Southeastern Conference Tournament Recaps

Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – Karl-Anthony Towns scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to led the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats over the Florida Gators, 64-49, in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament.

Aaron Harrison added 13 points for the top-seeded Wildcats (32-0), who will look to continue their undefeated season in the semifinal round on Saturday against 13th-seeded Auburn.

“For us, we just worry about the next game,” Towns said. “For you to be historic, you got to keep winning every next game. So we just worry about what we can do to contribute to the game for each other, and also just make sure that we do everything we can to not only contribute, but to also help anyone who needs it.”

Jon Horford scored a game-high 15 points to lead eighth-seeded Florida (16-17), which gave Kentucky a game until a late-game run put the contest out of doubt.

“I think statistically if you look at the game, everything was pretty even. Both teams I thought defended pretty well. They out-rebounded us a little bit, but the difference in the game was the free-throw line – 23 attempts to our five was a huge factor in the game,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said.

Down by 11, 42-31, Florida scored 14 of the next 19 points to make it a game. Horford scored seven points during the run and Devin Robinson hit 1-of-2 free throws at the 7:40 mark to make it a 50-45 game.

Kentucky responded, however, and put the game out of reach with a 14-2 run. Towns scored five points during the spurt, which was capped by an Andrew Harrison jumper with 2:25 left for a 64-47 lead.

The Gators scored just four points over the final seven-plus minutes of the game.

Andrew Harrison scored nine points for Kentucky.

Florida scored 10 of the game’s first 15 points to jump on top of the Wildcats early. The Gators continue to lead, 17-14, after Horford’s layup at the 11:09 mark, but that was the last lead of the game for Florida. Six straight points gave Kentucky the lead for good. Devin Booker’s layup gave the Wildcats an 18-17 edge and Andrew Harrison’s jumper nearly a minute later extended the edge to 20-17.

Florida remained within striking distance, but could never regain the lead.

Kentucky carried a 31-27 lead into halftime and then went ahead 42-31 following an Aaron Harrison three-pointer that capped a 9-0 surge 5:52 into the second half.

Game Notes

Kentucky is trying to win its 28th SEC Tournament title … Kentucky shot just 37.5 percent from the field for the game and hit 19-of-23 free throws … Florida went to the free throw line just five times, hitting three shots … Eli Carter had 11 points for Florida.

Final Score: Auburn 73, LSU 70 (OT)

Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – K.T. Harrell led the charge as Auburn came alive late for an improbable 73-70 overtime victory over LSU in Friday’s SEC Tournament quarterfinal game.

Harrell finished with 29 points and hit a 3 late in regulation to send the game into overtime.

Malcolm Canada finished with 14 points and two blocks, while Antoine Mason and Jordon Granger scored nine and eight points, respectively, for the 13th-seeded Tigers (15-19), who will face undefeated Kentucky in Saturday’s semifinal game.

Granger was ejected during the second half after striking LSU forward Mickey Jordan’s head.

Keith Hornsby led fourth-seeded LSU (22-10) with 24 points, while Jarell Martin totaled 18 points and 16 rebounds in defeat.

Hornsby’s trio of free throws staked LSU to a 61-53 advantage, but Harrell responded with a quick trey to keep Auburn within striking distance with 2:35 remaining.

Harrell was fouled by Tim Quarterman twice with under two minutes to play. He hit the initial two free throws and made three more on the next possession to get Auburn within 62-61.

LSU got the ball back with 28 seconds left after Canada sent Josh Gray’s shot attempt out of bounds with an authoritative block, but turned the ball over after the shot clock expired.

Martin blocked just enough of Canada’s shot and Jalyn Patterson pulled down the rebound. Patterson was fouled on the play and nailed both free throws for a 64-61 edge with eight seconds to play.

Harrell rolled off a screen following the inbounds pass and knocked down a trey to tie the game with two seconds to play, sending the game into overtime.

Auburn took its first lead of the game on a pair of Harrell free throws 1:15 into the extra session. Harrell knocked down two more fouls shots and Antoine Mason’s layup made it 70-64 with 2:36 to go.

Patterson fouled Mason’s dunk with a trey and Gray got LSU within 72-70 on a layup with 40 seconds left. K.C. Ross-Miller supplied a free throw for Auburn, Hornsby missed twice from long range and Harrell stole the ball to seal the win.

LSU led 28-24 at halftime and was powered by Hornsby’s 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Final Score: (21) Arkansas 80, Tennessee 72

Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – Bobby Portis posted 26 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 21 Arkansas in an 80-72 victory over Tennessee in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday.

Michael Qualls had 20 points while Alandise Harris gave 14 points and nine rebounds for the Razorbacks (25-7), who will play Georgia in the semifinals on Saturday.

“In this new season, games are going to go down to the wire,” said Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson. “There’s a thin line between winning and losing. Our guys had the resiliency to finish that game off.”

Josh Richardson scored 22 points with 10 rebounds and Kevin Punter added 13 points for the Volunteers (16-16), who defeated Vanderbilt on Thursday in the second round.

Arkansas led this game from start to finish as the team built a 13-0 lead in the first three minutes before Devon Baulkman got Tennessee on the board with a 3-pointer 4 1/2 minutes in.

The Razorbacks held an 11-point lead when Harris put in a layup with a free throw to kick off a 9-0 run and the team closed the half with the final six points to take a 45-25 lead into the break.

An 8-0 run from Tennessee in the second half saw the team get their deficit into single digits as Willie Carmichael’s free throw made it a 57-48 game with 11 1/2 minutes to play.

“We dug the hole for ourselves, and like my team, like our team has done the entire season, there was no quit,” said Tennessee head coach Donnie Tyndall. “They continued to fight and scrap.”

A 3-pointer from Punter cut the Volunteers’ deficit to 67-62 with under five minutes to play, and the team later got to within four, but was never able to make it a one-possession game as Arkansas hit its free throws down the stretch to hang on for the win.

Game Notes

Arkansas made 43.1 percent of its shots and held Tennessee to just 32.8 percent shooting … The Volunteers dominated the glass, 43-35 … Arkansas scored 19 points off of 13 turnovers from Tennessee.

Final Score: Georgia 74, South Carolina 62

Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – Yante Maten had 13 points and 10 rebounds to guide Georgia to a 74-62 victory over South Carolina in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday.

Marcus Thornton added 15 points and eight rebounds, Charles Mann had 12 points and Nemanja Djurisic gave 11 for the Bulldogs (21-11), who will battle Arkansas in the semifinal round on Saturday.

Duane Notice scored 20 points, Sindarius Thornwell added 10 points, six assists and five rebounds and Laimonas Chatkevicius gave 10 points and five boards for the Gamecocks (17-16), who had defeated Missouri and Ole Miss to move to the quarters.

Georgia never trailed in the first half and held a 23-17 lead with 8 1/2 minutes left in the first half after Kenny Gaines buried a 3-pointer.

The Bulldogs extended the lead to 10 later in the half, and eventually took a 33-26 advantage into the halftime break.

Georgia moved its advantage to 11 early in the second half, but South Carolina came charging back and took a 44-43 lead on a Chatkevicius jumper with under 12 minutes to play.

A 12-4 run by the Bulldogs saw them go back in front as Cameron Forte finished off a three-point play for a 55-49 advantage with seven minutes left.

The Gamecocks once again tied the game on a Thornwell three-point play with 5 1/2 to play, but Maten followed with two free throws and a jumper. After Thornwell split a pair from the line, Maten slammed the ball home for a five- point lead with three minutes to play.

South Carolina was unable to get it to a one-possession game, and J.J. Frazier’s 3-pointer inside the final minute was the final dagger.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball