NCAAB Game Recap - Tennessee at Kentucky
Sat Mar 16, 2019 3:30 PM EDT

UMBC
49
Vermt
66
F
Penn
58
Harv
66
F
Wisc
55
MSU
67
F
NCC
50
Norf
47
F
Hou
61
Mem
58
F
TxSt
46
GASt
59
F
TXSo
86
PVAM
92
F
Seton
72
Vill
74
F
BGSU
73
Buff
87
F
E WA
62
Mont
68
F
W Ky
56
ODU
62
F
GrCan
57
NMSt
89
F
Oreg
68
Wash
48
F
CS-Ful
64
UCIrv
92
F
Princ
77
Yale
83
F
Tenn
82
KY
78
F
StLou
67
David
44
F
WichSt
63
Cin
66
F
SDSU
57
UtSt
64
F
GaSo
58
TexAr
67
F
NOrl
60
AbCh
77
F
Minn
49
Mich
76
F
IaSt
78
Kansas
66
F
FSU
63
Duke
73
F
URI
51
StBon
68
F
Fla
62
Aub
65
F

Mar 16, 2019, 3:30 PM EDT

Final

1

2

T

(3) Tennessee

36

46

82

(2) Kentucky

34

44

78

No. 8 Tennessee rallies past No. 4 Kentucky 82-78
Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:46 PM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Tennessee's Lamonte' Turner picked a perfect time to snap out of his shooting slump.

Turner sank a go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds left as No. 8 Tennessee rallied to beat No. 4 Kentucky 82-78 in a Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinal thriller Saturday. Before making that shot, Turner had gone 8 of 52 from 3-point range over his last 10 games and 1 of 19 over his last five contests.

"Big moments like that, man, I thrive on those moments," Turner said. "I always believe in myself. My teammates always believe in me. When it left my hands, I knew it was good."

The third-seeded Volunteers (29-4) trailed by eight with less than three minutes left before rallying to advance to a championship matchup Sunday with No. 22 Auburn, the tournament's fifth seed. Auburn beat Florida 65-62 in the other semifinal.

One way or another, this tournament will have an unfamiliar champion. Tennessee hasn't won this event since 1979 and Auburn earned its lone SEC Tournament crown in 1985. The Vols also are chasing their first NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed in program history.

Kentucky's chances for a fifth straight SEC Tournament title vanished when Tennessee closed the game on an 18-6 run.

"With an eight-point lead, we should win that game," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "They said, `You're not winning the game. We're not giving up. We're not stopping.' "

Tennessee took a 75-74 lead on a Grant Williams 3-pointer from in front of the Vols' bench with 1:31 left. Kentucky (27-6) went back in front with 1:06 remaining when PJ Washington delivered a putback of his own miss.

Admiral Schofield missed a 3-pointer on Tennessee's next possession, but Williams got the rebound and called timeout with 38.5 seconds left. The Vols worked the ball to Turner, who buried a 3-point attempt from behind the top of the key.

Although Turner had been struggling up to that point, he has a reputation for delivering clutch shots and made a go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute of a victory at Kentucky last season.

"He's Lamonte' Turner - he has ice in his veins," Williams said. "We have no doubt in our minds that he's going to be able to take and make that shot no matter if he's shooting zero for 60 the next four weeks. I don't want that to happen, but we have faith he'll knock them down. We know what type of shooter he is."

After Washington missed a shot and a follow attempt with about 15 seconds left, Tennessee's Jordan Bone went 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the last 11 seconds to finish off Kentucky.

"We still have a bigger tournament, and it's more important," said PJ Washington, who led Kentucky with 16 points. "We've got to come out, be focused, be ready to play, whoever we play."

Schofield scored 21 points, Williams had 20 and Bone added 18 for Tennessee. Keldon Johnson had 15 points, Reid Travis had 11 and Ashton Hagans and Tyler Herro added 10 each for Kentucky. Hagans also had 12 assists.

The third Kentucky-Tennessee meeting of the season took place roughly a three-hour drive from each campus, and about two-thirds of the Bridgestone Arena crowd appeared to be cheering for Kentucky as "Go Big Blue" chants competed with the sounds of "Rocky Top." That environment created a much closer game after the home team won easily in the two regular-season matchups.

"Honestly, that was one of the funnest games I ever played in, back and forth, two teams competing at a high level," Schofield said. "It was fun for me, and I know it was fun for my teammates."

BIG PICTURE

Tennessee: Turner's huge 3-pointer is good news for Tennessee, which needed him to pull out of his slump before the NCAA Tournament. The Vols are going to need Kyle Alexander to stay out of foul trouble if they want to make a deep postseason run. The senior forward fouled out of Saturday's game with 10:55 remaining. Alexander had just two points and three rebounds in 16 minutes. That followed a 16-point, nine-rebound performance in a quarterfinal victory over Mississippi State.

Kentucky: The Wildcats discovered what they can expect from Travis amid the rigors of an NCAA Tournament run after seeing the way he performed on back-to-back days. In his first action since Feb. 19, Travis returned from a sprained right knee in a reserve role when Kentucky beat Alabama in an SEC quarterfinal Friday. He started Saturday and played 28 minutes.

FAMILIAR FOES

The Tennessee-Auburn championship game has plenty of interesting subplots.

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl coached Tennessee to NCAA Tournament appearances in each of his six seasons on the job before getting fired in 2011 amid an NCAA investigation that put the program on probation. Auburn and Tennessee shared the SEC regular-season title last year.

Tennessee's hopes of winning back-to-back SEC regular-season championships for the first time in school history vanished a week ago when the Vols lost 84-80 at Auburn.

UP NEXT

Tennessee faces Auburn in Sunday's championship game.

Kentucky learns the date, location and opponent for its first NCAA Tournament game.

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Follow Steve Megargee at https://twitter.com/stevemegargee

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Leaders

Tennessee PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
A. Schofield 21 0 5 3 1 0
G. Williams 20 0 1 7 1 1
Kentucky PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
P. Washington 16 0 0 5 0 1
K. Johnson 15 0 0 6 1 0

Team Comparison

Tenn KY
Points For 82 78
Field Goals 26/56-46% 30/56-54%
Three Pointers 10/21-48% 5/11-45%
Free Throws 20/25-80% 13/19-68%
Offensive Rebounds 10 11
Defensive Rebounds 19 21
Rebounds 32 35
Blocks 4 2
Steals 6 5
Turnovers 6 11
Personal Fouls 18 19
Technical Fouls 0 1
Ejections 0 0

2018-19 Reg Season - Tenn Leads Series 2-1

Date Result Away Pts Ldr Home Pts Ldr
Sat Feb 16 Tenn 69 @ KY 86 J. Bone 19 P. Washington 23
Sat Mar 2 KY 52 @ Tenn 71 P. Washington 13 J. Bone 27
Sat Mar 16 Tenn 82 @ KY 78 A. Schofield 21 P. Washington 16

Game Information

Stadium: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 20,933
Game Time: