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Turnarounds set up near-rerun in title game

Unlikely as it seemed a few months ago, UF and UK again are battling for the SEC crown.

By JOANNE KORTH

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 4, 2001

GAINESVILLE -- Teddy Dupay has a theory.

In a tournament, anything can happen. Bad matchups, quirks of fate, upsets galore. But over the course of 16 conference games, he figures the best team usually wins.

The Southeastern Conference championship will be at stake today when No. 6 Florida and No. 15 Kentucky wrap up the regular season at noon at the O'Connell Center.

"Very rarely does the best team not win the SEC title," said Dupay, UF's junior shooting guard. "And that's quite an honor."

The Gators (21-5, 11-4) earn a share of the title for the second straight season with a victory. The Wildcats (19-8, 12-3) will try to win the league outright.

Last season, the roles were reversed.

Florida went to Lexington with a chance to win sole possession of the league championship. The Wildcats' 85-70 victory divided the title four ways among UF, UK, Auburn and LSU.

"It's the same scenario as last year where we had to win that game to tie for the SEC regular-season title," UK coach Tubby Smith said. "We know going to Gainesville is going to be a real test for us."

Today's game will not affect seeding for the SEC tournament this week in Nashville, Tenn. The Wildcats have clinched the Eastern Division's No. 1 seed because their division record is guaranteed to be better than Florida's. The Gators are locked into the No. 2 seed. Both will receive first-round byes.

Not long ago, few would have expected either team to be in this position.

Playing one of the nation's toughest early schedules, Kentucky started 3-5. After losses to St. John's, UCLA, Penn State and Michigan State, the Wildcats dropped out of the Top 25 poll.

Smith made a change in the starting lineup, replacing forward Marvin Stone with freshman Gerald Fitch for a three-guard look. The result was a victory against Indiana, the first of 13 in UK's past 15 games.

"When you face adversity early in the year, you're either going to pull together or pull apart," Smith said.

"We knew we were playing a very tough schedule with a youthful team. It was my job to stay positive and let them know we would be a better team if they kept believing and trusting in one another and in the system. And they did."

At Florida, where starters Dupay, Brent Wright and Justin Hamilton were lost to injuries in a three-week span in January, coach Billy Donovan delivered the same message to his young players after the Gators fell to 1-3 in the SEC.

"It wasn't like we were being blown out and there was no sign of hope," Donovan said of losses to South Carolina, Georgia and Vanderbilt by a combined five points. "If we were getting beat by 20 or 25 points it would be a situation where there wasn't much hope. But I'm proud of the way our guys have handled themselves."

Sparked by the returns of Wright and Dupay, the Gators have won 10 of 11.

Though Wright is out again after aggravating his injured right foot on Feb. 21, Florida has won its past two without him to set up today's title showdown.

"When you play 16 games over nine weeks, it's an emotional roller coaster," Donovan said. "And a lot of times it's more mental than emotional.

"When people looked at the adversity we faced, they wrote us off. But these guys got tougher and stronger. I don't think they ever lost belief in themselves or each other."

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