Sexton, Alabama Separate UK from Championship Sunday
Some Kentucky fans will spend Friday night exploring St. Louis. Others will watch more basketball with a second set of Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals on the docket.
Like the latter group, John Calipari will be watching lots and lots of basketball. Unlike the latter group, he’ll be doing it at UK’s team hotel.
First comes a review of the Wildcats’ 62-49 win over Georgia. Next he’ll watch the two games Alabama has won to set up a rematch with UK. Finally, it will be time to cheer himself up.
“Then I have to, to build my confidence, go watch a game that they got beat,” Calipari said. “I can’t watch them winning every game. So I’ll have to go watch one where they lost, where I’ll say, OK, we’ve got a chance.”
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| Kentucky vs. Alabama | ||
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Sat., March 10 – 1 p.m. ET |
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| Coverage | ||
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TV: ESPN |
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| UK | 2017-18 Team Stats | UA |
| 22-10 | Record | 19-14 |
| 10-8 | Conference Record | 8-10 |
| 76.4 | PPG | 72.6 |
| 70.5 | Opp PPG | 69.5 |
| .465 | FG% | .461 |
| .408 | Opp FG% | .408 |
| 39.2 | RPG | 36.5 |
| .347 | 3PT FG% | .324 |
| .296 | Opp 3PT FG% | .311 |
| .692 | FT% | .671 |
| 13.3 | APG | 12.7 |
| 5.7 | SPG | 6.5 |
| 4.8 | BPG | 5.6 |
The Crimson Tide have looked like world-beaters this week entering Saturday’s semifinal matchup at 1 p.m. ET at Scottrade Center. With its NCAA Tournament life at stake, Alabama downed Texas A&M on Thursday before using a dizzying 28-3 run to start the second half and race past Auburn, 81-63.
“Look, they’ve got size,” Calipari said. “They’ve got scoring ability. They’ve got length. They’ve got toughness.”
They’ve also got Collin Sexton, the point guard who shared SEC Freshman of the Year honors with Kevin Knox in the regular season and has now found another gear in the postseason. Sexton had 27 points, five assists and a game-winning finger roll against A&M only to one-up himself against league co-champion Auburn.
“He’s having a great tournament right now,” Quade Green said. “He’s scoring. He’s doing what the team needs him to do, so we gotta stop him. That’s the key to their team.”
The 6-foot-3 star had 31 points, including six made 3s in eight attempts, and seven rebounds to down the Tigers.
“He’s been playing well,” Wenyen Gabriel said. “He’s been at an elite level. He’s got that dog in him. I admire that in him. We’re going to have to go bring it to him.”
UK was effective against Sexton in an 81-71 win on Feb. 17. Sexton managed just 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting, fouling out in 29 minutes of action.
“I think we did a good job of corralling him and making him play in tight spaces,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We always have to build a wall in transition. He’s really good at getting a head of steam and we have to build a wall and protect the paint.”
That matchup between UK and Alabama came at a crossroads for the two teams, as the Cats ended a four-game losing streak and the Crimson Tide began a five-game skid of their own. Now, the two teams – both among the four youngest in the country according to kenpom.com – will cross paths again.
“They did exactly what we went through,” Calipari said. “And you won’t believe this, you don’t like going through that. Normally, if you can survive it, it makes your team better. It makes them stronger. How about this: It makes them appreciate winning more. It makes it so I’m not going to be selfish so we lose. I’ll give up something so that we win.”
“And that’s what happened to this team. This team became a very happy team. They went from being shell-shocked and rocked, a little fearful, to a happy, aggressive team when we started winning.”
Only one team will leave happy on Saturday.
Wildcats Seeking Fourth Straight SEC Tournament Title
Kentucky will be the No. 4 seed in the annual Southeastern Conference Tournament when action begins Wednesday in St. Louis. The Wildcats, who earned the coveted double bye, will play the winner of Missouri and Georgia-Vanderbilt game on Friday in St. Louis, at approximately 3:25 p.m. ET in the quarterfinals.
Kentucky has never earned a seed lower than two (conference or division) under John Calipari and will play as the No. 4 seed for the first time during his tenure. The last time UK was the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament was in 2009.
The Wildcats went 1-1 vs. the Tigers, 1-0 vs. the Bulldogs and 2-0 vs. the Commodores. Missouri is the No. 5 seed, while Georgia is the No. 12 and Vanderbilt the 13th seed.
UK’s quarterfinal SEC Tournament game will be televised by the ESPN. If Kentucky wins Friday, it will play Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. Sunday’s championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. Both of the semifinals and championship game will be televised on ESPN.
Kentucky leads the league with 30 SEC Tournament titles, including five under Calipari. UK has captured each of the last three titles. The Wildcats are 130- 25 all-time in the SEC Tournament, including 43-11 in the quarterfinals. Kentucky is 11-1 all-time vs. Georgia in the SEC Tournament and 4-5 vs. Vanderbilt. The Wildcats and Mizzou have never met in the SEC Tournament.
It’s the first time in the history of the SEC Tournament that the city of St. Louis will host. Kentucky last played in the Scottrade Center during the memorable 2014 NCAA Tournament run. UK beat Kansas State in the opening round, before knocking off previously undefeated and the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed in Wichita State to advance to the Sweet 16.
Crawford Tabbed UK’s 2018 SEC Legend
Former Kentucky men’s basketball star Joe Crawford will represent the Wildcats as a member of the 2018 Southeastern Conference Legends at the SEC Tournament in St. Louis.
Past greats from all 14 SEC member institutions will be honored at the league tournament March 7-11 at the Scottrade Center. Crawford will be honored at halftime of UK’s first game of the tournament.
Crawford, a four-year letterwinner from 2005-08, is one of the leading scorers in Kentucky’s storied program history. With 1,438 career points, Crawford finish his career at No. 19 on UK’s all-time scoring list.
An All-SEC Second Team pick in 2008 by the league’s coaches, Crawford averaged double-figure scoring in three of his four seasons, including 17.9 points per game in his senior year. He made 40 or more 3-pointers in his final three seasons, including 63 in both his junior and senior seasons.
In 2005, while Crawford was a freshman, the Wildcats won both the SEC regular-season and tournament crowns. Crawford was considered a fan favorite. He was drafted 58th overall in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers and played professionally until 2015.
This marks the 20th year of the SEC Basketball Legends program.
