The Kentucky Wildcats just won their most important game of the season, taking down the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville.
This win helped secure Kentucky as the two-seed in the SEC Tournament, meaning they locked up the double bye and have the Wildcats as a three-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
A big reason why the Kentucky Wildcats were able to take down the Tennessee Volunteers was thanks to the freshman Reed Sheppard. He had 27 points going 9-14 from the field and 7-10 from deep. The Kentucky kid couldn't miss in Knoxville and you could see he didn't want to get swept by the Volunteers. Like normal, Sheppard filled the entire stat sheet, grabbing six rebounds, dishing five assists, blocking a shot, and adding a steal.
The performance from Sheppard earned him some kudos from a former Kentucky Wildcat. Keion Brooks Jr. had this to say about Sheppard's performance on Twitter/X, "Aye, chill out @reed_sheppard."
Brooks Jr. is having quite the season himself, averaging 21.2 points per game for Washington. The senior is shooting a career-high 39.5% from three. Prior to this season Brooks Jr. never had a season shooting above 30% from beyond the arc. This has the former Wildcat listed as a finalist for the Erving Award.
Sheppard and Brooks Jr. have been two of the best players in college hoops this season.
The Kentucky freshman showed up big time in this win, and one thing we learned from the win over Tennessee is for Kentucky to win the NCAA Tournament, Sheppard needs to shoot the ball a lot.
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