NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Leading by three points, Jamal Murray dribbled down the clock with 46 seconds left while his teammates watched.
There was no play being run. There was no motion or movement or screen setting.
Murray didn’t need it.
When the clock hit 18 seconds, the freshman guard shot a three-pointer with a hand in his face. It fell through the net.
Soon after, a free throw by No. 2-seed Kentucky’s Tyler Ulis sealed the 82-77 overtime win over No. 1-seed Texas A&M, giving the Wildcats their second-straight Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship.
As the final buzzer sounded, Ulis threw the basketball into the air before being swarmed by his teammates as confetti fell on the court.
"I might be biased," coach John Calipari said of Ulis, "but he should be one of those guys for Player of the Year, if not the guy. And because he’s 5’9", everybody, it’s like, how can you do it? But when you look at his numbers and what he’s doing, that’s the Player of the Year."
Ulis, who was named the SEC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player, led Kentucky with 30 points on 10-of-17 shooting on Sunday and took control of UK’s offense each time Texas A&M was within striking distance.
Spurred by two of his three steals, the guard was responsible for 15 of Kentucky’s 23 points during a 12-minute, 46-second UK run in the second half.
The first steal led to a fadeaway jumper just outside the paint, and the second ended in a transition layup off the glass.
"When things broke down, I just tried to get the ball … and make things happen for my team," Ulis said. "Luckily it did."
Murray finished second on the team with 17 points but made just 3-of-10 three-pointers, the last being the most pivotal with the clock winding down in overtime.
"Yeah, that was a play we set up," Calipari said jokingly.
"No, it wasn’t," Murray said back.
Texas A&M senior Danuel House scored a game-high 32 points and grabbed six rebounds, including a clutch three-pointer at the 1:25 mark in the second half that reduced the Aggies’ deficit to two.
The guard scored four points in overtime but couldn’t stifle Kentucky’s offensive onslaught. The Wildcats scored 11 points in the game’s final five minutes.
"All week long, everybody was talking about how Kentucky is a Final Four team, the way they’ve been playing," Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. "And I said, if they’re a Final Four team, then we just showed that we’re a Final Four team."
TAMU senior guard Alex Caruso finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists, but was shut down late in the game by Ulis, who was assigned to defend him for a majority of the fourth quarter and overtime. Caruso went 1-for-3 with a turnover in the final period.
"He’s played three straight days about 40 minutes," Caruso said of Ulis, "and he could probably play another game right now."
Both teams are headed to the NCAA Tournament, which begins Tuesday. Kentucky will try to advance to the Final Four for the fifth-straight year, while Texas A&M will make its first tournament appearance since 2010.
"We came together as a team, and we fought hard all season. It’s been a journey," Murray said. "We trusted coach all the way and trusted our point guard. So it’s up to them to lead us again."
Contact Ian Cohen at icohen@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @icohenb.
Kentucky's Tyler Ulis (3) celebrates with teammates after an NCAA college basketball game against Texas A&M in the championship of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, March 13, 2016. Kentucky won 82-77 in overtime. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
