Maybe don’t hit publish on any of those Kentucky basketball season obituaries just yet.

Coach Mark Pope’s second team in Lexington still has plenty of room to improve, but the Cats completed their second straight double-digit road comeback on Saturday — toppling Tennessee 80-78 in Knoxville, Tenn., after trailing by as many as 17. Earlier this week, Kentucky rallied from down 18 early in the second half to beat LSU 75-74 in Baton Rouge, La.

With Saturday’s win — arguably Kentucky’s best this season, and its six in its last seven games against Tennessee — the Cats not only moved to 12-6 overall and 3-2 in the SEC, but solidified their standing on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

And after a rough beginning, UK has proven it isn’t going down without a fight this season.

“I hope people aren’t missing this,” Pope told reporters postgame. “I hope they’re not missing what this group is going through and what this group is trying to endure.”

So, how did Pope’s team do it after trailing for more than 39 minutes on Saturday?

By steadily chipping away at the Vols’ lead throughout the second half, largely behind the dynamic scoring of guard Denzel Aberdeen, who dropped 18 of his team-high 22 points in the final 20 minutes. The Vols, leading 77-76, had a chance to close the game out with under a minute left, but Kentucky guard Collin Chandler intercepted a pass from Ja’Kobi Gillespie to Nate Ament, starting a UK fast break. Chandler dished the ball in transition to Otega Oweh, who laid it up and drew an and-1 foul with 34.3 seconds left to give Kentucky its first lead all day, 78-77.

Oweh missed the subsequent free throw, but Kentucky forward Mouhamed Dioubate got the offensive rebound and gave it to Aberdeen, who hit a decisive layup with under 20 seconds left.

Gillespie got fouled on Tennessee’s final offensive possession on the other end, going to the free-throw line with 2.6 seconds left for two shots, down 3 points. He made the first, then intentionally missed the second, and it worked. Tennessee forward Jaylen Carey secured the offensive rebound off the miss.

But for the second straight game, Kentucky freshman big man Malachi Moreno, who hit the game-winning shot as time expired against LSU, made a winning play. Moreno blocked Carey’s last-second layup attempt at the buzzer to prevent overtime and seal UK’s comeback victory.

Tennessee (12-6, 2-3 SEC) did not make a basket over the final 5:38, its offense collapsing in real time.

Immediately after the final whistle, Oweh appeared to say something to Carey, who shoved him and started a fracas between the two teams. But Pope and Tennessee coach Rick Barnes quickly helped dissipate the skirmish.

The benches had to be separated after Kentucky came back from 17 points down to defeat No. 24 Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/i5YQnDvWWt

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 17, 2026

“It was great coming to Knoxville again,” Chandler said postgame. “Our team loves playing in Knoxville.”

Beyond Kentucky’s fight, this week also proves that even without point guard Jaland Lowe, who had season-ending shoulder surgery, and future NBA lottery pick center Jayden Quaintance, who missed his third straight game with knee soreness, the Cats are capable of hanging around in the SEC.

And if Quaintance, The Athletic’s No. 6 player in the 2026 NBA Draft class, can return and play regular minutes?

Well, maybe Kentucky still has a few more surprises in store.