Matt Walsh leads
Florida to victory
against Kentucky
BY PAUL NEWBERRY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Matt Walsh made
sure Florida didn’t squander another
chance to win the Southeastern
Conference tournament.
Walsh scored 26 points, including
consecutive three-pointers that
sparked a stunning 21-2 run, leading
the Gators to a 70-53 rout of No. 4
Kentucky on Sunday and their first
SEC tournament championship.
Florida (23-7) beat the Wildcats for
the second time in eight days, effec
tively knocking them out of con
tention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA
tournament.
The Gators also defied history,
winning their first tournament title
on their 40th try against the team that
has defined success in this event.
Kentucky (25-5) had won the last two
tournaments, 10 of the past three and
25 in all — more than every other
school in the SEC combined.
Even though the Georgia Dome re
sembled Rupp Arena South (Florida
fans took up only one section in the
crowd of 24,408), the Wildcats could
n’t fend off a team that is playing its
best basketball of the season at the
perfect time.
The Gators have won seven in a
row and certainly improved their po
sitioning for the NCAA tournament.
Florida led throughout the first half
and well into the second, but Ken
tucky appeared to seize control with
a 15-1 outburst that had the blue-clad
fans in an uproar.
Randolph Morris scored on an of
fensive rebound with 12:32 remain
ing, letting out a yell after giving Ken
tucky its first lead of the game
at 42-40.
After Florida turned it over, Patrick
Sparks drove into the lane and
flipped in another basket that pushed
the Wildcats to a four-point lead.
But it was all Gators the rest of
the way.
Walsh, the tournament MVP, hit a
three-pointer to stem Kentucky’s mo
mentum. After Morris put up an air
ball, Walsh hit another three from the
corner to put Florida back in front
at 46-44.
Anthony Roberson, part of Florida’s
“Big Three” with Walsh and David
SEC, page 4B
Illinois, Washington,
North Carolina, Duke
receive No. 1 seeds
BY MICHAEL MAROT
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
INDIANAPOLIS — Top-ranked
Illinois heads into the NCAA Tourna
ment with one loss and the overall
No. 1 seed, while Washington was this
year's surprise at the top of the bracket.
Joining the Big Ten Conference
champion Illini as No. Is on Sunday
were North Carolina and Duke from
the Atlantic Coast Conference and the
Huskies of the Pacific-10 Conference.
Illinois (32-1 overall) was as
signed to the Chicago regional.
North Carolina (27-4) will be at
Syracuse, N.Y., Duke (25-5) will be
in Austin, Texas, and Washington
(27-5) in Albuquerque, N.M.
The 14th-ranked Huskies took ad
vantage of Kentucky's loss Sunday
in the Southeastern Conference
championship game to move onto
the top line. Tournament officials said
the Wildcats would have been a
No. 1 seed had they won that game.
It is the sixth time in eight years two
teams from the same conference were
seeded No. 1. The last time was 2003,
when Oklahoma and Texas of the Big
12 Conference were No. 1 seeds.
Illinois won’t get any frequent flyer
miles in this tournament. The Illini
will play the first and second rounds
in Indianapolis with possible regional
games in Chicago. And if they ad
vance far enough, the Final Four is
April 2 and 4 in St. Louis, Mo.
Illinois, which opens play Thursday
against Northeast Conference champi
on Fairleigh Dickinson, was followed
in the Chicago regional by second
seeded Oklahoma State, which won
the Big 12 tournament; No. 3 Arizona,
the regular season Pac-10 champion,
and fourth-seeded Boston College, co
champions of the Big East Conference.
Two teams went into last year’s
tournament with just one loss. St.
Joseph’s lost in the regional finals to
Oklahoma State, while Stanford lost
to Alabama in the second round.
Washington opens play Thursday
in Boise, Idaho, against Montana, the
Big Sky Conference champions.
NCAA, page 10B
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