2011 SEC Men's Tournament
Championship Game
Game 11 -- (E2) Kentucky 70 , (E1) Florida 54
Final Stats
Game Photos
Florida Quotes
Kentucky Quotes
Game Highlights
Session 6 Attendance
(Championship Game)
21,409
2011 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament Attendance
Session 1 (Games 1 & 2) 12,144
Session 2 (Games 3 & 4) 15,145
Session 3 (Games 5 & 6) 21,875
Session 4 (Games 7 & 8) 17,096
Session 5 (Games 9 & 10) 21,728
Session 6 (Game 11) 21,409
TOTAL: 197,385
AVG. PER SESSION: 18,233
AVG. PER GAME: 17,944
Atlanta, Ga. -- Brandon Knight scored 17 points, Darius Miller hit two crucial 3-pointers and No. 15 Kentucky cruised to another Southeastern Conference tournament title, routing regular-season champion Florida 70-54 on Sunday.
The 12th-ranked Gators (26-7) had a miserable day shooting, especially guards Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker. They combined to go 7 of 26 from the field, their woes epitomized in the closing minutes when they put up back-to-back airballs trying desperately to bring Florida back.
Kentucky (25-8) streaked into the NCAAs with its sixth straight win, second straight SEC tournament crown and 27th title overall--more than every other school combined.
Florida trailed at halftime for the third straight game. The Gators came back against Tennessee and Vanderbilt, but they were doomed when Kentucky pushed it out to a 14-point lead with just over 9 minutes remaining on consecutive 3s by Miller, who was named tournament MVP.
Boynton scored 10 points, the only Florida player in double figures. But he was just 4 of 16 from the field, which pretty much summed up what kind of day it was for the Gators.
They shot just 39 percent (22 of 57), matched their second-lowest scoring game of the season and almost took their worst loss, just getting in under a 93-75 defeat to Ohio State back in November. This is a team that lives by the jump shot. When those shots didn't fall, they were dead.
But hand it to Kentucky, a team that totally rebuilt around three freshmen and a very thin roster after most of the big names bolted to the NBA a year ago.
Even with one of those newcomers, Doron Lamb, plagued by a sprained ankle, the Wildcats appear to be a team that is all grown up at the most important time of year. They have won eight of nine--the only loss in that stretch an overtime setback at Arkansas--and surely improved their seeding for the tournament that really matters.
Miller hit 6 of 8 shots, grabbed six rebounds and finished with 15 points. Freshman Terrence Jones chipped in with 16 points. And Knight, the third youngster, ran the show with four assists and capped the big win with a thunderous dunk in the final minute.
Hardly looking like a team with so much youth, Kentucky turned it over just six times. Florida had 14 turnovers, and no one stepped up as the game got away. The ultra-quick Walker tried putting up jumpers and penetrating the lane, not having much success at either. He shot just 3 of 10 and had eight points.
Chandler Parsons added to the woes with a 4-of-12 performance to finish with nine points. The shooting problems carried over the foul line, where the Gators made just 3 of 8.
Lamb sprained his left ankle in the closing minutes of a semifinal victory over Alabama. He went through pregame warmups, then started out on the bench, with DeAndre Liggins taking his place in the lineup.
The freshman checked in just ahead of the second TV timeout and seemed to move around without much problem, though he wasn't a major factor in the game. He played 23 minutes and scored six points.
Still, Lamb just playing was a big relief to Kentucky fans who made up the bulk of the crowd in "Catlanta," giving the Wildcats a home-court advantage a long way from Lexington. A loud cheer went up when Lamb checked into the game, meaning he should at least be in decent shape for the NCAAs.
That's important for Kentucky, which basically uses a six-man rotation. Perhaps looking to stretch his bench, coach John Calipari gave early playing time to little-used junior Eloy Vargas, who had four rebounds, two points and a steal in 10 solid minutes.
When it was done, Lamb was the first one up the ladder to cut down the nets. During a raucous celebration in front of press row, he and the other freshmen hopped around like this was something new to them--which, of course, it was.
For Kentucky, though, this was just business as usual at the SEC tournament.
2011 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament
Atlanta, Georgia
Championship Game Notes Kentucky 70, Florida 54
Championship Attendance: 21,409
Total Tournament Attendance: 197,385 … most since 2005
All-Tournament Team:
Darius Miller, Kentucky (Most Valuable Player) … 13.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in tournament
Kenny Boynton, Florida … 18.7 points and 3.7 assists per game in the tournament
Chandler Parsons, Florida … 12.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in the tournament
Brandon Knight, Kentucky … 15.3 points and 5.7 assists per game in the tournament
Josh Harrellson, Kentucky … 10.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in the tournament
Series Notes:
All-Time Series: Kentucky leads 90-33
SEC Tournament: Kentucky leads 11-3
Season Series: Teams split in the regular season, UF 70-68 in Gainesville, UK 76-68 in Lexington
Florida Notes:
• Florida, the SEC regular-season champion, is 26-7 on the season.
• Florida is 3-5 in SEC tournament championship games, including 3-2 under Coach Billy Donovan. UF is 1-3 vs. UK in SEC championship games.
• Kenny Boynton led Florida today with 10 points and five assists. Boynton totaled 56 points (18.7 per game) in the tournament while earning a slot on the all-tournament team.
• Chandler Parsons had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Parsons has 11 double-figure rebounding games this season.
Kentucky Notes:
• Kentucky is 25-8 on the season.
• Kentucky is 28-8 in SEC Tournament championship games, including 3-1 vs. Florida. UK is 117-22 all-time in the SEC Tournament.
• UK is 22-7 in the SEC Tournament in Atlanta and has won six tourneys in “Cat-lanta.”
• Key run: trailing 24-21 at the 10:26 mark of the first half, UK held Florida scoreless for more than seven minutes, making a 10-0 run for a 31-24 lead. The Wildcats led the rest of the game.
• After leading 34-29 at halftime, UK opened the second period with a 7-0 run for a 41-29 advantage. Florida got no closer than eight points for the remainder of the game (45-37 and 53-45).
• In all three Kentucky-Florida game this season, the eventual winning team scored 34 points in the first half and led at halftime (UF 34-22, UK 34-33 and UK 34-29 today).
• Key possession: ahead 58-49 at the under-4:00 timeout, the Wildcats received a UF foul, got an offensive rebound, and received another foul before Terrence Jones hit two free throws at 2:18. UK ran 1:34 off the clock and scored two points on the possession.
• UK made 10 of 12 foul shots in the final 2:18 to preserve the victory. For the game, UK sank 24 of 29 at the line, most for the Cats since an identical performance at South Carolina on Jan. 22.
• UK is 23-0 this season, 44-0 in two years under Coach John Calipari, when holding the opponent to 67 or fewer points.
• Kentucky limited Florida to 38.6 percent from the field, the Gators’ lowest since Feb. 1 vs. Vanderbilt.
• Kentucky had only six turnovers, tying the season low vs. Indiana on Dec. 11.
• Brandon Knight scored 17 points. He has reached double figures in 28-straight games.
• Terrence Jones tallied 16 points, seven rebounds and blocked three shots.
• Tournament MVP Darius Miller totaled 15 points and six rebounds. He made 6-of-8 from the field and sank two key three-pointers midway through the second half when UK was in an offensive cold spell.