Two Tyrese Maxey free throws, an Ashton Hagans steal and two Immanuel Quickley free throws during a 10-second stretch may be remembered as the moment in which drama departed the 2020 Southeastern Conference men's basketball race.
The Florida Gators had an opportunity to stun Kentucky inside Rupp Arena on Saturday night, but the Wildcats made enough plays late to pull away for a 65-59 victory. The Wildcats improved to 22-5 overall and 12-2 in SEC play, maintaining their two-game league lead over Auburn (23-4, 10-4) and LSU (19-8, 10-4) with only four regular-season contests remaining.
Florida (17-10, 9-5) dropped three games back after the close-but-no-cigar Lexington result.
"They're number one right now, and they're head and shoulders number one after this game," Florida senior forward Kerry Blackshear said Saturday night in a news conference. "We had the opportunity to try to get closer to being number one, but they did a great job of making it tough."
It wasn't long ago when Auburn, Kentucky and LSU were in a three-way tie at 9-2 and evoking thoughts of a third consecutive photo finish. Auburn and Tennessee tied for the 2018 SEC regular-season championship with 13-5 records, and LSU claimed last season's crown at 16-2, edging both Kentucky and Tennessee by a game.
This year's race loosened when Auburn and LSU dropped consecutive games before rebounding this past weekend, with Auburn's recent two-game skid affected by the hamstring injury to star freshman Isaac Okoro.
Kentucky suddenly can do no worse than sharing the SEC title by winning tonight at Texas A&M and Saturday against visiting Auburn, the last team to defeat the Wildcats with its 75-66 triumph on Feb. 1. The Wildcats have reeled off six straight since, including a key 79-76 topping of LSU last Tuesday night in Baton Rouge, and moved up to No. 8 in Monday's Associated Press poll.
After the win at LSU, Wildcats coach John Calipari stressed his desire for Quickley to join Kentucky's 25-point club.
"I like to have five or six guys have a game with 25," Calipari told reporters. "When you get in the NCAA tournament, you may need somebody to go crazy to win a game. Nick (Richards) has had 25. EJ (Montgomery) has had 25. Ashton has had 25, and Tyrese has had 25."
Quickley's two free throws with one second remaining Saturday night capped a career-best 26-point performance for the sophomore guard.
Kentucky is nearing what would be a 49th won or shared SEC regular-season championship. The rest of the league combined has 53, with LSU's 11th title last season breaking a second-place tie with Tennessee, but Calipari isn't taking anything for granted.
"Now we play Texas A&M, and they just beat Mississippi State," he said Saturday night. "We're playing another team that's playing well."
Texas A&M was picked to finish 12th in the conference race but is 14-12 overall and 8-6 within the league following consecutive wins over Georgia, Alabama and MSU.
Calipari rightly credited first-year Aggies coach Buzz Williams for doing a nice job this season, but it's Calipari who has both the league's best and hottest team. Conversation can wait about whether Kentucky can make its first trip to the NCAA tournament's Final Four since the 2015 Wildcats had their undefeated run ruined by Wisconsin in the semifinals.
Saving the best for March is always Calipari's goal, and this year's team could be on the verge of that.
"We've got a will to win," he said, "and that means you've got a chance."
Bracket chaos
ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi's latest NCAA tournament projection Monday had just four SEC members in the 68-team field, with Auburn and Kentucky both 4 seeds, LSU an 8 seed and Florida a 9. Mississippi State is the last team in Lunardi's "first four out," while Alabama and South Carolina are among his "next four out."
When discussing the league's NCAA tournament uncertainty down the stretch during a Saturday appearance on the SEC Network, Lunardi said, "I don't remember a situation in which half the bubble was from one league."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.