ST. LOUIS — After a harsh, Arkansas-heavy crowd sang goodbye to the Florida men’s basketball team on Friday night, just four programs remained in SEC Tournament action.
Here’s a look at how Saturday’s semifinal round went:
Collin Sexton set fire to the Scottrade Center with his buzzer-beating layup over multiple Texas A&M defenders on Thursday afternoon. The shot reversed Alabama’s five-game losing streak and kept the Crimson Tides’ NCAA Tournament dreams alive.
His miraculous performance extended into Friday’s quarterfinal matchup against top-seeded Auburn. He led a 20-1 run to open the second half and carried the Crimson Tide to a comeback upset of the Tigers and a certain ticket to March’s big dance.
On Saturday, Sexton’s 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting weren’t enough to overcome Kentucky’s 86-point outing. The Wildcats controlled the entire second period after breaking away to a 10-point advantage just before halftime.
A final score of 86-63 ended Alabama’s tournament run and advanced Kentucky to its fifth consecutive SEC championship game.
The Wildcats’ Wenyen Gabriel contributed a game-high 23 points and sealed the victory with a pair of threes late in the action, keeping the lead out of Alabama’s reach. Gabriel shot a perfect 7-of-7 from deep in his season-high scoring campaign.
Kentucky will play in Sunday’s championship game with hopes of winning a fourth consecutive SEC title. The Gators’ 61-60 defeat of the Wildcats in the 2014 SEC championship game marks Kentucky’s most recent loss in the conference tournament.
SEC Player of the Year, Tennessee’s Grant Williams, didn’t contribute much in his team’s romping of Arkansas on Saturday. The Volunteers eased their way to 48 first-half points, only three of which came from Williams. Replacing his offensive production, guard Jordan Bone’s 17 first-half points piloted the Volunteers to a 19-point halftime lead.
Tennessee held onto its double-digit lead through the sound of the final buzzer, when it defeated the Razorbacks 84-66.
Arkansas’ backcourt duo of Daryl Macon and Jaylen Barford led the Razorbacks attack, combining for 33 points.
But Tennessee’s physical play proved too strong to break. Williams finished with 12 points and the brawny Admiral Schofield posted 16 of his own.
Bone contributed 19 points on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting. His crafty finishes at the rim repeatedly sparked the crowd in the Scottrade Center.
By the two-minute mark in the second half, the scattered orange bunches of Tennessee fans had risen to their feet in cheer, excited by the opportunity to play for its first conference title since 1979.
Sunday’s SEC Championship featuring No. 2 Tennessee and No. 4 Kentucky is scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m.
Kentucky forward Wenyen Gabriel scored 23 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the three-point line in the Wildcats 86-83 victory over Alabama on Saturday in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
