Despite the shooting struggles, combined with the absence of Tsheibwe down the stretch, Kentucky had its chances. The Wildcats narrowed a 14-point deficit to 65-62 with 1:30 left, but failed to score the remainder of the contest. The Volunteers made four of six free throws in the final 58 seconds to secure the win.

“We knew would be a physical bump-and-grind game, and I thought we held our own, but there were … when we had it to six, there were three plays back to back to back,” Calipari said. “You can’t win national championships on plays like that. You cannot because a good team will make you pay just like Tennessee made us pay. You can’t, and they were our mistakes. A back door, we were running a play. The guy went the wrong way.”

Brooks led four players in double figures for Kentucky with 19 points, followed by Washington with 17. Sahvir Wheeler followed Tshiebwe and chipped in with 10 points.

Tennessee will face eighth-seeded Texas A&M in the league’s title game Sunday.

“People say, ‘Well, you might be better off to leave, go home and regroup,’” Vols coach Rick Barnes said. “I don’t know of any coaches that I’ve ever been around that thought like that.

“This time of year, every game is a playoff game. … And you want to be playing your best basketball because we also know that it can go the other way real quick. You want to keep building that momentum,” he said.