#1 Seed Kentucky To Play Alabama-Tennessee Winner On Friday At 1pm

After winning its 49th Southeastern Conference regular-season title with two games to spare at home against Auburn last week, the Kentucky men’s basketball team will be the No. 1 seed in the annual SEC Tournament when action begins Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee. The Wildcats, who earned the coveted double bye (automatically advancing to the quarterfinals), will play the winner of the Alabama-Tennessee on Friday in Nashville at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT).

Kentucky completed its 2019-20 regular season on Saturday with an 18-point second-half comeback win at Florida to finish 25-6 and 15-3 in the SEC. UK captured the outright crown, its sixth under head coach John Calipari in 11 seasons.

The Wildcats are seeking their seventh SEC Tournament championship under Calipari and 32nd overall. UK will need two wins to advance to their ninth SEC Tournament title game in the last 11 seasons. The Wildcats have earned a double bye in every season since it went into effect in 2013.  

The tournament could be wide open after a highly competitive and tightly bunched regular season among the league’s teams. After placing 15 teams in the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons, second most in the nation, the league has a handful of teams vying for at-large berths heading into the conference finale.

Tickets for the tournament are sold out.

UK’s quarterfinal SEC Tournament game will be televised by ESPN with Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes and Marty Smith on the call. If Kentucky wins Friday, it would play Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. Sunday’s championship game is also scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. Both the semifinals and championship game will be televised on ESPN with Ravech, Dick Vitale and Smith calling the action.

Kentucky leads the league with 31 SEC Tournament titles, more than the rest of the league combined (28). The Wildcats are 134-26 all-time in the SEC Tournament, including 45-11 in the quarterfinals. Last season’s loss in the semifinals ended a run of four straight SEC Tournament championships and 13 straight wins in the conference tournament.

John Calipari’s teams at UMass, Memphis and Kentucky have been to 19 conference championship games in his 27-year career, winning a remarkable 15 of them. Calipari is 57-12 (.826) all-time in conference tournaments, including 23-4 (.852) at UK. Calipari ranks fourth in SEC Tournament wins.

The Wildcats are 12-5 all-time against the Volunteers in the SEC Tournament and 2-0 in quarterfinals matchups. The Volunteers and Wildcats met in the semifinals a season ago, with the Vols’ win halting a sixth consecutive championship game appearance by the Wildcats. The two teams split the regular-season series this season. The Wildcats won 78-64 at Tennessee but the Volunteers overcame a 17-point deficit on Tuesday for an 81-73 upset of the Wildcats in Rupp Arena.

If Kentucky faces Alabama, it would be the fifth straight season the Wildcats have faced the Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament. UK has won all four of the previous matchups and is 17-2 vs. Alabama in the league tournament and 6-1 in the quarterfinals. UK won the lone regular-season matchup between the two squads by a 76-67 margin on Jan. 11 in Rupp Arena.

Also on Kentucky’s side of the bracket is No. 4 seed Mississippi State, No. 5 seed Florida, No. 12 seed Ole Miss and No. 13 seed Georgia.

The tournament returns to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for the fifth time in the last six seasons. UK has won the SEC Tournament when it’s played in Nashville four times under Calipari.

Immanuel Quickley Is SEC Co-Player Of The Week

Kentucky sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley was named the Southeastern Conference Co-Player of the Week on Monday after helping the Wildcats win their 49th SEC regular-season crown last week.

Arkansas’ Mason Jones shared the honor this week with Quickley.

In winning back-to-back weeks, Quickley becomes the first Wildcat in the history of the SEC weekly awards (dating back to the 1984-85 season) to win SEC Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks. He’s the first player from any SEC team to do so since Tennessee’s Admiral Schofield won two straight in December 2018.

Quickley was sensational for the Wildcats, averaging 24.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game in the two victories. He made nine 3-pointers during the week and shot 48.3% from the floor, including 52.9% from 3.

Quickley, a leading candidate for SEC Player of the Year, has won three SEC Player of the Week honors this season, behind only Jones, who has four.

Kentucky has dominated the weekly SEC awards under John Calipari. UK has won more weekly SEC honors (108) than any other school during the Calipari era, including 83 SEC Freshman of the Week honors and 25 SEC Player of the Week awards.

UK has five total SEC Player of the Week honors this season and eight total. In addition to Quickley’s three SEC Player of the Week awards, Nick Richards has won it twice and Tyrese Maxey is a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week winner.

Quickley provided two career performances for the Wildcats in wins over Texas A&M and against No. 15/15 Auburn as UK secured the regular-season championship. The Havre de Grace, Maryland, native began the week by draining a career-high eight 3-pointers and scoring a career-high 30 points against the Aggies.

He became the first UK player to log a 30-point game since Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 on Jan. 30, 2018 against Vanderbilt. The eight 3s tie the single-game record in the Calipari era and are the fourth most in a game in program history. Quickley became the first player to have consecutive 25 points or more in back-to-back games since Malik Monk during the 2016-17 season. It was his eighth 20-point game of the season and the third straight, with Quickley becoming the first UK player to do that since PJ Washington had four straight 20-point games last February.

In nine true road games this season, Quickley is averaging 19.9 points per game.

Quickley then charted 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his second-career double-double in the win over the Tigers to help UK clinch the crown in front of its home crowd.

