ST. LOUIS _ For a second straight day, Kentucky faced a hot team and a hot player. And for the second straight day, Kentucky put the big chill on an opponent in the Southeastern Conference tournament.
In Saturday's semifinal, Kentucky knocked off Alabama, 86-63. The Tide came into the game having outscored No. 1-seed Auburn 50-22 in the second half Friday.
And after Alabama defeated his team Thursday, Texas A&M Coach Billy Kennedy said, "That's the best they've played, that I've seen them in the last few weeks."
Freshman Collin Sexton led the way, averaging 29 points in those games.
But much as UK stifled Georgia star Yante Maten on Friday, Sexton never got in gear. He made 6 of 14 shots and scored a hard-earned 21 points.
The victory advanced Kentucky to Sunday's championship against Tennessee, which advanced with a win over Arkansas. UK will be seeking its fourth straight SEC Tournament championship, and the sixth in John Calipari's nine seasons as coach.
The victory also breathed life into something Quade Green said after UK defeated Georgia. "Defense," he said, "that is the key to every postseason game."
Rather than Sexton, the hottest player in this game was Wenyen Gabriel. He made a career-high seven 3-pointers en route to 23 points, which equaled his career high. The SEC tournament record for 3-pointers is eight, which is shared by six players.
Gabriel made five 3-pointers in the second half, none bigger than one with 4:59 left. Sixteen seconds earlier, a three-point play by John Petty reduced UK's lead to 65-56. That marked the first time Alabama had been within single digits since 37 seconds remained in the first half.
Gabriel calmed the growing unease among UK fans in Scottrade Center by hitting a 3-pointer from the right wing. Interestingly, leading scorer Kevin Knox passed to Gabriel rather than take a contested shot in the lane.
The shooting display continued a hot streak for Gabriel, who had made 8 of 16 shots (5 of 10 from 3-point range) in the three most recent games.
UK (23-10) also got a lift from Sacha Killeya-Jones. He had totaled only five points and seven rebounds since Feb. 6, but he scored six points and grabbed five rebounds against Alabama.
Those contributions were timely given how Knox struggled: He got into double figures with a 3-pointer in the final minute and finished with 11 points.
Kentucky led 29-19 at halftime. That marked the second straight game and day that Alabama trailed by 10 at the break. In Friday's quarterfinals, the Tide rallied from a 41-31 deficit to beat Auburn 81-63.
Kentucky's defense seemed to make another second-half Alabama rally unlikely. UK limited Alabama to 7-for-23 shooting in the first half.
Sexton was merely human, making 3 of 8 shots in an eight-point half that saw him go scoreless in the final nine minutes.
During that time, Kentucky outscored Alabama 14-5.
Washington and Gabriel had big baskets during the time Kentucky took charge. Washington, a hero of Friday's victory over Georgia, drove and dunked emphatically over Alabama's front line to put UK ahead 25-16.
After John Petty banked in a 3-pointer from near the top of the key (thoughts of Texas A&M banking in 3s against UK last month might have come to mind), Gabriel stymied Alabama's momentum by making a 3 from the left corner.
Alabama opened the second half against Auburn with a 20-1 blitz that grew to a smothering 32-5 breakout over the first 11 minutes.
Killeya-Jones, who started the second half in place of Nick Richards, played a big part in making sure there would not be another Alabama comeback. As a help defender, he blocked the Tide's first two shots.
Then with the shot clock inside five seconds, Gilgeous-Alexander either threw up a desperation shot or a cleverly disguised lob. Either way, Killeya-Jones dunked the ball.
