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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- UK coach John Calipari said it's tough to know what you're going to get out of your team on a day to day basis when most of your guys aren't even old enough to shave.
Saturday, Calipari's young'uns delivered him a win over a heated rival and a berth in Sunday's SEC Tournament final.
Kentucky's touted trio of freshman: DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe and John Wall combined for 50 of the Wildcats' points as UK laid out Tennessee 74-45 in what amounted to a cage-match of an SEC Tournament semifinal in Nashville. DeMarcus Cousins, after struggling a bit in Kentucky's quarterfinal win over Alabama, scored 19 points and pulled down 15 rebounds as the Cats dominated the Volunteers on the glass 44-29. Bledsoe erupted for 17 points and Wall added 14 points, nine assists and six rebounds as UK claimed the rubber match between the two schools. Kentucky has now avenged both of its losses this season, beating both Tennessee and South Carolina.
"My team at Massachusetts was a veteran team. My team at Memphis was juniors and seniors and (freshman guard) Derrick (Rose)," Calipari said. "This team doesn't shave yet. This is new to me believe me. What buttons do I push? But if we play like we did today, we'll be fine. They have a will to win. They refuse to lose."
The Cats eased out in front early and scored the last nine points of the half as part of an 11-2 run to take a commanding 32-19 lead into the locker room.
Calipari stressed that another slow start could be the death knell for his team Saturday.
"We really talked about the first five minutes," Calipari said. "Today we said let's come out of the gate and go and let's keep it on."
In the second half, the Wildcats proved just how dangerous they can be when they're making shots. Every time the Vols attempted to make a run, it was immediately thwarted by UK's suddenly sure outside stroke.
As part of the ebb and flow of Kentucky's games all season long, the Volunteers came out of the gate quickly in the second stanza, scoring the first four points of the half to immediately cut the lead to single digits.
But Bledsoe's back to back three balls stretched the Kentucky lead to 44-30 with 14:02 remaining. Bledsoe, who helped finish off the Vols in Lexington earlier this season with two big shots, tied his career-high with five three's.
Calipari said his message to Bledsoe on the team bus was to stay aggressive.
"When Eric plays unbelievably intense and aggressive, I know we're in good shape," Calipari said. "When he plays I know we're fine. I told him I want you to go crazy. When you need a break, take yourself out. If you miss a shot and it gets to you mentally, take yourself out. People say he's undersized but he puts his head on the rim and he makes big shots for us. He made the shots that beat them in our building."
After two Wayne Chism free throws pared the lead to 50-41, Darnell Dodson touched off a personal 8-0 run, scoring all of his points over the next 1:37 with back to back three-pointers punctuated by a one-handed alley oop dunk from Darius Miller.
"I'll be honest with you, I'm not embarrassed to say it," Calipari said. "Just about any team we play, we're making threes like that, we become pretty good. We were 1 for 13 yesterday. That same team went 8 for 22 today. But there are games when we're not going to make them. Let's win anyway. Let's win by four. Let's win by three."
The Cats' starting five left at the 2:05 mark to a standing ovation.
Before the SEC Tournament began, Calipari insisted he didn't care about bringing home a league tournament title. The presence of Big Blue nation in Nashville has made him think twice about that sentiment.
"I've never worried about a league championship or a tournament championship," Calipari said. "For us to play here and to finish so we keep that seed is important. But the one thing that has changed is when I see a stadium full of blue fans who paid a lot of money for these tickets, you owe it to them to give your best. They're vacationing in Nashville. It's unbelievable. The blue dust is everywhere. It's incredible."
Kentucky advances to Sunday's 1 p.m. final to face the winner of Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
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