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No. 4 Kentucky easily beats Alabama 73-55 at SEC Tournament

Immanuel Quickley, Kira Lewis Jr

Kentucky guard Immanuel Quickley (5) moves the ball against Alabama guard Kira Lewis Jr. (2) in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game at the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday, March 15, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. Kentucky won 73-55. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

AP

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tyler Herro scored 20 points and the fourth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats started their quest for a fifth straight Southeastern Conference Tournament title by beating Alabama 73-55 Friday night in the quarterfinals.

With a heavy contingent of Big Blue Nation on hand, the Wildcats (27-5) improved to 17-2 all-time at this tournament against Alabama, and they got a measure of revenge for opening SEC play with a 77-75 road loss to the Crimson Tide back on Jan. 5. Kentucky will play either No. 8 Tennessee or Mississippi State in the semifinals Saturday.

Alabama (18-15) needed to beat Kentucky again to burnish its resume for the NCAA Tournament after going 8-10 in conference play during the regular season. Beating Mississippi in the second round likely won’t be enough for the Tide. Coach Avery Johnson is 6-0 against everybody not named Kentucky in this tournament but has yet to beat the Wildcats, who’ve ended the Tide’s run each of his four seasons.

P.J. Washington, Kentucky’s lone representative on the AP All-SEC team, finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds. He also had four blocks. Immanuel Quickley added 12 points.

Kentucky held Alabama to a season-low 30.4 percent shooting. Kira Lewis Jr. came in averaging a team-high 13.9 points a game and finished with three points. Tevin Mack scored 22 in helping Alabama upset Kentucky in January. This time, the junior missed all seven shots and was held scoreless.

That left opportunity for Alex Reese, a sophomore who came in averaging just 5.5 points a game, and he only played seven minutes for Alabama in the second round. Reese led Alabama with 15 points.

Alabama, trying to get back to the semifinals for a third straight year, led twice in the opening minutes with Herbert Jones’ jumper putting the Tide up 6-4. Washington hit a 3, then Herro added a pair of free throws to start Kentucky on a 17-2 run that Richards capped with a dunk and a pair of free throws midway through the half.

The Tide got within 33-27 on a 3-pointer by Dazon Ingram with 2:24 left, but they couldn’t get any closer as Kentucky scored the next six. The Wildcats led 39-29 at halftime.

Kentucky just kept padding the lead, struggling to push the margin past 15. Herro finally gave the Wildcats their biggest lead with a 3 with 48 seconds left for the final margin.

BIG PICTURE

Alabama: The Crimson Tide hurt their NCAA hopes having lost seven of the last 10. They also didn’t help themselves during the nonconference slate with losses to Northeastern, UCF and Georgia State that not even a win over Murray State could ease.

Kentucky: The Wildcats are dangerous enough when they’re running the floor and knocking down shots. They showed off their length and defense early with five steals they converted into eight points. They also finished with a season-high 10 blocks.

HE’S BACK

The Wildcats got Reid Travis back from a sprained right knee that kept him out of the past five games since being hurt Feb. 19 at Missouri. He came off the bench and didn’t hit his first shot until 19:12 to go in the second half. Travis finished with eight points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes.