UK Wildcats At SEC Tournament

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Kentucky Wildcats (19-9, 12-4)

Co-SEC Champions – Co-SEC East Champions

March 8-11, 2001 – Nashville, Tenn.
Gaylord Entertainment Center (19,395)

Cat Scratches

Rankings: After completing the regular season with a home win over Auburn and a road loss to favored Florida, the Wildcats remained No. 15 in both polls this week.
SEC Championships: 41
SEC Tournament Championships: 22
Streak: Won three of the last four SEC Tournament titles and 23 of the last 25 tournament games played
Last Season: Lost to Arkansas in quarterfinals, 86-72
In Nashville: 3-0, beating Auburn, 51-49, for 1984 SEC Tournament title
Websites: UKathletics.com; SECsports.com

Cat Madness Begins in Music City

Kentucky makes its 40th appearance in the Southeastern Conference Tournament after winning seven of the last nine events. The Wildcats enter the leagues postseason tourney winning eight of their last 10 games. Kentucky finished in a tie for the SEC Eastern Division crown and the league title, and earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament due to its 9-1 division record. Co-champ Florida was 6-4 in division play. The Wildcats have a first-round bye and will play the winner of the Miss. State/South Carolina game in the quarterfinals.

The Wildcats have won more than half of the 41 SEC Tournaments played, including seven of the last nine titles. UKs 22 titles are more than all the other league teams combined.

UK has won 23 of its last 25 games played in the SEC Tournament. The Cats are 3-0 in the league tourney when playing in Nashville, defeating Charles Barkley and Auburn in the 1984 finals at Vanderbilts Memorial Gym.

Since the league split in 1992, Kentucky has been the No. 1 seed five times and the No. 2 seed five times. The Wildcats have yet to play a first-round game during the past 10 years.

UK owns a 96-16 record (86.5%) in the tournament, and has played in the final game 30 times. Since the tournament was renewed in 1979, UK is 39-10 (79.6%), winning 10 championships, including seven in the 1990s.

Kentucky vs. SEC Opponents
Series Information

Alabama

Series Record: UK leads 91-32
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 19-5
in SEC Tournament play: UK leads 9-2
Kentucky has won 11 of the last 13 games between the two teamsThe Tide won the regular-season meeting in Tuscaloosa, 70-60, on Jan. 23The last time the teams met in the SEC Tournament was March 6, 1998, an 82-71 first-round UK victoryThe Cats defeated UA, 101-100, in 1979, still the most points scored by two teams in the tournament.

Arkansas

Series Record: UK leads 14-7
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 7-1
in SEC Tournament play: UK leads 6-1
Arkansas has taken the last two games in the series with the Cats, including an 86-72 victory in the quarterfinals of last year’s SEC TourneyThe Hogs were victorious in the regular-season meeting in Fayetteville on Feb. 25, breaking an eight-game UK win streak with the 82-78 decisionUK’s last win over the Hogs occurred last season at Rupp Arena, a 60-55 win on 2/26/00… Nolan Richardson is now 7-10 against the Cats, the most win by any current SEC coach vs. UK.

Auburn

Series Record: UK leads 74-17
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 13-2
in SEC Tournament play: UK leads 11-1
Kentucky closed out its home schedule with a Senior Night win over the Tigers on Feb. 28, 90-78The Cats’ last postseason meeting with Auburn came in the semifinals of the 1999 SEC Tournament as UK grabbed the 69-57 winKentucky owns a 6-1 record against the Tigers since the tournament was renewed in 1979, including the title win in the 84 league tournament in Nashville.

Florida

Series Record: UK leads 76-24
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 10-2
in SEC Tournament play: UK leads 9-2
The Cats closed out the regular season on March 4 with a loss at No. 5 Florida, 94-86, forcing a tie between the two teams for the league championshipUK knocked off the Gators in Lexington on Feb. 6, 71-70, on a Tayshaun Prince left hook shot with 3.3 seconds leftThe series has become one of the most hotly contested in the league, as the two teams have split for the past four yearsThe teams last met in the 1996 tournament, a 100-76 UK winWhen the SEC was first formed, the teams played their first seven games (1933-49) in the postseason tourney, with UK winning all but one.