Entering the game leading the SEC in free-throw percentage, he made all 11 attempts and has now made 17 straight, his fourth streak of 17 or more consecutive makes at the line this season. He’s making 92.2% from the line on the season which ranks third in the nation through games played on Feb. 29.

Quickley has charted double-figure scoring in a career-best 18 straight games. It’s the longest such streak for a UK player since Monk did it 30 straight times in 2016-17. During Kentucky’s current eight-game winning streak, Quickley has been on fire the second half. He is scoring 14.9 points per game in the second half alone and connecting on 57.7% of his 3-point attempts. He’s played all but three minutes during the second half in the current winning streak.

The Wildcats return to action for their final home game of the year as Tennessee visits Rupp Arena on Tuesday. Tip time is set for 9 p.m. ET and the game will air live on ESPN.

Notes After Kentucky's Win Over Auburn To Win The SEC Regular Season Championship

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES 
AUBURN at KENTUCKY

RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK CENTER | LEXINGTON, KY.

FEB. 29, 2020 
ATTENDANCE: 20,638 (season high)

Final Score: No. 8/9 Kentucky 73, No. 15 Auburn 66

Team Records and Series Notes  

• Kentucky has won eight in a row and is 24-5 overall, 14-2 in the Southeastern Conference.
• The Wildcats clinched their 49th SEC regular-season championship (outright) and the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament. 
• It’s  UK’s sixth regular-season SEC title in 11 seasons under John Calipari and first since 2017.
• Auburn is 24-5 overall, 11-5 in the SEC. 

• UK leads the series 95-21, although Auburn had won the previous two meetings. 
• UK leads 49-2 in games played in Lexington.
• Next up: it will be Senior Night on Tuesday as the Wildcats honor Nate Sestina before the 9 p.m. home game vs. Tennessee. The game will be televised on ESPN.  

Player Notes    

• Immanuel Quickley had 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, his second double-double of the season. 
• He has been torrid in the second half in UK’s current eight-game win streak, veraging 14.9 points in the second half alone during this eight-game stretch. 
• It is his 18th consecutive game in double figures, most since Malik Monk had a 30-game streak during the 2016-17 season.  
• Entering the game leading the SEC in free-throw percentage at 91.5%, he made all 11 charity tosses tonight and has made 17 straight, his fourth streak this season of 17 or more consecutive makes at the line. 
• Tyrese Maxey recorded 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
• Maxey continues to play his best against the best, averaging 19 points per game against UK’s six ranked (Associated Press Top 25) opponents.
• It is his 21st game this season in double figures.
• UK is 5-0 this season when he gets seven or more rebounds.  
• Despite being limited to 18 minutes because of foul trouble, Nick Richards had 14 points, three rebounds and two blocked shots. He made all five field-goal attempts. 
• Nate Sestina came off the bench to get 11 points, steadying the Wildcats when they fell behind early. It was his fourth game in double figures this season. 

Coach John Calipari  

• Calipari is now 329-76 at UK. 
• He has a 774-216 all-time on-court record. 
• UK is 63-33 vs. AP Top 25 foes under Calipari.
• Kentucky is 150-40 under Calipari in SEC regular-season games.
• Calipari is 12-4 all-time vs. Auburn. 
• Not only was it Calipari’s sixth regular-season conference title at UK, it’s his 16th career regular-season championship with his time at UMass and Memphis. 
• In addition to his 16 regular-season titles, he has 15 league tournament crowns for a combined 31 conference championships. That mark trails only Mark Few of Gonzaga, who is up to 34 total after winning the West Coast Conference regular-season title this season.

Team Notes  

• Kentucky held Auburn to 36.1% from the field. UK is 202-19 (.914) under Calipari when keeping the opponent to 40% or less, including 15-3 this season.
• UK entered the game leading the SEC in field goal defense at 38.7 percent. 
• Entering the game leading the SEC at 79.3% at the foul line, Kentucky made 27 of 33 free throws (81.8%).
• UK has made at least 75% at the line in 12 straight games. 
• Free throws made the difference in both of the games this season vs. Auburn.  
• On Feb. 1, Auburn made 33 of 44 at the charity stripe while UK hit 20 of 24.
• Today, UK made 27 of 33 while Auburn got 13 of 22. 
• Kentucky is 8-2 all-time on games played on Leap Day, with a seven-game winning streak, and has not lost on Leap Day since 1936.  

In the First Half  

• The starting lineup consisted of Ashton Hagans, Tyrese Maxey, Immanuel Quickley, EJ Montgomery and Nick Richards for the 14th time this season. UK is 12-2 with the lineup. 
• Nate Sestina was UK’s first substitute at the 16:40 mark. 

• Auburn came out hot, making its first four 3-point shots en route to an 18-9 lead.
• Trailing 20-11, UK went on an 18-3 run for its first lead at 29-23. The Cats never trailed again.
• UK went to the locker room ahead 40-37. Maxey paced the first-half effort with 12 points. 
• UK is 19-2 this season when leading at intermission. 

 In the Second Half  

• Kentucky opened the second half with the starting lineup. 
• Ahead 53-46 at the 14:32 mark, UK went more than seven minutes without a basket. Five free throws by Quickley, one by Richards and two by Montgomery during that span kept a tenuous lead for the Wildcats. Hagans finally broke the drought with a steal and layup at the 7:08 mark, making it 63-58.  
• Auburn got no closer than three points the rest of the way as the Wildcats held on for the win.