There is good news for the Tennessee Volunteers. Yes, that No. 1 ranking is history … but college hoops is more of a marathon than a sprint. Most teams’ low points don’t define their season — how they respond to those low points defines the season. It feels almost destined that Tennessee will meet Kentucky not just once more, perhaps not just twice more in March. Kentucky’s 86-69 win Saturday night at Rupp is just Round 1. But if the Vols need to figure out how to respond …

Well, they might take a long look at Kentucky.

After all, in case anybody has forgotten, this is the Kentucky team that had its own Top 5 showdown to open the season, only to get poleaxed by Duke 118-84. What has led Kentucky from getting overwhelmed in November to beating the nation’s top-ranked team by 17 points in February? Developing players developing, basically.

In November, P.J. Washington was dominated by Duke, scoring 8 points and grabbing 2 rebounds while fouling out in 17 ineffective minutes against Zion Williamson.

Against Tennessee, Washington was the best player on the floor, with 23 points and 5 boards via a 9-for-12 shooting night. Forget Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield, Washington was the SEC’s best player Saturday night.

In November, Ashton Hagans was lost—two points, four assists, three turnovers, and four fouls in 19 minutes while Duke shot 54% against UK.

Against UT, Hagans had 9 points — which is about as much scoring as he’ll generally produce. Meanwhile, he had 7 assists against 1 turnover, and helped harass UT into a 41 percent shooting effort.

Add in consistent efforts from freshman guard Keldon Johnson, who is perhaps UK’s most consistent player, and freshman Tyler Herro, who was a key component in the game despite shooting 3-for-11, due to grabbing 13 rebounds.  Top with some veteran leadership from Reid Travis, and bench contributions from E.J. Montgomery and Nick Richards.

The Kentucky team that looked hopeless in November —and  it must be noted, was outworked earlier this week by LSU on its home floor — showed just how good it can be. Going forward, there’s no reason to think Tennessee cannot do the same.

Grant Williams never looked very comfortable against Kentucky’s big men. Admiral Schofield managed 17 points, but he was inefficient on offense and picked up some random fouls defensively.

The Vols need better production from guards Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bowden, who combined to shoot 3-for-18, including 0-for-11 from 3-point range. The Vols need to not get outrebounded by 13 (39-26 final margin), and they need to create more than 4 steals and 1 block. The good news is that in their other 24 games this season, UT has never fared worse than a -3 rebounding margin, and they have always produced more than 5 steals plus blocks.

At its worst, Tennessee is mortal. It is also, as John Calipari noted after he shushed the home crowd from the singularly stupid late-game chant that speaks to the contrary, “not overrated.” The Kentucky coach continued, “If anything, they are underrated.”

Let those who fixate on teams’ weakest moments continue to underrate both Tennessee and Kentucky.

Rick Barnes will immediately begin the same task that John Calipari has undergone since November — forgetting the bad, building on the good, and working toward being ready when the chips are all down.

When Kentucky and Tennessee are right (which is becoming more frequent), they look like two teams that will play deep into March and perhaps April. Maybe even against each other.