Analysis | UK starts slow, stays perfect vs. UF
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sometimes the Wildcats play with their food, toy with their prey, but it always ends the same way, with a lifeless tail dangling from their mouth. It was a Gator's this time. Top-ranked Kentucky took its 32nd bite out an undefeated season with a 64-49 win over Florida in the Southeastern Conference quarterfinals on Friday.
These Cats (32-0) occasionally allow opponents to hang around, which the Gators (16-17) know all too well. Florida trailed by two with 17 minutes to go at Bridgestone Arena. But UK, with its nine-deep roster of future pros, also seems to have a keen sense for when the other side has grown weary of running for its life and is ready to lie down and be devoured.
Auburn (15-19), which lost by 35 in Lexington on Feb. 21, will try its hand at survival in Saturday's SEC semifinal against the Wildcats.
"We wear teams down. They play with us for 30 minutes, but those last 10 minutes, do they still have it?" freshman guard Devin Booker said. "That's what we've seen a lot this season, and we finish up strong every time."
Indeed, if the Gators' games against Kentucky this season had only been 30 minutes long, they'd have been golden. As each contest lasted the standard 40, though, they were instead swept in three meetings. Like the previous two tries, they took it to the Cats early Friday and hung around into the second half.
In Round 1 last month, Florida led by nine in the first half and was still tied with 12:09 to go. In the rematch, it was a three-point deficit with 10:28 left. Kentucky won those first two by a combined 24 points.
"We get to a point in a game where we know we have to lock down and make stops and change the game around," freshman forward Trey Lyles said. "Second half comes around, the 10-minute mark usually, is when we get on our run defensively and teams seem to get a little tired, a little worn down, and we're still going, still upbeat."
So it went Friday. The Gators jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first four minutes, outscoring super-sized UK 8-2 in the paint. But freshman Karl-Anthony Towns' ferocious rebounding – he had eight first-half boards – and twins Andrew and Aaron Harrison's offense steadied the Wildcats.
Towns finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while the Harrisons combined for 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting with two assists, two steals and only one turnover. They pushed Kentucky to a 31-27 lead at intermission.
Three minutes into the second half, Florida was still nipping at the Cats' heels. This time, Kentucky used a 9-0 run to pull away, punctuated by Aaron Harrison's 3-pointer that made it 42-31 with 14:03 remaining.
"They have a will to win," coach John Calipari said, "and we have enough playmaker kind of players. We got a lot of guys that aren't afraid to make a play."
Florida had a little fight left, cutting the deficit down to five with almost eight minutes to go, but then Towns snared an offensive rebound, banked in the putback and got fouled. His three-point play all but buried the Gators. They finally quit kicking when freshman guard Tyler Ulis drained a three for a 15-point lead with 4:37 remaining.
When it dropped, he roared. The 20,000-seat arena, filled to the rafters with blue-clad Cats fans, roared with him.
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"We've never been worried at all," Ulis said. "We just try to keep it on them, don't let up, keep attacking, and usually their legs give out."
In video-game parlance, that's when Kentucky taps the R2 button on the controller, launching the Cats into fast-forward. When the other team is tired, they press the gas.
"We hit the speed button on them," said a grinning Ulis, who produced seven points, four assists and three steals off the bench. "Crowd gets going and we just try to keep the pressure on them and make them give up."
* Welcome to Rupp Arena South. It isn't unusual, of course, but Big Blue Nation has taken over Nashville, filling the streets and the seats. Unofficially, and conservatively, Kentucky fans accounted for at least 90 percent of the packed house Friday.
"We're in Nashville, Tennessee, and it looks like we're in Lexington, Kentucky, out there. That just shows the dedication and how great our fans really are," said freshman Karl-Anthony Towns, who witnessed the annual SEC Tournament takeover for the first time. Was he surprised? "To be honest with you, I wasn't. I've seen it in Chicago. I've seen it in the Bahamas. No matter where we go, it seems that Rupp Arena follows us."
* Willie Cauley-Stein working on offense. The 7-footer junior, just named SEC Defensive Player of the Year, said this week that it bothered him to be known only for that part of his game. He clearly came out against Florida trying to prove he has some offense, too. It didn't go great. Cauley-Stein hit just 2 of 9 shots.
"The last five games, I haven't really been putting up scoring numbers. I've had a lot of meetings with coaches saying, 'If we're going to make a (postseason) run, you're going to have to score the ball for us,' " he said. "That's the kind of mentality I'm trying to get through this tournament, having a scoring mentality and being aggressive."
Cauley-Stein still finished with nine points – thanks to 5-of-6 shooting at the free-throw line – to go with four points, two blocks and an assist in 21 minutes. He wasn't overly concerned with all the misses Friday.
"I take those shots every day and make them," he said, "so hopefully the next game I'll take the same shots and they go down."
Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.
