NASHVILLE, Tenn. — De’Aaron Fox took charge and made plays during a critical stretch on the way to a career performance. An early-morning shootaround helped remedy Malik Monk’s recent scoring woes.
Those initiatives by Kentucky’s talented freshmen duo positioned the No. 8 Wildcats to claim another Southeastern Conference tournament championship.
Fox scored a career-high 28 points, including nine straight down the stretch, and Malik Monk added 20 to lift Kentucky past Alabama 79-74 in the SEC tournament semifinal Saturday.
The Wildcats shot 52 percent from the field and 69 percent from the line after missing numerous chances that left openings for the Crimson Tide to stay close. But Kentucky converted chances when needed, hitting 13 of 17 free throws in the final six minutes with Fox making 5 of 7 in particular and 11 of 15 overall.
Fox also converted a pair of 3-point plays — the biggest of which gave Kentucky a 67-62 lead with 3:07 remaining — en route to 19 points after halftime.
“I just kept getting the plays and they kept the ball in my hands,” said Fox, who made 8 of 12 shots. “When I know the coach is trusting me and my teammates are trusting me to keep attacking, doing what you’re doing, all I’ve got to do is just make the play.”
After combining for just eight points the previous two games, Monk snapped out of his funk to hit 6 of 14 from the field. Those baskets included a pair of 3-pointers that turned a 17-7 first-half deficit into a 33-32 lead.
Monk later followed a Fox jumper with two free throws with 1:13 left.
“I knew I had to get up and execute for the team,” Monk said of the early practice. “If I get shots before the game, I just have a good game or have a better flow.”
Bam Adebayo had 10 points and nine rebounds to send top-seeded Kentucky (28-5) to Sunday’s championship game against No. 3 seed Arkansas, which beat Vanderbilt 76-62 in the other semifinal.
The Wildcats will face the Razorbacks for the second time in three seasons in pursuit of their third consecutive SEC title.
Dazon Ingram had 17 points for No. 5 seed Alabama (19-14), which outrebounded Kentucky 33-28. But the Crimson Tide couldn’t get the basket when needed to overcome the Wildcats, who came through in the clutch for their 10th straight win.
“Give Kentucky credit,” Alabama coach Avery Johnson said. “They made some big shots.”
n Arkansas 76, Vanderbilt 62: the Razorbacks knew they had an edge being much more rested and deeper than the Commodores and they ran right over them on their way into the SEC tournament championship game.
Moses Kingsley had 12 points and 13 rebounds as third-seeded Arkansas beat Vanderbilt on Saturday in the tournament semifinals that was never really close after halftime.
“What a tremendous effort, a team win,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “We came out, got off to a good start against a Vanderbilt team that was one of the hottest teams in the country. We knew what we had to do. They were playing their game in three days, and we had to make the game chaotic for them.”
Arkansas (25-8) won its third-straight game to reach the championship for the seventh time. It will play eighth-ranked Kentucky, a 79-74 winner against Alabama, for the second time in three years today.
Arkansas simply smothered Vanderbilt, especially in the paint where the Razorbacks had a 46-16 scoring edge.
Jaylen Barford led Arkansas with 18 points. Dusty Hannahs added 16 and Daryl Macon 15.
Seventh-seeded Vanderbilt (19-15) snapped a three-game winning streak end after reaching the semifinals for the first time since 2013.
“Just seemed like Arkansas was a little faster to the ball, a little faster to the rim, shot a little bit better, did everything a little bit better than us,” Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said.
N Alabama 64, South Carolina 53: Freshman Braxton Key had 18 points and seven rebounds to help the Crimson Tide advance to the semifinals of the SEC tournament for the first time since 2013.
The victory marked the first time Alabama has won two games at the SEC tournament since the 2001-02 season when it defeated Tennessee, 91-72, and South Carolina, 67-55.
Junior Riley Norris scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Senior Bola Olaniyan had a game-high 10 rebounds, his ninth double-digit rebounding game this year.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” Alabama coach Avery Johnson said. “We’ve had an up-and-down year in a lot of ways and haven’t been able to put together complete games, especially in back-to-back games. But we did it tonight. I’m proud of our guys. They were hard-nosed, they fought and they were scrappy. And these two gentlemen that are up here now, Riley Norris and Braxton Key, are huge reasons why we’re advancing in the SEC tournament.”
The game featured eight ties and eight lead changes. Neither team led by more than six points until the final stretch. With the Crimson Tide clinging to a 54-53 lead with 2 minutes, 54 seconds remaining, sophomore Avery Johnson Jr. hit a pair of free throws to spark a game-ending 9-0 run.
Both teams shot less than 40 percent in the first half, as Alabama led 23-23 at halftime. The half featured four ties and four lead changes.
Alabama bounced back in the second half to shoot 57 percent from the field to finish the game at 45 percent.
South Carolina’s Sindarius Thornwell, the SEC Player of the Year who scored 44 points and grabbed 21 rebounds in the teams’ last meeting that went to quadruple overtime, scored 16 points and had four rebounds.
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