Kentucky’s SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament history under John Calipari
In my column, I noted that John Calipari is 23-4 in the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament as Kentucky coach.
Here is UK’s conference tournament history under Calipari.
2010 in Nashville
Beat Alabama 73-67: Led by John Wall’s 23 points, the Cats overcame an 11-point deficit to give John Calipari his first SEC Tournament win. Alabama led 35-30 at the half, but Wall scored seven straight points in the second half as UK took the quarterfinal victory.
Beat Tennessee 74-45: DeMarcus Cousins scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as UK dominated a much-anticipated semifinal matchup with the No. 13-ranked Vols.
Beat Mississippi State 75-74 in OT: Trailing by five points with 2:28 left in regulation, Kentucky rallied to win a thrilling and controversial tournament finals. Eric Bledsoe led UK with 17 points.
2011 in Atlanta
Beat Ole Miss 75-66: Doron Lamb scored 19 points and Brandon Knight 17 as UK won the quarterfinal matchup. The Cats held the Rebels to just 33.9 percent shooting from the field.
Beat Alabama 72-58: UK shot 50 percent and had five players in double figures, led by Doron Lamb with 15 points for the semifinal win. Alabama entered the game having gone 12-4 in the conference in the regular season, while UK went 10-6.
Beat Florida 70-54: Brandon Knight scored 17 points and Darius Miller hit two clutch three-pointers as Kentucky won its second straight conference tournament title.
2012 in New Orleans
Beat LSU 60-51: After going just 7-9 in the league compared to UK’s 16-0, the Tigers played the Cats surprisingly close in the quarterfinal matchup. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist led the way for UK with 19 points.
Beat Florida 74-71: Anthony Davis scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Cats held off the Gators in the semifinals. Florida made 11 of 22 three-pointers and shot 48.3 percent in the loss.
Lost to Vanderbilt 71-64: Kentucky took just its second loss of the season as the Cats fell to the Commodores in the conference finals. The Cats made just five of 27 three-point shots. Doron Lamb was 1-of-7 and Darius Miller 2-of-9 from three-point range in the finals.
2013 in Nashville
Lost to Vanderbilt 64-48: Kentucky was never the same after losing center Nerlens Noel to a torn ACL the month before and dropped its first game in the tournament for the first time under Calipari.
2014 in Atlanta
Beat LSU 85-67: After the famous “tweak” by Calipari, Willie Cauley-Stein blocked six shots and James Young scored 21 points as UK won the quarterfinal matchup.
Beat Georgia 70-58: Aaron Harrison led the way with 21 points as UK beat the Bulldogs in the semifinals. UK went 9-of-16 from three-point range in the win with Harrison going 4-of-7 from deep.
Lost to Florida 61-60: Though UK lost by a point to the nation’s No. 1-ranked team it was a boost of confidence for the Cats heading into the NCAA Tournament. After all, Kentucky had lost 84-65 to the Gators in Gainesville just seven days before.
2015 in Nashville
Beat Florida 64-49: The Wildcats held Florida to just 22 points in the second half on the way to the quarterfinal win. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as UK improved to 32-0 on the season.
Beat Auburn 91-67: Kentucky greeted Bruce Pearl’s return to the SEC Tournament with a 24-point semifinal win. Willie Cauley-Stein scored 18 points and Andrew Harrison added 15 as UK improved to 33-0.
Beat Arkansas 78-63: Kentucky jumped to a 41-25 halftime lead and cruised to the victory in the finals. Willie Cauley-Stein scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as UK improved to 34-0 with Calipari’s first tournament title since 2012.
2016 in Nashville
Beat Alabama 85-59: Jamal Murray scored 23 points as the Cats rolled to the quarterfinal win. Alex Poythress hit four of five three-point shots on the way to 20 points.
Beat Georgia 93-80: Jamal Murray scored 26 points and Tyler Ulis added 25 as Kentucky rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to get the win. Derek Willis scored 14 points off the bench.
Beat Texas A&M 82-77 (OT): Tyler Ulis scored 30 points and Derek Willis nailed a key three-pointer with 1:01 left in overtime as the Wildcats outlasted the Aggies for the tournament title. Danuel House led all scorers with 32 points for Texas A&M.
2017 in Nashville
Beat Georgia 71-60: Isaiah Briscoe and De’Aaron Fox each scored 20 points and UK held the Bulldogs to 38 percent shooting to get the quarterfinal win. Derek Willis grabbed 11 rebounds in the victory.
Beat Alabama 79-74: De’Aaron Fox scored a career-high 28 points and Malik Monk scored 20 as UK held off the Crimson Tide for the semifinal win. UK shot 52.3 percent.
Beat Arkansas 82-65: De’Aaron Fox scored 18 points and Bam Adebayo and Malik Monk added 17 each as UK took the tournament title for the third straight year. Adebayo and Derek Willis each grabbed nine rebounds.
2018 in St. Louis
Beat Georgia 62-49: PJ Washington scored 18 points as UK took the quarterfinal meeting with the Bulldogs, who shot just 28.3 percent. Kevin Knox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each scored 15 points. Knox grabbed nine rebounds.
Beat Alabama 86-63: Wenyen Gabriel went 7-of-7 from three-point range on the way to a career-high 23 points as the Cats routed the Crimson Tide. Collin Sexton scored 21 points in the loss for Alabama.
Beat Tennessee 77-72: UK claimed its fourth consecutive tournament title as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Kevin Knox added 18 as UK knocked off the 13th-ranked Volunteers.
2019 in Nashville
Beat Alabama 73-55: Tyler Herro scored 20 points as the fourth-ranked Cats knocked off the Crimson Tide in the quarterfinal matchup. Immanuel Quickely was 3-for-3 from three-point range as UK made seven of its 15 three-point shots.
Lost to Tennessee 82-78: In a battle of top-10 teams, Tennessee’s Lamonte Turner hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 30 seconds left as the Vols won a hotly contested semifinal. Despite injuring his foot late in the game, PJ Washington led UK with 16 points. It was the first time Kentucky did not reach the finals since 2013.
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 3:33 PM.
