Zakai Zeigler uncorked a shot and missed. A few seconds later, Darlinstone Dubar fired one off and had the same result. Zeigler got another chance off of a Jordan Gainey rebound, but was off.

In the span of 14 seconds, Tennessee missed three three-point attempts on one possession. By the time Koby Brea finally pulled down a defensive board for Kentucky, there was 3:07 left on the clock and the Vols trailed by five.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

If one sequence could sum up the No. 8 Vols’ night Tuesday, it was that one. Tennessee finished 11-of-45 from deep–the second-most attempts in program history–and played from behind much of the second half in its 78-73 loss to No. 12 Kentucky at Food City Center.

There was a reason the Vols took those shots. They were open most of the night, largely by design. The Wildcats, led into Knoxville for the first time by first-year head coach Mark Pope, were going to force a Tennessee team that has struggled offensively to beat them from the perimeter.

“We knew (Kentucky) would give us all the threes we wanted. We knew that was going to happen,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “And we didn’t start the game the way we wanted to, with what we had talked about, trying to move the ball. And we knew we could shoot a three any time we wanted to. That’s what they were looking for.

“And when we obviously weren’t making them, they were going to back up even more. Why not?”

Barnes didn’t necessarily fault the shots his team took. The problem for the Vols was that they were unable to take advantage of it.

Chaz Lanier, the team’s leading scorer, was 3-of-10 and Zakai Zeigler finished 1-of-11. Igor Milicic Jr., who had been in a shooting slump, was a bright spot, going 4-of-8 as part of a 19-point outing.

The performance came just three days after Tennessee (17-4, 4-4 SEC) shot just 31% from the field in a two-point defeat at Auburn. The Vols at least had the backing of an incredible defensive effort that gave it a chance in the final seconds.

Tennessee had too many defensive lapses to overcome against Kentucky (15-5, 4-3), which made 50% of its own 3-pointers and had five players finish in double-scoring figures.

“After the effort we put in (at Auburn), not to come with the same focus and especially playing at home coming off a loss is tough,” Barnes said.

That effort vs. Auburn was nearly good enough to win inside one of the toughest venues in the country, and it would likely be good enough to beat almost any team in college basketball. But when it is not there, like it wasn’t on Tuesday, The Vols showed that they simply don’t have the offensive firepower to make up for it.

It plagued team at Florida a month ago and then again in a loss to Vanderbilt where they had to play catch-up most of the afternoon. Tennessee will play the No. 5 Gators (18-2, 5-2) for the second time on Saturday (1 p.m. ET, ESPN) at home, continuing a daunting stretch against ranked teams.

“We’ve had games where we have (made shots), and I’m hoping at the right time, we’re going to knock them down,” Barnes said. “Teams go through it. I do think we can shoot the ball. I do. But we shouldn’t be a team that thinks we have to rely on one guy or two guys to do it.”