ATLANTA (AP) — Kentucky was back in its comfort zone, shaking off the sting of its last game with a more typical performance in the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Kelenna Azubuike scored 18 points, Patrick Sparks added 16 and the fourth-ranked Wildcats got started toward another SEC tournament championship with a 76-62 quarterfinal victory over Tennessee on Friday night.
Kentucky (27-3), which already won the league’s regular-season title, almost always plays well at this time of year. The Wildcats have won two straight SEC tournaments and 10 of the past 13, bringing their overall haul to 25 championships – more than the other 11 schools combined.
Kentucky entered the tournament in a rare state of mind, closing the regular season with a 53-52 loss at Florida. But there was no carry-over five days later – the Wildcats had a double-digit lead on Tennessee (14-17) before the game was six minutes old. They stretched the margin to 34-14 when Sparks drove for a hoop with more than five minutes left in the opening half.
The loss is sure to turn up the heat on embattled Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson, whose record in four seasons is a mediocre 61-59 – with no NCAA tournament appearances. The Vols failed to even qualify for an NIT bid, the second time that’s happened on Peterson’s watch.
Peterson used up three of his timeouts in the first half – a futile attempt to stifle the Kentucky onslaught. The Vols didn’t put up much of a fight, allowing the Wildcats to swoop through the lane several times with only token resistance.
Azubuike got the Wildcats off to a fast start. He scored 10 of Kentucky’s first 13 points, hitting a couple of 3s.
Sparks had things going his way, too. He came up with the most spectacular play of the night while leading a fastbreak, looking to his right before flipping a between-the-legs pass to Rajon Rondo, who soared off the left wing for a dunk. A couple of possessions later, Sparks put up a 3-pointer that struck the back of the rim, but bounced straight up and dropped softly through the hoop.
Kentucky led 47-29 at the half on the way to beating Tennessee for the third straight time this season by an average margin of 16 points.
C.J. Watson scored 26 points to lead Tennessee despite picking up two fouls in the first 19 seconds. He returned four minutes later and managed to make the rest of the way without fouling out.
Watson hit three straight 3-pointers early in the second half, capping an 11-1 run that pulled Tennessee to 57-48. The Vols couldn’t get any closer, even though Kentucky wasn’t nearly as sharp in the second half as it was in the first.
Kentucky, which has its eye on a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, advanced to face either LSU or Auburn in Saturday’s semifinals.
Despite being played in Atlanta, the SEC tournament essentially has the look of a Kentucky home game. The crowd of more than 20,000 was comprised almost entirely of those wearing blue, transforming the host city into “Cat-Lanta.”
Before the game, a moment of silence was observed for three victims of a courthouse shooting Friday morning. The victims were gunned down just a few blocks from the Georgia Dome, leading to extra security at the arena for the quarterfinals.
