Wildcats Defeat Gators 74-71 to Make SEC Final
It wasn't always pretty, but the Kentucky Wildcats took haymaker after haymaker on Saturday afternoon but survived a major test by Florida to advance to the championship game of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in New Orleans. Five different Wildcats scored in double figures for Kentucky with Doron Lamb leading the way with 16 points. Terrence Jones, Anthony Davis, and Marquis Teague had 15 points each and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 10.
Davis also had 12 rebounds for a double-double while Jones pulled down 9 and Kidd-Gilchrist had 8 as UK win their 24th straight game and ran their record to 32-1.
Florida led by as many as 10 points in the first half but a 10-2 run over the final 5:09 of the half was capped off by a three pointer by Anthony Davis with 15 seconds left lifted UK to a 40-39 lead. After the intermission the Gators promptly took the lead again and led by as much as 5 with 10:21 to play, but UK put together a 14-0 run over the next seven minutes and never trailed again.
Yet again, the game was another example of the Wildcats being tough down the stretch with the game on the line. Terrence Jones has now strung together several nice performances and Teague rebounded from a less than ideal game Friday night to play very well against the Gators.
Perhaps the only concern that has arisen is Darius Miller. The senior guard has averaged just 15 minutes per game in the tournament and has not scored.
Kentucky will now face Vanderbilt tomorrow for the SEC tournament title. Vandy has gone 61 years without a tournament title, but UK will be going for the 28th tournament championship in school history. Tip off is at 1:00 p.m. on ABC.
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