Sheppard and Mohammed keyed a late 13-4 run as defending Southeastern
Conference tournament champion Kentucky survived a scare and beat
Alabama 82-71 Friday in a quarterfinals matchup.
No. 7 Kentucky, 27-4 under first-year coach Smith, has won the
tournament five of the last six years. The Wildcats play the winner
of
Friday night's contest between No. 16 Arkansas and Tennessee in
the
semifinals Saturday at the Georgia Dome.
Sheppard led four Wildcats in double figures with 17 points -
13 in the
second half. Mohammed had 10 of his 13 in the final 20 minutes.
Scott
Padgett added 12 points, and Bradley had a career-high 10.
Bradley, a 6-foot-10 forward-center who averages six minutes a
game and
two points, played 14 minutes and contributed 4-of-7 shooting
from the
field, 2-for-2 on free throws and six rebounds.
He played a key role backing up Mohammed because Smith had suspended
second-team center Jamaal Magloire for one game for breaking a
team
rule, which Smith would not specify.
"I told Jamaal he wouldn't play. I didn't tell Michael he would
play. I
was afraid it would scare him," Smith said. Bradley, sitting nearby,
only smiled, but didn't say anything.
Alabama (15-16) had won five of its last six, including a 72-62
victory
over Vanderbilt on Thursday in the opening round. Unless Alabama
gets an
improbable bid to the National Invitation Tournament, it was the
last
game for coach for David Hobbs. The six-years coach was fired
Feb. 2,
but allowed to finish the season.
The Crimson Tide took its first lead at 48-46 with 17:06 left
on a
basket by Demetrius Alexander, but the Wildcats recovered and
launched
their decisive run.
Mohammed had six points, Sheppard four and Cameron Mills added
a 3-point
basket for the Wildcats, who have won 20 SEC tournament titles
in 36
seasons. They beat Alabama for the 10th straight time - including
70-67
on Jan. 21 in the only other meeting this season.
Alabama, led by a season-high 28 points from Brian Williams, never
got
closer than six points after the run.
"We took the lead and they came back down and hit a couple of
3's and
retook it," said Williams. "We didn't step up and make the plays
we
needed to win the ball game."
Kentucky outrebounded Alabama 53-32.
(7) Kentucky 82, Alabama 71
ALABAMA (71)
fg ft tp
-- -- --
Williams 10-23 2-3 28
Jones 4-12 7-8 15
Bacote 0-4 0-0 0
Alexander 2-11 5-6 10
Hays 6-10 3-4 15
Martin 1-1 0-0 3
Thrasher 0-1 0-0 0
London 0-2 0-0 0
---------------------------------
Totals 23-64 17-21 71
KENTUCKY (82)
fg ft tp
-- -- --
Edwards 2-7 2-3 6
Padgett 3-8 6-8 12
Mohammed 5-10 3-4 13
Turner 3-6 3-4 9
Sheppard 6-14 3-4 17
Evans 3-9 0-4 7
Bradley 4-7 2-2 10
Smith 0-1 0-2 0
Mills 3-6 0-0 8
Anthony 0-0 0-0 0
---------------------------------
Totals 29-68 19-31 82
Halftime-Kentucky 42, Alabama 40. 3-Point goals-Alabama 8-22
(Williams 6-13, Alexander 1-1, Martin 1-1, Thrasher 0-1, Bacote
0-2, Jones 0-4), Kentucky 5-22 (Mills 2-5, Sheppard 2-8, Evans
1-3, Edwards 0-2, Padgett 0-3, Smith 0-1). Fouled out-Jones.
Rebounds-Alabama 32 (Alexander 11), Kentucky 53 (Padgett 13).
Assists-Alabama 11 (Jones 5), Kentucky 19 (Turner 8). Total
fouls-Alabama 20, Kentucky 20. A-N/A.