No. 2 Kentucky downs No. 15 Tennessee 74-45 at SEC

NASHVILLE, Tenn - John Calipari brought Kentucky to town
focused most on the NCAA tournament.
An arena dripping Kentucky blue with Wildcats faithful filling
the streets outside has changed his intentions, and now Calipari
wants to reward their loyalty by winning the Southeastern
Conference tournament title those fans see as their birthright.
Oh, he still wants a No. 1 seed.
The No. 2 Wildcats made a strong argument for the top overall
spot by handing 15th-ranked Tennessee a 77-45 loss Saturday in the
tournament semifinals -- the Volunteers' most lopsided under coach
Bruce Pearl. But Calipari said he understands the importance after
seeing fans spending up to $1,000 per ticket and vacationing in
Nashville to support the Cats.
"As a coach you owe it to them to give them your best,"
Calipari said. "They tell me 180,000 fans came to Nashville. Is
that true? Kentucky fans. And only 17,000 could get in the
building. ... It's unbelievable. The blue dust is everywhere. It's
incredible."
Kentucky (31-2) will play either No. 20 Vanderbilt or
Mississippi State on Sunday, looking to add a 26th tournament title
to the 44th regular season championship the Wildcats already won in
Calipari's first season.
DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 15 rebounds as Kentucky
advanced to the final for the first time since 2004. Eric Bledsoe
had 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range, and John Wall
added 14. The Wildcats improved to a league-best 113-22 in this
tournament and 35-2 in the semifinals.
Bledsoe said winning the tournament title would mean a lot to a
team featuring five freshmen.
"We're trying to do something special. So far we're doing it,
so we're going to keep on playing," Bledsoe said.
Scotty Hopson had 11 points for Tennessee (25-8), which snapped
a five-game winning streak with its worst scoring performance this
season.
"We got outplayed at every position, and Kentucky's the No. 2
team in the country for a reason. They're a really, really good
team," Pearl said. "We just did not have the energy after playing
two games and coming back and playing this third game. We just
didn't have it."
The well-rested Wildcats never trailed and scored 14 straight
points to push the lead to 29 late. That was even though Cousins
missed a layup off the opening tip. He came back and dunked to put
Kentucky ahead, and the best Tennessee could do was tie the
Wildcats three times -- the last at 10.
These programs don't like each other anyway in the SEC's
second-longest series. The addition of Calipari, who brought his
personal rivalry with Pearl from Memphis, and the high expectations
from both teams created an electric atmosphere not seen at this
tournament in many years.
Kentucky came in trying to cement a No. 1 seed in the NCAA
tournament, while Tennessee hoped a win would help earn a No. 3
seed.
It was billed as a neutral court game, but the transformation of
Bridgestone Arena into Rupp South couldn't have been clearer than a
text poll in the first half posted on the video board about which
team fans expected to win. Kentucky drew 77 percent in the early
results.
Every time Tennessee's pep band cranked up "Rocky Top," the
Wildcats' fans did their best to drown it out, chanting, "Go Big
Blue."
Tennessee point guard Bobby Maze noticed the blue crowd in the
quarterfinals and said Kentucky fans travel like the "Million Man
March." So the Vols knew exactly what they'd be walking into on a
court technically in their home state but about three hours away
from campus -- just as it is for the Wildcats.
And Pearl had his orange blazer packed and ready for this game
against the opponent Tennessee wants to measure its basketball
program against. The Vols were the last team to beat Kentucky --
74-65 in Knoxville on Feb. 27 -- as they split the regular season
series.
"We had enough fans in there that when we made our runs, we
could hear our people in the building," Pearl said. "Certainly,
Kentucky enjoys a great home-court advantage, and I think it
elevated their play."
Yes, it did.
Kentucky wound up winning its fourth straight by holding
Tennessee to a season-low 19 points in the first half. The Wildcats
improved to 5-1 in SEC semifinals and 144-66 all-time against the
Vols.
"I feel like we were playing at our arena to see our fans
there," Wall said. "We just feel like everywhere we go our fans
support us the most. ... You can see how loud they are in the
background."
The Volunteers, playing their third game in as many days, got
into early foul trouble, and they spent more time pleading with
officials than hitting shots. Kentucky did hit more free throws
(16-of-30) than Tennessee attempted (9-of-15).
Officials were busy, handing out double technicals twice in the
second half with Tennessee guard Melvin Goins ejected after both a
technical and a flagrant foul with 3:33 left.
"They obviously had us frustrated," senior guard J.P. Prince
said. "We didn't make shots. We just got in a hurry. We kind of
lost our composure at the end and didn't execute,