Cats, Vols to Meet in SEC Tournament Semifinals
Kentucky and Tennessee have met twice already this season, and the third meeting between the teams will take place on Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
In the two previous meetings between the teams in 2019, the home team has claimed a convincing victory each time. On Feb. 16 at Rupp Arena, Kentucky topped then-No. 1 Tennessee 86-69. PJ Washington led Kentucky with 23 points and Keldon Johnson added 19. Tyler Herro had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Reid Travis had 11 points and eight boards.
Kentucky shot 54.7 percent from the floor and the Cats hit 22 of their 33 free throw attempts in the game. Kentucky had a 39-26 advantage in rebounds while handing the Vols just their second loss of the season to that point. Jordan Bone led Tennessee with 19 points and six assists.
On March 2, it was a much different story as the Vols beat the Cats 71-52 in Knoxville. Kentucky was without Reid Travis in that game, and the Cats struggled on offense the entire afternoon. UK shot just 31.8 percent in the game, and Washington was the only Kentucky player in double figures, posting 13 points. Meanwhile, the Vols got huge games from Bone and SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams. Bone had a game-high 27 points and Williams had 24.
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Sat., March 16 – 3:25 p.m. ET |
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TV: ESPN |
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| UK | 2018-19 Stats | UT |
| 27-5 | Record | 28-4 |
| 15-3 | Conference Record | 15-3 |
| 76.7 | PPG | 82.3 |
| 64.9 | Opp PPG | 67.9 |
| .477 | FG% | .499 |
| .401 | Opp FG% | .395 |
| 38.6 | RPG | 38.0 |
| .362 | 3PT FG% | .354 |
| .346 | Opp 3PT FG% | .334 |
| .741 | FT% | .761 |
| 13.8 | APG | 18.6 |
| 6.1 | SPG | 6.1 |
| 5.2 | BPG | 5.5 |
Kentucky (27-5) advanced to Saturday’s SEC Tournament semifinals by beating Alabama 73-55 on Friday night. Herro had 20 points for the Cats in the win, with Immanuel Quickley adding 12, his highest scoring output since January.
Tennessee (28-4) beat Mississippi State 83-76 on Friday night in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. Admiral Schofield had 20 points and seven rebounds in the win, while Kyle Alexander and Williams had 16 points apiece.
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Tennessee 155-72, including a 12-4 mark in the SEC Tournament.
Saturday’s game will tip at approximately 3:25 ET and will be broadcast on ESPN.
Wildcats Roll on to Semifinals Behind Herro, Travis and Washington
The fourth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats have Reid Travis back to fill a physical gap in their lineup.
And that makes them even more dangerous.
Tyler Herro scored 20 points and Kentucky started its quest for a fifth straight Southeastern Conference Tournament title by beating Alabama 73-55 Friday night in the quarterfinals.
Travis returned for his first game since spraining his right knee, which kept him out of the past five games. The Wildcats lost only once without him, but the 6-foot-8 forward showed his value with eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks in just 23 minutes off the bench.
“We feel really good with Reid back now,” Kentucky forward PJ Washington said. “I mean we still have some work to do obviously, but we feel like we can get better.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari was happy to have Travis back.
“Just the strength in having a guy when it comes time you have to go get the ball, he can physically get down there and go get it,” Calipari said.
With a heavy contingent of Big Blue Nation on hand, the Wildcats (27-5) improved to 17-2 all-time at this tournament against Alabama, and they got a measure of revenge for opening SEC play with a 77-75 road loss to the Crimson Tide back on Jan. 5. Kentucky will play Tennessee in the semifinals Saturday.
Alabama (18-15) needed to beat Kentucky again to burnish its resume for the NCAA Tournament after going 8-10 in conference play during the regular season. Beating Mississippi in the second round likely won’t be enough for the Tide. Coach Avery Johnson is 6-0 against everybody not named Kentucky in this tournament but has yet to beat the Wildcats, who’ve ended the Tide’s run each of his four seasons.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to sneak in,” Johnson said of the NCAA Tournament.
Washington, Kentucky’s lone representative on the Associated Press All-SEC team, finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds. He also had four blocks. Immanuel Quickley added 12 points.
Kentucky held Alabama to a season-low 30.4 percent shooting. Kira Lewis Jr. came in averaging a team-high 13.9 points a game and finished with three points. Tevin Mack scored 22 in helping Alabama upset Kentucky in January. This time, the junior missed all seven shots and was held scoreless.
“They just shrunk the floor,” Lewis said of Kentucky.
That left opportunity for Alex Reese, a sophomore who came in averaging just 5.5 points a game, and he only played seven minutes for Alabama in the second round. Reese led Alabama with 15 points. Donta Hall also had 14.
Alabama, trying to get back to the semifinals for a third straight year, led twice in the opening minutes with Herbert Jones’ jumper putting the Tide up 6-4. Washington hit a 3, then Herro added a pair of free throws to start Kentucky on a 17-2 run that Nick Richards capped with a dunk and a pair of free throws midway through the half.
