“I’AM LEAVING” NBA Guard Reed Sheppard has announced that he is leaving the Kentucky Wildcats due to…..

The University of Kentucky men’s basketball team played the University of Tennessee in a Southeastern Conference game in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday.

The 15th-ranked Wildcats defeated the fourth-ranked Volunteers 85-81.

Next up for Kentucky (23-8 overall, 13-5 SEC) is the SEC Tournament, which gets underway Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

James scored 26 points in Lexington. He entered that game having made one of his 18 3-point attempts in league play.

He exited 4-for-9 from distance and 9-for-18 overall.

He ended up reaching double figures in just four of Tennessee’s 18 SEC games.

His 26 in that first game was by far his league high.

Saturday, James scored just eight points. He was 2-for-9 from the floor, including 2-for-6 from 3-point land.

After cutting an 11-point Kentucky lead with 55 seconds left to a three-point lead with 31.4 seconds left, it was James who missed a 3-point attempt that would have tied the game.

James took that shot after Dalton Knecht fell down along the baseline as Tennessee was trying to run a play.

Speaking of Knecht, he scored 40 points Saturday. His teammates scored 41. Knecht was 14-for-29 shooting from the floor.

HIs teammates were 14-for-45. Knecht was 6-for-15 shooting on his 3-pointers.

His teammates were 6-for-20.

Lunardi has UConn as the No. 1 seed in the East with North Carolina at No. 2 and Kansas at No. 4. Talk about a Blue Blood regional.