National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Kentucky 74, Florida 71
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 10, 2012
Where: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
Officials: # Ron Groover, # Anthony Jordan, # Garry Maxwell
Attendance: 18523

Kentucky 74, Florida 71: The No. 1 Wildcats, sparked by a 14-0 run that featured a layup and dunk from Terrence Jones, overtook the Gators in the second half and reached the finals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Kentucky (32-1) again used its balance to overpower the No. 19 Gators, a team they had beaten twice during the regular season by an average of 17.5 points. Kentucky had five players in double figures, led by Doron Lamb with 16. Marquis Teague, Anthony Davis and Jones each scored 15. Davis had 12 rebounds, and Jones grabbed nine.

Florida (23-10) got 24 points from Erik Murphy and 20 from Bradley Beal, who also had eight rebounds. Billy Donovan's team hung close by making 11 3-pointers, four each by Murphy and Beal.

Florida led by as many as 10 points in the first half, taking a 31-21 advantage with 8:45 remaining. Kentucky began to peck away at the lead and went ahead 40-39 at the half when Lamb nailed a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.
Top Game Performances
 
Florida   Kentucky
Erik Murphy 24 Scoring Doron Lamb 16
Bradley Beal 5 Assists Marquis Teague 5
Bradley Beal 8 Rebounds Anthony Davis 12
Erik Murphy 2 Free Throws Made Terrence Jones 4
Bradley Beal 1 Steals Anthony Davis 1
Bradley Beal 1 Blocks Anthony Davis 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Florida 71 48.3 11-22 2-2 18 22 1 3 11
Kentucky 74 45.0 5-17 15-20 14 36 4 5 9