The Tide got within 33-27 on a 3-pointer by Dazon Ingram with 2:24 left, but they couldn’t get any closer as Kentucky scored the next six. The Wildcats led 39-29 at halftime.
Kentucky just kept padding the lead, struggling to push the margin past 15. Herro finally gave the Wildcats their biggest lead with a 3 with 48 seconds left for the final margin.
• UK held Alabama to 55 points. UK is a perfect 73-0 under John Calipari when keeping the opponent to 55 points of fewer, including 9-0 this season
• The Wildcats limited Alabama to 30.4-percent shooting. UK is 179-15 (.923) under Calipari when keeping the opponent at 40 percent or less, including 15-0 this season
• Kentucky blocked a season-high 11 shots, nine of which came in the first half
• The Wildcats led the rebounding 42-32 and points in the paint 34-18
• UK is 257-5 (.981) during the Calipari era when leading by at least 10 points at any time in the contest
• Kentucky has an all-time record of 134-25 in the SEC Tournament and has won 13 in a row
• UK is 45-11 in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals
• Kentucky leads Alabama 17-2 in SEC Tournament games, including 6-1 in quarterfinals games
• This is the fourth year in a row that the teams met in the SEC Tournament, with UK defeating Alabama in the 2016 quarterfinals, 2017 semifinals and 2018 and ’19 quarters
• Calipari is 23-3 in the SEC Tournament
Cats Seeking Fifth Straight SEC Tournament Title
With a win over Alabama on Friday in the quarterfinals, Kentucky punched its ticket for a Southeastern Conference semifinal appearance against Tennessee marking the third highly anticipated matchup between the two teams this season.
The Wildcats are seeking their fifth straight SEC Tournament championship and seventh in John Calipari’s 10 seasons at Kentucky. UK will need just one more win to advance to its ninth SEC Tournament title game in the last 10 seasons.
Kentucky leads the league with 31 SEC Tournament titles. The Wildcats are 134-25 all-time in the SEC Tournament, including 45-11 in the quarterfinals. Kentucky is 42-2 in semifinals matchups with its last loss in that round coming in 2006. Under Calipari the Wildcats are 23-3 in SEC Tournament games.
Saturday will mark the 228th all-time meeting between border-state rivals, Kentucky and Tennessee. UK has played the Volunteers more than any other opponent in school history and owns a 155-72 all-time record against the Volunteers, including 12-4 in the SEC Tournament and 5-1 in semifinals matchups.
This game will mark the 22nd meeting between the two teams when both are ranked inside of the Associated Press Top 25 but just the sixth showdown when both are in the top 10.
Kentucky leads the series 12-9 when the two teams are ranked, but Tennessee holds the edge 3-2 in the top-10 matchups. The teams split the two regular-season meetings with both home teams claiming the victory. Kentucky defeated Tennessee in the SEC Tournament championship game a season ago by a 77-72 score.
John Calipari has a 26-17 all-time record when he’s involved in a top-10 matchup, including 15-10 at UK.
Big-Game Cal, Cats
John Calipari’s teams aren’t just good against the best teams in the country, they’re great. Not only does Kentucky have a 57-29 record (.663) vs. Associated Press Top 25 teams, UK is 6-4 when both teams are ranked in the AP top five under Calipari following the Feb. 16 win over topranked Tennessee
All-time, Calipari is 12-8 when both teams are ranked in the AP top five. When both teams are ranked in the AP Top 25, Calipari’s all-time record is 80-52, including a 49-25 mark at Kentucky. When both are ranked in the top 10 he has a 26-17 record, including 15-10 at UK.
Dating back to last season’s Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game, the Wildcats have won six of their last nine matchups when both opponents are ranked.
In terms of this season alone, Kentucky has answered the bell of big-time showdowns after an early season lesson vs. Duke. UK is 5-3 vs. AP top 25 teams this season, including three victories over top-10 foes.
When Kentucky beat then-No. 1 Tennessee on Feb. 19, it marked UK’s first win vs. the AP No. 1 team since toppling Ohio State in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. All-time it was the Wildcats’ eight victory for the No. 1 team in 23 tries and its second largest margin of victory.
Calipari improved to 5-4 vs. the No. 1 team in his career with the win vs. Tennessee, including 2-2 at Kentucky. According to the SEC Network, there have been 87 coaches who have faced the No. 1 team in the country at least seven times but Calipari is the only coach with a winning record.
Three players in particular have stepped up in the top-25 matchups. Below are their averages in UK’s eight games vs. AP Top 25 opponents:
• Keldon Johnson – 16.3 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game, .523 field-goal percentage, .455 3-point FG pct.
• PJ Washington – 16.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg, .529 FG pct.
• Reid Travis (seven games) -14.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg, .534 FG pct.
