SEC Tournament 2012: Vanderbilt Shocks Kentucky, 71-64

For more on Sunday’s game, check out Kentucky blog Sea Of Blue and Vanderbilt blog Anchor Of Gold. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Basketball for more news and notes on conference tournaments and the rest of March Madness. For more on the SEC Tournament, stay with this StoryStream or visit Team Speed Kills.

The second half was somehow even more dunktastic than the first. Terrence Jones was the biggest culprit on the day, with back-to-back slams to extend the Wildcats’ lead to five just before the midway point of the half.

Rumble, Terrence Jones, rumble. The Kentucky forward had a nifty first half against Vanderbilt in the SEC Championship game.

Jones had seven points, four rebounds and a steal, but it was *how* he scored those points that was so nice. Check out the highlights below.

Following the play, he went down to the other end and rejected a Terrence Jones layup. Not to be outdone, Anthony Davis has been having a field day above the rim. He has six points, three rebounds and a block so far.

Sea Of Blue and Vanderbilt blog Anchor Of Gold. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Basketball for more news and notes on conference tournaments and the rest of March Madness. For more on the SEC Tournament, stay with this StoryStream or visit Team Speed Kills.

We’ve already come to the conclusion that Kentucky’s Anthony Davis is not of this earth. So far in the SEC Championship game, he’s done nothing to convince us otherwise.

Could a human have reached up to collect this rebound? Is there even anyone else playing basketball on this play?

The Kentucky Wildcats are one game away from putting a bow on a perfect SEC regular season and tournament. The only thing left standing is the way is Vanderbilt, with the Commodores and Wildcats set to square off in Sunday’s SEC Tournament Championship. Both teams would appear to be safely in the NCAA Tournament field -- Kentucky as a No. 1 seed and Vanderbilt as an at-large, at the very least.

Kentucky hasn’t exactly cruised to the SEC Tournament Championship, facing tough tests from LSU and Florida along the way. A nine-point win over LSU in the quarterfinals was closer than it looks, and Florida gave the Wildcats a run on Saturday in the semifinals. Kentucky already appears to have sewn up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, making Sunday’s game more of a tune-up and a game for bragging rights.

For more on these two teams, visit Ole Miss blog Red Cup Rebellion and Vanderbilt blog Anchor Of Gold. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Basketball for more news and notes on conference tournaments and the rest of March Madness. For more on the SEC Tournament, stay with this StoryStream or visit Team Speed Kills.

For more on these two teams, visit Ole Miss blog Red Cup Rebellion and Vanderbilt blog Anchor Of Gold. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Basketball for more news and notes on conference tournaments and the rest of March Madness. For more on the SEC Tournament, stay with this StoryStream or visit Team Speed Kills.

Terrence Jones hit a 3-pointer a minute later, extending UK’s lead to 60-56. On the next possession he scored on a put-back dunk made score to put the Wildcats up six.

Murphy scored a career high 24 points on 9-for-12 from the floor. Beal would have had a career high with one more basket, finishing with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Lamb led Kentucky with 16 points and Anthony Davis picked up his third straight double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Jones’ 15 points and nine rebounds at key moments stole the show, however, especially from a highlight perspective.

Head over to SB Nation NCAA Basketball for more news and notes on conference tournaments and the rest of March Madness. For more on the SEC Tournament, stay withthis StoryStream or visit Team Speed Kills. Check out Alligator Army for everything Gators. Head over to A Sea Of Blue for more on the Wildcats.

Anthony Davis leads the Wildcats with seven points and three rebounds. He found Terrence Jones twice for near-identical alley-oops, the first to put UK on the board for the first time. Jones has six points.

Head over to SB Nation NCAA Basketball for more news and notes on conference tournaments and the rest of March Madness. For more on the SEC Tournament, stay with this StoryStream or visit Team Speed Kills. Check out Alligator Army for everything Gators. Head over to A Sea Of Blue for more on the Wildcats.

Location: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA

Game Date/Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET

The 2012 SEC Tournament continues on Saturday with the semifinal round, live on ABC. One team is looking to crash the party and steal an auto-bid on one side of the bracket while the other semifinal pits two of the conference titans against one another.

In the first matchup of the day, Kentucky will face Florida in a rematch of the final regular season game. Kentucky ran the table in the SEC, finishing a perfect 16-0 while pushing its overall record to 31-1. The Wildcats looked shaky early on Friday before hitting the throttle and dropping LSU by nine. Florida got a test from Alabama in the other quarterfinal matchup, hanging on for a three-point win.

