By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEXINGTON - At issue was what had fueled Kentucky's sudden surge. Gerald Fitch's return? An attitude adjustment? Antwain Barbour said it was simply a calendar change.

"It's March," the UK senior said. "It's time to step up. Time to play."

TOURNAMENT TIME

• Bearcats, Wildcats pad resumes • Huggins miffed by No.3 seed • UK marches into SEC play on roll TOURNAMENT PREVIEWS & BRACKETS • C-USA: A favorite? Try any of the five champs • A-10: Road to title goes through Saint Joseph's • SEC: UK, Miss. State fight for top seed • MAC: Western Michigan should take lone bid

March is a month, and also a verb. Kentucky teams are schooled on how to survive and advance, and these Wildcats have prepped for the postseason with a convincing six-game winning streak.

They capped that run Sunday with an 82-62 beating of Florida on Senior Day in Rupp Arena, and will take aim this week at a Southeastern Conference Tournament title that could land them a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

"We're playing real well right now," junior forward Chuck Hayes said. "We're playing confident, playing with some swagger."

UK is 27-3 with nine titles over the past 12 SEC Tournaments, so it knows how to peak at this point.

These Wildcats (22-5, 13-3 SEC), ranked ninth, seemingly hit stride after their coach questioned their pride. On Feb. 14, after seeing his team manhandled a second time by Georgia, Tubby Smith challenged his players to be men.

Their response was writ large in the stat lines Sunday, as it has been for three weeks. UK more than doubled Florida's rebound total, 53-26, and had a season-high 23 offensive rebounds. It had 40 points in the paint and 13 steals, managing 26 more shots than the Gators (18-9, 9-7).

"Coach had questioned our toughness," Hayes said. "The best way to beat teams like (Florida) is to be physical. If you have the mindset, 'This guy is not going to get the best of me,' then he won't."

UK's post duo of Hayes and Erik Daniels dominated. Daniels, the senior from Princeton High, totaled 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Hayes had 12 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. "They punished us on the glass," Florida coach Billy Donovan said.

UK has won these six games by an average of 17.2 points. It has a plus-9.3 rebounding margin in this stretch, as opposed to plus-3.2 through the previous 21 games.

UK's Antwain Barbour slams in two points over Florida's Lee Humphrey. (Gary Landers photo)

"We showed a lot of toughness," Smith said of Sunday's game. "Teams that win championships . . . are tough teams. They're tough mentally; they're tough physically."

Three-point shooting is also improving: UK has hit 43.9 percent (50-of-114) during these six games, after previously making just 32.4 percent of its 3s.

Besides Smith's challenge, other factors have spurred the Wildcats:

• Smith instituted 6 a.m. practices to sharpen the team's focus. "As much as I dread them, they've been helping," senior guard Cliff Hawkins said.

• Smith decided to defer to Hawkins to calls plays on the court. The senior has averaged 7.2 assists in the six-game streak.

• Fitch has returned from injury and gotten hot. He is averaging 20.7 points the past three games, including a team-high 21 Sunday.

Defense has been the lynchpin all year. UK is holding opponents to 39.3 percent shooting, an improvement on the 41.5 percent mark last season. None of UK's opponents this winter have shot 50 percent.

UK has won six straight over Florida and eight of the last nine. UK built a nine-point halftime lead Sunday, then took off thanks to a mind-blowing 17-0 run in two minutes, 20 seconds - part of a stretch in which UK scored 19 points in just seven possessions.

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E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com

Florida	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Walsh	37	3	10	5	6	2	2	2	7	12
Lee	30	5	7	7	8	4	2	3	1	17
Moss	32	3	6	0	2	6	0	0	0	6
Roberson	26	7	14	2	2	1	3	2	3	22
Humphrey	26	1	5	0	0	4	4	1	4	3
Abukar	23	0	2	0	0	1	1	1	1	0
Al-Kaleem	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Appleby	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Richard	6	0	2	0	0	2	0	3	1	0
Colas	12	0	1	2	2	4	3	1	0	2
Totals	200	19	49	16	20	24	15	13	19	62

Team rebounds - 2.

Kentucky	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Daniels	30	7	11	0	0	14	6	1	3	15
Hayes	31	4	8	4	7	12	6	1	1	12
Barbour	25	5	10	0	0	7	3	0	2	12
Fitch	30	7	17	3	3	5	0	3	3	21
Hawkins	32	2	9	1	1	1	9	3	3	5
Moss	2	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	2
Stockton	3	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Carrier	6	1	2	0	0	1	0	3	1	3
Obrzut	4	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	1	0
Cote	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Perry	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Azubuike	22	5	12	0	0	3	0	2	0	12
Alleyne	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	1	0
Thomas	5	0	1	0	0	1	0	4	0	0
Totals	200	32	75	8	14	49	25	21	16	82

Team rebounds - 4.

Florida	26	36	-62
Kentucky	35	47	-82

3-pointers - F 8-22 (Walsh 1-7, Roberson 6-8, Humphrey 1-4, Abukar 0-2, Al-Kaleem 0-1), UK 10-30 (Daniels 1-2, Barbour 2-5, Fitch 4-12, Hawkins 0-4, Stockton 0-1, Carrier 1-2, Perry 0-1, Azubuike 2-3. Tech. - UK (Carrier).

Attendance: 24,065.