Today, perfect is spelled F-L-O-R-I-D-A. At least it is in the SEC. Which, if we’re being honest, says a lot about the SEC.
Florida wins 2014 SEC basketball tournament: Gators survive, 61-60
The Gators have an emphatic case for the No. 1 overall seed after holding off Kentucky and completing a perfect SEC run.
Kevin C. Cox
The top-ranked Florida Gators finished off an unbeaten run through the SEC and its conference tournament by dispatching Kentucky, 61-60, on Sunday. Patric Young and Michael Frazier II each led a balanced Gator attack with 14 points, and Young added five rebounds and three blocks in an all-around stellar performance.
Florida led by double digits for most of the game (and led the entire way through, as it turned out), but the SEC Championship didn't come without a serious fight down the stretch. Following a 14-0 run, the Wildcats first clawed within one point with a chance to tie the game at the line with 6:16 left. Alas, Willie Cauley-Stein's second free throw caromed long into Frazier's hands, and Frazier canned a three-ball in the ensuing transition to push the lead back to four.
The Wildcats did make one last push for the lead, scratching back to a one-point deficit in the last minute of play, and the ‘Cats had two shots at taking control of the game. On the first possession, Andrew Harrison’s running jumper missed, then after two consecutive missed front ends of 1-and-1s by the Gators, Kentucky could hold for the last shot.
That shot never came.
With the last seconds ticking away, James Young slipped as he tried to drive to the bucket, and the clock hit zeroes before anybody was able to secure the ball. Game, Gators. So it goes.
Julius Randle was a total non-factor for the Wildcats, scoring four points on 1-of-7 shooting, and he didn't touch the ball on Kentucky's final two possessions. That's not what you want from a star forward, but he's still likely to cause matchup nightmares in the NCAA tournament.
For Florida, the party can now begin, as the Gators are in line to be the top overall seed in the tournament. That’s a little weird for a team atop a 14-member league that’s about to put three teams in the Big Dance, but the Gators were absolutely dominant in a season where nobody, not even unbeaten Wichita State, looked as good over the course of the year.
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