Big Blue Links: Kentucky faces Alabama-Ole Miss winner in SEC Basketball Tournament

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

▪ Labissiere keeps the faith and UK rolls LSU, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader. Making his second straight start, Skal Labissiere scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 94-77 win.

▪ Looks like the lights have finally come on for Kentucky basketball, says my column. Skal Labissiere’s late surge has made a huge difference for John Calipari’s team.

▪ Tyler Ulis has put together a magnificent season, writes Mark Story of the Herald-Leader. He says it’s the best season by a point guard in the Rupp Arena.

▪ Don’t hold your breath on LSU, writes Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. As Saturday’s loss at Rupp Arena proved, the Tigers are a team going nowhere fast.

▪ Lots of talk and not much action for LSU, reports Sheldon Mickles of The Advocate. Freshman guard Antonio Blakeney says the talented Tigers just aren’t getting it done.

▪ It’s a sorry situation for Ben Simmons and LSU, writes Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports. The heralded No. 1 freshman was pulled from Wooden Award consideration because of academics.

▪ South Carolina whips UK women, reports Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader. The Gamecocks, top seed in the SEC Tournament, crushed the Cats 93-63 in the semifinals in Jacksonville.

▪ Tennessee couldn’t stop Mississippi State, reports Dan Fleser of the Knoxville News Sentinel. MSU plays South Carolina for the SEC women’s tournament title on Sunday.

▪ Texas A&M clinches No. 1 seed, reports Richard Croome of Bryan/College Station Eagle. Aggies beat Vanderbilt 76-67 to win share of conference title.

▪ Vanderbilt is No. 5 seed in the SEC Tournament, reports the Tennessean. The Commodores traveled to Texas in hopes of bigger things. It was not to be.

▪ Gamecocks clinch No. 3 seed, reports Kurt Voight of AP. Reeling of late, South Carolina gets it together to beat Arkansas in Fayetteville.

▪ Sebastian Saiz leads Ole Miss to win at Tennessee, reports Steve Mergaree of AP. The Rebels will play Alabama in the SEC Tournament. The winner plays Kentucky.

▪ Tennessee’s perfect storm never happened, writes Mike Strange of the Knoxville New Sentinel. The Vols flopped down the stretch.

▪ Alabama’s skid continues, reports Michael Casagrande of AL.com. The Tide’s loss to Georgia all but eliminates the Tide from an NCAA at-large bid.

▪ Georgia holds off an Alabama comeback, reports Connor Riley of the Athens Banner-Herald. The Bulldogs prevailed 70-63.

▪ Georgia now riding a three-game win streak, reports Jason Butt of the Macon Telegraph. The Bulldogs are playing better heading to Nashville.

▪ Newman, Weatherspoon propel Mississippi State on Senior Day, reports Michael Bonner of the Clarion-Ledger. The Bulldogs took down Auburn 79-66.

▪ Florida beats Missouri in regular season finale, writes Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun. The Gators hope to take some momentum into Nashville.

▪ It was an atrocious end for Arkansas at Bud Walton, reports Eric Bolin of Arkansas News. The Razorbacks fell to South Carolina.

▪ Quality not quantity shooting becoming Murray’s trademark, writes Tipton. The freshman guard has strung together 10 consecutive 20-point games.

▪ Labissiere emergence changes the game, writes Kyle Tucker of the Courier-Journal. Labissiere has scored 29 points in last two games. He blocked six shots Saturday.

▪ Tyler Ulis is making plays look easy, writes Tim Sullivan of the Courier-Journal. Uis had 14 assists in win over LSU.

▪ Kentucky clinches share of title, reports Metz Camfield of CoachCal.com. Kentucky is the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament.

▪ Can Kentucky make it last? asks Eric Crawford of WDRB. The Cats are playing their best basketball at the right time.

▪ Kentucky is playing fun basketball, writes Josh Ellis of the Kentucky Kernel. Winning is lots of fun.

▪ Kentucky caps off regular season in style, reports Derek Terry of Cats Illustrated. Five Wildcats scored in double figures for the second straight game.

▪ UK fans taunt Simmons with “GPA” chant, reports Fox Sports. The eRUPPtion Zone gave Simmons the business.

▪ Empowered, confident Cats head to SEC, reports Darrell Bird of the Cats Pause. Kentucky in the correct post-season mindset.

▪ Saturday was likely last game for several Cats, writes Larry Vaught of Vaught’s Views. Poythress, Ulis, Murray and Labissiere are likely to wave goodbye.

▪ Kentucky primed for a post-season run, writes Keith Taylor of KyForward. UK went unbeaten at home for the fifth time in John Calipari’s seven season as coach.

▪ Kentucky football adds commitment from Belfry lineman, reports Ben Roberts of Herald-Leader. Austin Dotson committed on Saturday.

▪ Several questions for Alabama as spring football starts, writes Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News. We are talking about the defending national champion Crimson Tide, by the way.

▪ Kevin Steele is a players’ coach with bite, writes Michael Niziolek of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. Steele is Gus Malzahn’s new defensive coordinator, coming over from LSU.

▪ Butch Jones long way from talking football only, writes Mark Wiedmer of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Jones and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh had a Twitter run-in last week.

▪ There’s an art to hiring a first-year football staff, writes Seth Emerson of the AJC. New head coach Kirby Smart had to put one together at Georgia.