SEC TOURNAMENT: Tennessee advances to title game

John Calipari kept telling anyone who would listen that this group of Kentucky freshmen just needed a little more time than most to figure things out. They can’t be that old team Sunday if they want to reverse this season’s trend against the Vols.

The Tennessee Volunteers earned a share of the regular-season SEC title, but they came up short on Sunday in their quest for an SEC Tournament title, falling 77-72 to a red-hot Kentucky team.

It’s the 31st title in tournament history for the Wildcats, whose No. 4 seed in the event was the lowest in Calipari’s nine seasons at the school.

The last time a conference tournament champion won the NCAA Championship and didn’t have to have it vacated was 2011, when the UCONN Huskies won the Big East Tournament championship. “He said, ‘We’ve got to pray for him real quick.’ So we all prayed for him, for his safety, to be all right, and a fast recovery”. “And then I had to ask”. “I just can’t wait to see our name on the board so we can get ready to go play in another tournament”.

Kentucky sophomore forward Wenyen Gabriel celebrates after a basket during the game against Tennessee in the SEC tournament championship on Sunday, March 11, 2018, in St. Louis, Missouri. Davis is now shooting 53.7 percent from the floor, 36.2 percent from three-point range and 82.7 percent from the free-throw line.

Kentucky finished the season 23-10 overall and 10-8 in the SEC, good enough for a third place finish in the conference. Kenyan Gabriel went a flawless 7 of 7 from 3-point range for a team-high 23 points with 3 blocks, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came 2nd with 19 points along with a team-high 8 assists.

Even though Arkansas got off to a hot start in the second half, it wasn’t able to make the game closer than 11 points.

Admiral Schofield took over after that, scoring the next six points as Tennessee held onto a two-point lead, but then Tennessee turned back to the speedy point guard. Grant Williams added 15 points, while Jordan Bone scored 12 and Lamonte Turner had 10.

The Kentucky Wildcats sealed their seat in the SEC championship game thanks to an 86-63 win over Alabama in their last outing.

The No. 13 Vols beat the Razorbacks 84-66 at Scottrade Center before an announced crowd of 18,729 after shooting 76 percent in the first half to build a 19-point lead.

“I think so, but obviously we won’t know until he goes through his pregame warmup”, said Gentry.

“What we just witnessed was a group of young kids coming together and becoming a team”, Payne said.

Mississippi State guard Nick Weatherspoon is conscious and has movement in his extremities after suffering a scary upper-body injury in the Bulldogs’ loss to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal.

In early January, the Volunteers erased an eight-point halftime deficit and pulled away from the Wildcats in Knoxville.

Tennessee will find out its NCAA tournament seeding at 6 p.m. during the NCAA Selection Show.