes of action between these two teams this season, UK has led for just 5:12 of them. When the game got tight down the stretch, it was Mark Pope’s Wildcats that made the necessary plays.

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Better teams typically find ways to win close games.

“We get that lead and we then we start to get too passive,” Boswell added. “I guess they wanted it more than us.”

To Boswell’s credit, he performed much better on the hardwood in round two than in round one — although he didn’t earn any fans within the Big Blue Nation along the way. He posted 10 points, eight rebounds, and three assists in the most recent loss after going for just four points and three rebounds earlier this year. But too many missed shots at the rim and costly turnovers for Tennessee as a team had the Vols once again on the wrong side of the final score a couple of nights ago in Rupp.