NCAA Tournament:
ATLANTA (AP) – Twenty-five championships for Kentucky. Zero for Florida. As history suggests, this one was no contest.
Chuck Hayes scored 23 points and the eighth-ranked Wildcats romped to another title in the Southeastern Conference tournament, beating Florida 89-73 Sunday to make a strong case for being a top seed in the NCAA tournament.
| Chuck Hayes goes to the basket against Florida in the championship game of the SEC basketball tournament. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) |
Kentucky (26-4) dismantled the Gators (20-10) for the second time in a week, following up a 20-point win at Rupp Arena to close the regular season. The Georgia Dome looked as though it was in Lexington – nearly everyone in the crowd of more than 22,024 was a member of the Bluegrass Nation.
The Wildcats would love to return to “Cat-Lanta” in a couple of weeks as a No. 1 seed in that regional. They certainly looked the part, stretching their winning streak to nine games while winning their 25th tournament championship.
“I think we’ve made a pretty good case for ourselves,” Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said.
The 25 tournament titles are more than the other schools in the conference combined, to go along with 42 regular-season championships.
Contrast that with Florida, which fell to 0-4 in SEC tournament finals. The Gators are one of just two current members who have never won the tourney.
They never had a chance in this one. From the opening tip – Cliff Hawkins got the ball and fired ahead to Gerald Fitch, who swished a 3-pointer from the corner – it was all Kentucky.
With the game less than 4 minutes old, the Wildcats grabbed their first double-digit lead at 14-4. They led by as many as 15 points in the first half before settling for a 49-37 halftime lead. Florida only got that close because Matt Walsh hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Any thoughts the Gators had of mounting a comeback were quickly eradicated when they missed their first seven shots after halftime. Kentucky started 0-of-6, then got rolling. Hayes scored off a layin with 15:38 remaining to make it 54-40, a precursor of all the easy baskets to come.
| Erik Daniels goes to the basket over fallen Florida player Adrian Moss. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) |
Hayes spotted Erik Daniels alone under the basket and rifled a pass to him for a dunk. Daniels backed into the lane, then dumped the ball off to Hawkins cutting through the lane. He made the shot, was fouled and finished off the three-point play with a free throw.
Kentucky built the lead as high as 25 points before turning the final minutes into another version of Senior Day. Take a bow, Mr. Fitch. You deserve it after scoring 18 points and being named tournament MVP.
Hayes, a junior, received a big hand when he came off, too. He dominated on the inside, shooting 10-of-14 and grabbing eight rebounds. When Florida focused its defense on Hayes, he usually found the open teammate, winding up with eight assists.
Kelenna Azubuike, the least-heralded of Kentucky’s starters, had another strong game – especially in those early, tone-setting minutes. He had 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Walsh led the Gators with 17 points, but this was another disappointment in an up-and-down season. Florida will still make the NCAA tournament but hardly lived up to the promise from early in the season, when the Gators climbed to No. 1 in the rankings for one week.
When it was over, Walsh epitomized his beaten team. He hobbled off the court, carrying his right shoe, the sock hanging limply off half his foot.
