Kentucky is just one game away from notching its 32nd SEC tournament title, as the Wildcats bested No. 9 seed Alabama, 86-63, in a contest that saw Wenyen Gabriel explode for 23 points. The 6’9, 213 lbs. sophomore came off the bench for Calipari’s outfit most of the season, but he saved his best performance for when the ‘Cats needed it most.
Kentucky’s Wenyen Gabriel went 7-for-7 from three to trounce Alabama
Wenyen Gabriel led all scorers as the Wildcats advance to the SEC tournament’s championship game.
Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports
The hype surrounding this matchup was understandably outsized, what with Alabama guard Collin Sexton emerging as a force of nature right as March hoops picked up this year. Collective wisdom held that Saturday’s bout in St. Louis would quickly turn into a Sexton-vs-the-world type of event, but collective wisdom wasn’t expecting fellow McDonald’s All-American Gabriel to play his head off the way that he did.
A 23-point win over a good Alabama club is a thorough trouncing, and it was due in no small measure to the Wildcats’ suddenly new-found stroke from all over the floor, but especially from three-point range. A full six Kentucky shooters made attempts from out in the yard, with Gabriel himself splashing down all seven of his offerings.
You read that right: Gabriel shot 7-for-7 from three point range. With his teammates behind him, the Wildcats shot better than 66 percent from outside the arc and better than 64 percent anywhere else. Match those impressive figures against Alabama’s horrid 33 percent rate from outside and 37 percent elsewhere, and the Tide are lucky the outcome wasn’t somehow worse than what it was.
Might this be the Wenyen Gabriel has arrived game?
It certainly feels that way. Coming into Saturday’s contest he was averaging just 6.1 points per game on 51 percent FG shooting, to say nothing of his 35 percent accuracy from outside. On Saturday, Gabriel played like a man possessed and, in addition to his perfection from three land, he was also perfect at the free throw line and seven-of-eight elsewhere.
That’s right: He shot 17 shots in the game and missed just the one.
It remains to be seen whether his performance Saturday will spur Gabriel into Calipari’s starting platoon, but if “hot hands” are a real thing in college basketball, it’s difficult to imagine Cal not giving Gabriel’s playing time some real thought. Either way, we’ll find out Sunday at 1 p.m. ET just how impressed Calipari was with Gabriel’s breakout performance.
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