Make that 26 straight wins for the Florida Gators. Cut down the nets.
The #1 Florida Gators came out on top against a scrappy and talented Kentucky Wildcat squad to win the SEC Title. The game came down to the last possession with the Wildcats down 61-60. Kentucky couldn’t get a shot off as the Gators forced a turnover to seal the deal.
Florida (32-2, 18-0 SEC) team has dominated the entire SEC and the rest of college basketball all season long. Today’s SEC Championship game against Kentucky (24-10, 12-6 SEC) was their biggest test since their last loss on December 2 against the then #20 ranked Connecticut Huskies. Kentucky may have showed the rest of the tournament field what it will take to beat the Gators: flat-out talent.
Kentucky has had a tough season this year. They are young, but they have over four All-Americans on their team. No one wants to hear any excuses for why this team struggles and it is always championship or bust expectations for John Calipari and his young, talented rosters.
The Gators dominated the early part of this game with their biggest strengths: size, speed and athleticism. They finished the first half up 10 and were in clear control of the game, but the young talent of Kentucky started a rally that put them in position to take home the SEC crown. This may be the only solution to beating the likely #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament is to fight their firepower with more firepower the way Kentucky did.
The Gators had a well balanced scoring attack as Patric Young and Michael Frazier both finished the game with 14 points. Aaron Harrison of the Wildcats finished the game with 16 points to lead Kentucky, while his twin brother Andrew Harrison added in 10 points.
This is Florida’s first SEC Championship since 2007 when NBA superstars Joakim Noah and Al Horford were on the UF campus. Florida has been selected as the #1 overall pick in the tournament. Kentucky has been selected as an 8 seed to take on in-state rival and 9 seed Kansas State in the first round.
-Patrick Hazel (@pattywack25)
