NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It’s one of John Calipari’s favorite refrains, that he wants his team to peak when the games matter most.

Well, he’s getting his wish. Kentucky will enter the NCAA Tournament riding a wave of momentum.

“We’re on a positive roll,” Bam Adebayo said. “We’re all confident and believe in each other. We’re sticking together as brothers, and that’s about it.”

The Wildcats (29-5) claimed their 30th Southeastern Conference Tournament championship and third straight on Sunday with an 82-65 win over Arkansas (25-9) in Nashville, Tennessee, led by Adebayo’s 17 points and nine rebounds. The victory was UK’s 11th straight, tying the Cats for the fifth-longest winning streak in the country entering the NCAA Tournament.

Out of the gate, Kentucky kicked its recent habit of starting slow in jumping out to a 7-2 lead. Arkansas, however, gamely responded and eventually forced both De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk into committing two first-half fouls.

Enter Dominique Hawkins, the senior guard willing to do anything asked of him and more.

“Oh, man, we said it all year, Dom has been a sparkplug off the bench,” Fox said. “Today he had four steals and yesterday we talked about the guys he’s had to guard over the years. That’s just made him better. Just coming in to practice every day, he’s better. This tournament he proved that he deserves to be on the national stage like that.”

Hawkins electrified the overwhelmingly pro-Kentucky crowd in Bridgestone Arena with boundless energy, suffocating defense and an offensive confidence developed late in his Wildcat career. Hawkins had nine points and three steals in the first half alone.

“Really late in the season, it’s almost like you’re waiting to put him in the game, like something has to happen so you can hurry up and put him in,” Calipari said. “His energy level, his aggressiveness. You know, I said it yesterday, I don’t care how old you are. I just want to make sure you’re playing with high energy. I want to make sure that you’re not afraid to miss shots, that you’re not afraid to lose and you’re just playing. You’re unselfish. You’re playing with your team. Think about it. That’s all what he is.”

For the game, Hawkins had a career-best 14 points, four steals, two assists, two rebounds and a handful more turnovers forced due to his pestering presence alone. During one particularly incredible stretch, the 6-foot Richmond, Kentucky, native scored four straight points for the Cats and grabbed another two steals. Fans had no choice but to respond with a chat of “Let’s go Hawkins!” Later, he was showered with “MVP!” chants.

“This tournament means a lot to me,” Hawkins said. “Been here for all four years to the finals of each four years as well, but I never had a game like I did today. I felt I took advantage of my playing time today.”

With Hawkins and Adebayo leading the way, UK closed the half by holding Arkansas without a field goal for the final 7:09, during which the Cats outscored the Razorbacks 19-8. UK ran its offense through Adebayo for most of the first half and he answered the bell.

“He was a beast all through the tournament,” Isaiah Briscoe said. “Then today, one of the keys of the game was give Bam the ball, let him work. They left him one on one. When he’s one on one it’s hard to guard him.”

UK capped the half with a Mychal Mulder 3-pointer to take a 42-30 lead at the break. The first player off the bench to greet Mulder following his buzzer-beating shot was Fox.

Adebayo kept the momentum going after the break, scoring on each of UK’s first two possessions of the second half to extend the lead to 16 points and UK’s run to 13-0. The Razorbacks would get no closer than 10 points until a furious rally in the final minutes that UK was ultimately able to withstand. Not surprisingly, it was an offensive foul ultimately deemed a flagrant 1 drawn by Hawkins that served as the dagger.

When he wasn’t on the bench due to foul trouble, Fox was difficult to contain. He scored 18 points – 13 coming after halftime – enough to cement SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Hawkins and Adebayo.

“I think I played probably my best week of basketball this past weekend,” Fox said. “I’m just going into the tournament confident. The team, when we were starting off slow that’s what everybody was thinking about, talking about how we can’t go into the tournament like that. We turned it around and we’re just going in with a lot of momentum.”

The honors were announced in the midst of a postgame celebration that featured a trophy presentation and net cutting reminiscent of another such ceremony the Cats will be playing for starting next week. UK will learn the path it will need to take there later on Sunday during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show.

“This is a talented group,” Coach Cal said. “I know they say there are other teams more talented. I’ll take mine. Let me start right there. I will take mine. There are more veteran teams and physical teams, but this team — and they’re all good kids.”