The last few minutes of Kentucky’s comeback win vs. Tennessee were thrilling enough. What happened after was just icing on the cake.
After the buzzer sounded, Otega Oweh started celebrating near Jaylen Carey, prompting Nate Ament to put a hand up to tell Oweh to keep his distance. Oweh smacked Ament’s hand down, which led to Carey shoving Oweh, and Brandon Garrison to jump in and defend his teammate. The fight was on.
As the benches cleared, Mark Pope flew in from the other sideline, grabbed Garrison’s jersey, and yanked him and Oweh away. Nothing serious ended up happening, but the videos are pretty entertaining, with Kam Williams and several other Cats clapping and Jaland Lowe throwing his hands up in disgust at the Vols, who had to walk off their own court with a loss to Kentucky for the fourth year in a row.
FIGHT IN KNOXVILLE
As the Clock hits zero and a scrum insures. Kentucky narrowly upsets #24 Tennessee 80-78 in a comeback win. Appears to be Jaylen Carey shoving Otega Oweh
pic.twitter.com/bk0J6Xlucp
— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) January 17, 2026
Pope sprinting over to break the fight up was reminiscent of the scuffle during Kentucky’s win over Louisville in Rupp Arena in 2024. Brandon Garrison was involved in that one, too.
After finishing up the postgame press conference, Pope, Denzel Aberdeen, and Collin Chandler stopped to say hello to Kentucky fans who had stuck around Food City Center after the game.
Back in the locker room, Oweh, Garrison, and the Cats had quite a surprise in store for Pope when he walked in, dousing him with water. Garrison went live on Instagram to share it with BBN.
Kentucky players dump water on Mark Pope after beating Tennessee – Photo by UK Athletics
Kentucky players dump water on Mark Pope after beating Tennessee – Photo by UK Athletics
Kentucky players dump water on Mark Pope after beating Tennessee – Photo by UK Athletics
Kentucky players dump water on Mark Pope after beating Tennessee – Photo by UK Athletics
What a fun afternoon. Let’s keep doing it, maybe without the big first-half deficits.