KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Antonio Reeves and D.J. Wagner converged on Dalton Knecht well beyond the 3-point line. It didn’t matter. Knecht, Tennessee’s superstar fifth-year senior guard, connected anyway with a little more than 13 minutes remaining Saturday. In the next minute, two more Volunteers attempted triples of their own: Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack; the Wildcats didn’t even bother to close out on the latter, leaving him wide open.

The result: misses from both Mashack and Zeigler.

The three possessions encapsulated the game: Kentucky had no answers for Knecht. But the Wildcats made every other player on the hosts a nonfactor offensively.

No. 13 Kentucky’s lock-tight defensive effort helped it beat No. 4 Tennessee at its own game, departing Thompson-Boling Arena with an 85-81 victory in tow.

"We just had to fight," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "This is one of those games (where) everybody's got to be in the fight. You can't leak out. You've got to battle. You've got to hit first. "

The Wildcats (23-8, 13-5 SEC) not only exacted payback for this season’s first meeting — the Volunteers won, 103-92, at Rupp Arena last month — but they also locked up the No. 2 seed and a double bye in the SEC Tournament, which begins next week in Nashville, Tennessee.

Knecht didn’t make it easy on them Saturday.

The likely SEC Player of the Year, in his final home game with the Volunteers (24-7, 14-4), gave the Tennessee faithful a performance to remember, exploding for a career-high 40 points, going 14 for 29 (48.3%) from the field — he converted 40% (6 for 15) of his 3s — and 6 of 9 at the free-throw line. Saturday was the seventh time this season he went for 30 or more. Knecht was the first foe to reach the 40-point mark against Kentucky since Texas A&M’s Elston Turner also had 40 in 2013 — and only the 21st time any opponent ever tallied that figure.

"Knecht went absolutely bonkers on us," Calipari said. "The plays that bothered me were the 3s, because we're saying, 'Make him bounce it,' and then a guy backs away or doesn't run through."

Knecht wasn't all that impressed with his feat, the 16th time in Tennessee history a Volunteer scored 40 points in a game.

"My teammates said I finally got 40," he said, "but, at the end of the day, we still lost.

"And that 40 don't really matter at all."

Rick Barnes wasn't singing Knecht's praises afterward, either.

"When I was taking him out, I said, 'Man, you've got to get the ball to your teammates some,'" said Barnes, in his ninth season as Tennessee's coach. "I said, 'You've got to get them off of you, and the way you do that is let those guys go get easy baskets.' ... But, again, he's a high-level competitor and he's a guy that, as we know, every shot he shoots, he thinks it's going in. I just thought he settled on some of them."

A scorer as gifted as Knecht, who entered the day second in the SEC in points per game (20.7), can develop tunnel vision.

"Well, like on a transition today, he was bringing the ball down the floor and (Tennessee guard) Jo (Josiah-Jordan James) was to his left, wide open," Barnes said. "I asked (Knecht), I said, 'Why didn't you pass his way?' (He said), 'I didn't see him.' Because he's so intent (on scoring)."

As well as he played, Knecht played right into Kentucky's hands.

Reeves said the defensive game plan was simple: Let Knecht get his points. Limit everyone else. And to Reeves' point about points, Knecht got little help; his teammates combined for just 41 points Saturday. Only one more than Knecht on his own.

"Just knowing he's going to score, you know he's going to make tough shots down the stretch," Reeves said. "You've just got to be there and try to figure it out — try to make sure these other guys don't (go) off as well."

In sum, Tennessee shot 37.8% (28 for 74) from the field. Consequently, UK remained unbeaten (8-0) this season in games in which it held its opponent to a 40%-or-worse shooting clip.

Take away Knecht's 14-for-29 showing and the Wildcats' defensive numbers Saturday look even better. The rest of the Volunteers connected on only 31.1% (14 for 45) of their attempts.

"The key (was) being physical, making sure we get on the glass after they get up a jumper," said Reeves, hinting at the fact Kentucky won the rebounding battle 42-37.

And left Barnes shaking his head.

"Offensively, we've got to be better, got to be better," he said. "Put too much pressure on our defense."

In doing so, it flipped the script on the identity of these two teams.

The Wildcats, the frenetic offensive powerhouse (averaging nearly 90 points per game at Saturday's outset). The Volunteers, the defensive stalwart (second-best field-goal percentage in the nation at 38.3%).

On this day, Kentucky beat Tennessee at its own game.

Solely from a defensive perspective, Saturday couldn't have been more different than the first time the Wildcats tangled with the Volunteers this season. When the teams played Feb. 3 in Lexington, Tennessee made nearly half of its shots (36 for 74; 48.6%) as it lit up the Rupp Arena scoreboard for 103 points.

As the top-two seeds in next week's league tournament, might a Round 3 be in store?

"If we do ... hey, I can't wait for it," Reeves said. "We definitely gonna be ready."

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball: John Calipari, Cats beat Tennessee with defense