Kentucky vs. Arkansas: Score, Twitter Reaction for SEC Championship 2015

Kentucky will head into the 2015 NCAA tournament with an unblemished 34-0 record after scoring a 78-63 victory over Arkansas in the SEC tournament final Sunday.

The Wildcats entered as heavy favorites, which has been the case for a vast majority of their games this season. They rushed out to an 8-0 lead within the first two minutes and, while the Razorbacks did fight back, there was never a sense of an upset being in the cards.

The team initially didn't cut down the nets, but USA Today's Nicole Auerbach offered some perspective as to why:

Coming into the contest, star freshman Karl-Anthony Towns said the team was ignoring all of the outside talk. Instead of being concerned about the mounting pressure associated with an undefeated record, they are taking it one game at a time, as Zac Ellis of Sports Illustrated noted.

"We don't worry about it," Towns said. "We just make sure that we worry about each game coming up, and we take it game-by-game. It's so easy for us. A lot of teams keep looking ahead, but you still have the present to worry about."

Kentucky did receive some good news, albeit of the expected variety, even before the final tipped off. CBS Sports PR passed along comments from NCAA vice president of men's basketball championships Dan Gavitt about the top-ranked team's March Madness status:

They certainly looked worthy of the top overall seed as they scored the first eight points of the SEC title game. Credit to Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson for opting to take an early timeout to press the reset button before the game totally got away from his group.

SI College Hoops highlighted the run the Razorbacks went on afterward:

The officials were letting both sides play in the early going, allowing a lot of physical play in the post, especially while battling for rebounds. That didn't sit well with Kentucky head coach John Calipari after a play where Towns lost the ball out of bounds after a push from behind.

Anthony Wireman of All KY Hoops pointed out Calipari received a bench warning as a result after an exchange with the referees:

In the meantime, the Cats were able to start building their lead once again. Their play at the defensive end sparked the run, as their length posed a major problem for the Hogs. The underdogs couldn't find many open looks from inside the arc.

Those stops turned into nice opportunities in transition for Kentucky. The Harrison twins, Aaron and Andrew, combined to make their first four three-point attempts, and Arkansas had no answer for Willie Cauley-Stein down low.

The result was a 16-4 run after the sides were tied at 19. It was almost as if the Wildcats were playing a video game, as Myron Medcalf of ESPN joked:

Kentucky stretched the lead to 16, 41-25, at halftime.

ESPN College Basketball pointed out the Cats' team play on the offensive end:

"

HALFTIME: No. 1 Kentucky 41, No. 21 Arkansas 25 The Wildcats have 12 assists on 14 made baskets. pic.twitter.com/AywNmzB7Ir

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) March 15, 2015"

Auerbach struggled to find anything positive for Arkansas at the break:

The Hogs were able to make things interesting in the second half. They finally started knocking down some shots and the Wildcats didn't come out of the locker room with the same intensity. It allowed the underdogs to cut the lead to single digits.

Reid Forgrave of Fox Sports spotlighted the comeback bid:

Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio noted the Cats were simply missing looks they had converted in the opening 20 minutes:

What the Razorbacks could never do, however, was go on a quick spurt to carve out a large chunk of that lead in a short time. Kentucky made them work for every basket. That elite defensive effort is what gives the Wildcats more margin for error than any other team in the Big Dance.

Kentucky eventually found its groove again and stretched the lead back out. It was 19 at the five-minute mark, and the Cats were on cruise control from there.

Cauley-Stein led the way with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the SEC champions, while the Harrison twins combined for 26 points. Michael Qualls paced the Razorbacks with 18.

Kentucky Basketball celebrated the result, and Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal offered this quote from freshman guard Tyler Ulis:

Arkansas could have significantly improved its resume by upsetting Kentucky, but it was always a long shot. The Hogs are still going dancing and will go as far as their shooters can carry them, given their concerns on the defensive end.

The Wildcats are now just six victories away from cementing their place in history. They can play sluggish at times, as they did during the Razorbacks' first-half surge, but once they get rolling, it's almost impossible to slow them down.

Kentucky cruised through the SEC portion of the schedule, both regular season and postseason, while rarely being challenged. Now comes the toughest test of all: the NCAA tournament.

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