Wildcats, Vols to vie for title
Kentucky rides hot shooting past Alabama
ST. LOUIS — Collin Sexton and Alabama were making another push in the second half, cutting Kentucky’s big lead down to nine with 5:15 remaining.
But when Wenyen Gabriel knocked down his seventh 3-pointer on the next possession, the Wildcats were on their way.
Gabriel whipped up his hands, prompting a thundering “Go Big Blue” chant from the thousands of Kentucky fans at Scottrade Center. His teammates were shoving him around as he repeatedly tossed up three fingers.
Gabriel shot 7-for-7 on 3s and matched his career high with 23 points, sending Kentucky past Alabama 86-63 Saturday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals.
“I think I was in the zone after probably my third 3,” Gabriel said. “I’ve had a game like that before. Obviously, not in a Kentucky uniform yet. That was great to have one of these today for my confidence going forward.”
The fourth-seeded Wildcats (23-10) advanced to play second-seeded Tennessee today in the championship game.
Kentucky shot 64 percent from the field, up from its 42.6 percent clip against Georgia on Friday and its season average of 46.5. The Wildcats dominated on the defensive end as well, using its unmatched length to body up ninth-seeded Alabama (19-15) all game.
Rather, trying to win the Volunteers’ first tournament championship in almost 40 years is always where the Tennessee junior expected to be — even when the Rocky Top faithful were disappointed by a preseason pick of 13th in the SEC.
Tennessee will have that chance at its first conference tournament title since 1979, courtesy of an 84-66 win over Arkansas in the semifinals on Saturday. The No. 13 Volunteers (25-7) showed off for all the SEC to see against the sixthseeded Razorbacks, putting on a shooting exhibition in the first half and setting up a third meeting this season with Kentucky in today’s.
“We just have a standard we’re trying to play toward,” Schofield said. “The biggest thing is we try to go out to every game with that mindset, like we’re trying to perfect our standard. We haven’t done that yet, so we’re still a hungry team. We still want more.”
Tennessee shared the SEC’s regular-season title with No. 16 Auburn, doing so after being picked to finish next to last in the league during the preseason. The Volunteers won their opening tournament game over Mississippi State, and they continued their recent hot streak against sixth-seeded Arkansas (23-11) — winning their sixth straight and for the 13th time in their last 15 games.
Jordan Bone set the tone for Tennessee’s first-half shooting exhibition and finished with 19 points. The sophomore scored 17 of his points in the first half, during which the Volunteers hit 11 of their first 12 shots and 19 of 25 (76 percent) overall while building a 48-29 halftime lead.
Schofield added 16 points for Tennessee, while Grant Williams, Kyle Alexander and James Daniel III finished with 12 points apiece.
But it was Bone who left the weary Razorbacks search for answers in the first half, hitting 7 of 7 from the field and all of his 3-point attempts.
“First half, we arguably played the best basketball we have all year,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “Jordan Bone was terrific, and the team feeds off him when he’s out there playing with the speed and quickness that he has.”