Georgia

Series Record: UK leads 99-17
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 19-5
in SEC Tournament play: UK leads 7-0
Kentucky took the regular-season series with the Bulldogs for the seventh consecutive season with a 67-63 win in Lexington on Jan. 6, and an 85-70 victory in Athens on Jan. 31In their next matchup, the Cats will attempt to win their 100th game vs. the Dawgs…UK has won 16 straight in the seriesGeorgia’s last win over UK came on Jan. 8, 1994, a 94-90 overtime win in AthensThe last tournament meeting for the two teams came in Coach Tubby Smith’s last season at Georgia, when UK beat his Bulldogs, 95-68, in the 1997 title gameThe two teams have met only three times since the tournament was renewed in 1979.

LSU

Series Record: UK leads 71-21
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 12-2
in SEC Tournament play: UK leads 13-1
Kentucky won the regular-season meeting, 84-61, in Lexington on Feb. 21The Cats have won 10 of the last 11 meetings with their only loss coming in Baton Rouge last season, 70-57UK is 5-1 against the Tigers since the tournament was renewed, and the last time the two teams met in the league tourney was March 14, 1993, an 82-65 UK victory in the championship gameLSU’s lone victory over the Cats in the tournament came March 1, 1980, an 80-78 win in the title bout.

Ole Miss

Series Record: UK leads 86-11
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 20-1
in SEC Tournament play: UK leads 11-0
Ole Miss was victorious in the regular-season matchup in Oxford, 65-55, to end UK’s seven-game win streakThe two teams last met in the tournament on March 5, 1999, an 83-73 second-round win by UKOverall, Kentucky has won four of the last seven meetings with the Rebels and is 7-0 against Ole Miss since the tournament was renewed.

Mississippi State

Series Record: UK leads 78-16
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 10-2
in SEC Tournament play: UK leads 6-1
The Cats own five straight series wins after downing MSU in Lexington, 76-57, on Feb. 10State’s last victory in the series came in the 1996 SEC Tournament Championship game, 84-73, in New OrleansBoth teams advanced to the NCAA Final Four that year with UK winning the NCAA titleThe teams have met only twice in the tournament since it was renewed in 1979.

South Carolina

Series Record: UK leads 26-4
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 2-0
in SEC Tournament play: UK leads 1-0
Kentucky swept the Gamecocks during the regular season for the fourth consecutive year with a 69-63 win in Lexington on Jan. 10 and a 94-61 rout in Columbia on Feb. 3The Cats have won nine straight against USC, with the Gamecocks’ last victory coming on March 2, 1997 in Lexington with a 72-66 decision on the Cats Senior DayThe only time the two teams have met in the tournament was the 1998 title game, which ended with an 86-56 UK victory.

Tennessee

Series Record: UK leads 129-61
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 9-4
in SEC Tournament play: UK leads 9-4The Cats swept the regular-season series with the Volunteers with an 84-74 win over then-No. 4 UT in Lexington and a 103-95 victory on Valentine’s Day in KnoxvilleTennessee owns more wins over UK in the SEC Tournament than any other team in the leagueThe last tournament meeting between the two rivals was March 12, 1993, a 101-40 victory by the Wildcats in Rupp Arena in the quarterfinalsThe Cats have won three of the last four meetings in the series.

Vanderbilt

Series Record: UK leads 122-33
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 6-3
in SEC Tournament play: Series tied 3-3
Vanderbilt is the only team to split its SEC Tournament series with UKThe teams have met three times since the tournament was renewed with Vanderbilt grabbing the first two winsThe Cats swept the ‘Dores this past season with an 86-75 win in Lexington on Jan. 27 and a 79-74 victory in a close battle that saw VU battle back from 19 down in Nashville on Feb. 17The Wildcats have won 17 straight against the Commodores.

To read the complete game notes, click here.