POST-GAME NOTES FROM THE SEC TITLE GAME

Kentucky Wins SEC Title

Posted: March 14, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- John Wall scored seven of his 15 points in overtime, and No. 2 Kentucky rallied from five down with 2:28 left in regulation to beat Mississippi State 75-74 on Sunday for the Wildcats' 26th Southeastern Conference tournament championship.

The Wildcats (32-2) blew earlier chances with their fabulous freshmen Wall and DeMarcus Cousins missing free throws and making youthful mistakes. But they came through at the end as Cousins' layup off Wall's missed 3-pointer from the right corner beat the regulation buzzer to give them some extra time.

Now Kentucky can celebrate its first SEC tournament title since 2004, ending an interminable drought for their fans.

Mississippi State (23-11) lost for the second time to the Wildcats this season after leading late in regulation. The Bulldogs blew a seven-point lead on Feb. 16, and lost that game 81-75 in overtime.

SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament Notes
Championship Game, Sunday, March 14, 2010

(#1-East) Kentucky 75 – (#1-West) Mississippi State 74 (OT)

This marks the 27th SEC tourney title for Kentucky (32-2), and the Wildcats first title since 2004. Alabama owns the second most SEC tourney titles (6). The Wildcats are now 27-8 in 35 SEC tourney championship games.

With the loss, Mississippi State falls to 23-11 overall. They were making their sixth appearance in the tournament finals; the Bulldogs are now 3-3 in the tourney finals. Their team-record, six-game winning streak in SEC tourney action also ended with the loss.

Championship Game Notes:

• Today’s attendance, 20,082, is the 12th highest audience for an SEC Tournament championship game. It is the second highest attended championship final at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, trailing the 20,225 fans that attended in 2001 (UK-Ole Miss matchup).
• Total attendance for the SEC Tournament was 191,852, also the 12th highest total attendance in tourney history.
• The Kentucky-Mississippi State matchup is the first finals pairing of No. 1 seeds since 2003 when the same teams squared off.
• This marks the first SEC championship game taken to overtime since 1995 when Kentucky topped Arkansas 95-93.
• This marks just the second time a SEC tourney final has been decided by one points. The other came in 1952 (Kentucky 44-LSU 43).
• SEC East teams have captured 36 of 49 tournaments, including 26 by Kentucky. They have also won seven of the last 10 tourneys.
• All 11 Kentucky points in overtime, including John Wall’s fall-away 3-pointer with :26 left, were scored by freshmen.
• The tournament finals featured 20 lead changes and 12 ties.
• The game was tight throughout. The biggest lead was points, last reached at UK 74-MSU 69 with 26 seconds left in overtime.

Kentucky Notes:

With the win, Kentucky improves to 114-22 all-time in SEC tournament play, and 57-17 since the tournament was reinstated in 1979. The Wildcats move to 8-2 all-time vs. Mississippi State in SEC tournament play, and 2-2 vs. the Bulldogs in SEC tourney finals. Kentucky is now 8-1 all-time in SEC tourney games played in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (2001 & 2006). Kentucky are two-time champions of SEC tournaments played in the arena (2001, 2010).

• Kentucky goes to 3-0 this year in overtime games. They are now 4-2 in overtime games in SEC tournament history,
• Kentucky wins its 2009-10 series record with Mississippi State at 2-0 with the win.
• John Calipari has now captured five consecutive conference tournaments as head coach.
• John Wall had 15 points, including five in overtime, and a game-high nine assists.
• DeMarcus Cousins, limited to 10 minutes in the first half, finished 10 points and 10 rebounds, his 20th double-double of the year.
• Eric Bledsoe and Patrick Patterson also scored in double digits with 18 and 15 points, respectively.
• Kentucky’s bench outscored MSU 15-7.
• Kentucky shot 45.9% from the field (28-61) and just 25% from 3-point range (4-16_
• Kentucky forced 14 MSU turnovers, scoring 17 points on the miscues. They committed just nine turnovers.
• UK capped a 8-0 run with 11:54 on a Patrick Patterson dunk, giving the Wildcats a 13-9 lead.
• With DeMarcus Cousins’ block of Kodi Augustus’ layup attempt at the 10:15 mark, Kentucky breaks its single-season team record with 241 blocks (former mark set in 1998).
• This marks the third time Kentucky has trailed an SEC foe at halftime this year; they are 1-1 in those games.
• UK hit 48.3% of the field goals in the first half (14-29), but were just 1-6 from 3-point range.
• John Wall’s steal and basket with :40 left gives the Cats to within one at 62-61.

Mississippi State Notes:

With the loss, Mississippi State moves to 27-47 all-time in SEC tournament play, and 23-29 since the tournament was reinstated in 1979. The Bulldogs are now 2-8 all-time against Kentucky in SEC tourney play, and 2-2 vs. the Cats in SEC tourney finals. Mississippi State is 2-3 in SEC tourney games played in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

• Under Head Coach Rick Stansbury, the Bulldogs are now 16-10 in SEC tourney action. He had guided the Bulldogs to two tourney titles (2002, 2009) in four final appearances.
• Mississippi State goes to 1-2 in overtime games this season. They are now 1-4 in overtime games in SEC tournament history.
• Mississippi State loses the 2009-10 series record with Kentucky 0-2.
• MSU has set single-season team highs in 3-pointers made (306) and 3-pointers attempted (860). They were 10-of-27 from 3-point range in the finals.
• Jarvis Varnado finished with 18 points, one shy of his season high against an SEC opponent. He has reached double digits in scoring in 14 consecutive games. The center also had nine rebounds and five blocks. He finishes the SEC tournament with 15 blocks.
• Ravern Johnson topped the Bulldogs with 20 points, including four 3-pointers. He now has 83 3-pointers this year, tying his 2008-09 total. It ranks as the third most in MSU history.
• Despite fouling out late, Barry Stewart finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double of the season.
• Mississippi State ended the first half on a 4-0 run to take a 35-31. This year, MSU is 8-2 against SEC foes when leading at halftime.
• Ravern Johnson has matched his SEC tourney high in points (12) at halftime.
• The Bulldogs out rebounded Kentucky by a 43-37 margin.