Saturday’s game will tip off at 1:00 p.m ET on ABC. The winner will play in the SEC Championship Game at 1:00 p.m on Sunday.

Head over to SB Nation NCAA Basketball for more news and notes on conference tournaments and the rest of March Madness. For more on the SEC Tournament, stay with this StoryStream or visit Team Speed Kills.

Vandy moves on to face the Ole Miss Rebels, who likely need a win to keep their hopes of going to the NCAA Tournament alive.

For more on the two teams, head over to Vanderbilt Commodores blog Anchor Of Gold and Georga Bulldogs blog Dawg Sports. For more on the entire tournament, keep it on our SEC Tournament StoryStream.

The Rebels knew they had very little chance of making the NCAA tournament without a deep run in the SEC tournament, and they certainly put every ounce of effort they had into continuing their season. They harassed the heavily favored Volunteers into bad shots all night, especially down the stretch. They didn’t play especially well on offense, but played just insane defense. Tennessee shot 27.7 percent from the field, an astoundingly low rate.

For more on these two teams, visit Ole Miss blog Red Cup Rebellion and Tennessee blog Rocky Top Talk. For more on the SEC Tournament, stay withthis StoryStream, visit Team Speed Kills.

Green also had 10 rebounds, leading the Tide to a 30-25 advantage on the boards. They also outshot the Gators, 53.3 to 38.5 percent from the field. Florida did a much better job limiting turnovers, however, giving the ball away just five times. They also relied heavily on shots from beyond the 3-point line, going 10-for-30 from long range compared to 3-for-8 for the Tide.

Head over to SB Nation NCAA Basketball for more news and notes on conference tournaments and the rest of March Madness. For more on the SEC Tournament, stay with this StoryStream and check out Team Speed Kills.

Davis did most of the work on the glass, pulling down 14 boards to augment his 12 points ans six blocks and offset his four turnovers, while Terrance Jones added a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double and Lamb pumped in 12 points of his own.

Head over to SB Nation NCAA Basketball for more news and notes on conference tournaments and the rest of March Madness. For more on the SEC Tournament, stay with this StoryStream, visit Team Speed Kills and check out Kentucky blog A Sea of Blue.

LSU obviously has its hands full considering they’re playing the top team in college basketball and their lone meeting during the regular season ended with a 24-point loss. The Tigers mustered just one double-digit point performance from a starter in that game as forward Johnny O’Bryant III had 11 points. LSU looked solid in their first-round game, though, as O’Bryant came off the bench to score 18 points while the team made 50 percent of their field goal attempts.

The winner of Friday afternoon’s game will play the winner of a later matchup featuring Florida and Alabama in the semifinals of the SEC tournament.

Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee and Vanderbilt each join the SEC Tournament on Friday after receiving a free pass into the quarterfinals by virtue of their regular season record. They’ll face Thursday’s winners as the tournament inches closer to handing out its auto-bid on Sunday, just before the selections are announced.

LSU earned the right to face Kentucky with a win over Arkansas on Thursday, which probably isn’t the best reward for the Tigers. Alabama also moved on after its win over South Carolina in the second matchup of the day. Ole Miss will face Tennessee thanks to a win over Auburn, and Georgia upset Mississippi State in the night cap.

Georgia stayed alive for the 2012 NCAA Tournament with a big win in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday. And Mississippi State, the Peach State Bulldogs’ victim in a 71-61 loss, may be squarely on the bubble.

For updates and coverage, stay tuned to this StoryStream. For more on the SEC Tournament, be sure to visit SB Nation’s Team Speed Kills. For more on the two teams, head over to Georgia blog Dawg Sports and Mississippi State blog Mississippi State blog For Whom the Cowbell Tolls.

For more on these two teams, visit Ole Miss blog Red Cup Rebellion, Auburn blog Track Em Tigers and SEC blog Team Speed Kills.

For the complete box score, check out SI.com. Also be sure to check out Alabama blog Roll ‘Bama Roll and South Carolina blog Garnet and Black Attack.

For more on the two teams, head over to LSU Tigers blog And The Valley Shook and Arkansas Razorbacks blog Arkansas Expats.

A full 2012 SEC Tournament bracket can be found here (PDF). Below is the complete schedule for Day 1:

Thursday, March 8