SEC TOURNAMENT
KENTUCKY 77, NO. 13 TENNESSEE 72
ST. LOUIS -- John Calipari kept telling anyone who would listen that this group of Kentucky freshmen just needed a little more time than most to figure things out.
That faith was shaken when the Wildcats lost four consecutive games last month. But they delivered on their coach's optimism on Sunday.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points, and Kentucky beat No. 13 Tennessee 77-72 for its fourth consecutive SEC Tournament championship.
It's the 31st title in tournament history for the Wildcats, whose No. 4 seed in the event was the lowest in Calipari's nine seasons at the school. The Wildcats (24-10) were one defeat away last month from what would have been the longest losing streak in the Calipari era, but they have won seven of eight since -- including their first in three tries this season against the No. 2 seed Volunteers.
All in all, it's a Kentucky group that appears primed for next week's NCAA Tournament.
"A month ago, I wasn't sure we'd be in the tournament," Calipari said. "And then I had to ask ... 'Does everybody get to go to the SEC Tournament?' I wasn't even sure we'd get here. But I come back to this: We needed to lose those games. We needed to lose four in a row."
Despite racing to a 17-point lead in the first half Sunday, the Wildcats' seemingly annual SEC Tournament coronation was delayed by a Tennessee team trying to win its first title in almost 40 years.
But Gilgeous-Alexander capped his tournament Most Valuable Player performance by hitting the clinching free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining, sending the overwhelmingly Kentucky crowd of 18,974 into a wild celebration. The freshman guard finished 10 of 16 from the field with seven rebounds and a pair of steals.
Kevin Knox had 18 points for the Wildcats, and Quade Green finished with 10.
"Shai has the ball in his hands a lot during the game, and he's really grown over the year and able to get his points and get other people involved," Knox said. "I think right now he's playing his best basketball because he's one of our leaders."
Admiral Schofield had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Tennessee (25-8), which was attempting to win its first tournament championship since 1979. Grant Williams added 15 points, while Jordan Bone scored 12 and Lamonte Turner had 10.
A night after hitting 11 of their first 12 shots and 76 percent (19 of 25) in the first half of a semifinal victory over Arkansas, the Volunteers didn't fare nearly as well early on Sunday. They made only five of their first 25 shots and fell behind 33-16 midway through the first half. Schofield, however, responded by scoring Tennessee's final 13 points of the half, capping a 15-3 run that pulled the Volunteers within 36-31 at halftime.
"We started the game and dug ourselves a hole and, obviously, they were making some shots," Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes said. "We weren't playing the way we were capable of; we just weren't locked in."
The Volunteers were picked to finish 13th in the SEC during the preseason, but they finished as the co-regular-season champions with No. 16 Auburn. Regardless of Sunday's result, Tennessee already had a spot in next week's NCAA Tournament. The trip will make Tennessee the fourth school Barnes has taken to the tournament, joining Providence, Clemson and Texas.
The championship game appearance was the fifth consecutive for the Wildcats and their eighth in nine seasons under Calipari. Kentucky is 22-3 in the SEC Tournament under Calipari.
In other conference tournament finals Sunday, Gary Clark put Cincinnati ahead for good with a free throw with 4.3 seconds remaining and the No. 8 Bearcats held on for a 56-55 victory over No. 21 Houston in the American Athletic Conference championship. Clark finished with 20 points. Cincinnati (30-4) earned the AAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament with its first conference tournament championship since the Bearcats won Conference USA in 2004. Rob Gray led the Cougars with 17 points but missed a long three-pointer in the closing seconds, then had a turnover that cost Houston a chance to try to win the game after Clark made one of two free throws after rebounding Gray's miss. ... Davidson is goin' dancin' as the Atlantic 10 champion after beating No. 25 Rhode Island in the conference final 58-57 behind Kellan Grady's 17 points. Peyton Aldridge, the A-10 co-player of the year, added 13 points and seven rebounds Sunday for third-seeded Davidson, which was playing in its first conference final since joining the league in 2014 from the Southern Conference. E.C. Matthews led the way with 20 points and eight rebounds for Rhode Island, which was trying to win a second consecutive conference tournament title. ... Darnell Foreman scored 19 points, AJ Brodeur had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Pennsylvania earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2007 with a 68-65 victory over Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament championship. Ryan Betley added 17 points for the Quakers (24-8), who will be making their 24th appearance in the NCAAs. Chris Lewis led Harvard (18-13) with 16 points, while Justin Bassey had 15 and Seth Towns, the league's player of the year, finished with 13. ... D'Marcus Simonds scored 27 points and Georgia State defeated Texas Arlington 74-61 to win the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship. No. 2 seed Georgia State (24-10) will be making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2015. Fourth-seeded Texas-Arlington, which upset Sun Belt regular-season champion Louisiana-Lafayette in the semifinals, fell to 21-13. The Panthers, who set school records for three-point percentage and three-pointers made this season, connected on 8 of 17 from beyond the arc. The Mavericks made 4 of 25 three-pointers and shot 29.8 percent (17 of 57) from the floor.
Sports on 03/12/2018