NASHVILLE — Alabama stunned many people Thursday. The Crimson Tide nearly did it again Friday.

But South Carolina is no Kentucky.

One day after rallying from an 18-point second-half deficit to steal an opening-round win from Carolina’s Gamecocks, Alabama took an early double-digit lead over the second-ranked Wildcats in a Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinal Friday afternoon.

Kentucky retook the lead and eventually held off Alabama for a 73-67 victory, but first-year coach Anthony Grant’s tough Tide kept things interesting into the final minute.

“Right now I’m probably not in a position to reflect completely. We just played about 20 minutes ago,” Grant said. “But overall, I think we’ve made strides.

“I think we’ve gotten better as a team. I think there’s a better understanding of what it takes to win and the commitment that you have to have to each other in order to do that.”

Count Kentucky coach John Calipari among the believers in Bama’s new era.

“Alabama played us and did a great job and had their chances to win,” Calipari said. “They had us down big.”

But as tough as the Tide were, they were equally thin. They couldn’t answer every Kentucky volley.

Kentucky whittled Bama’s lead to 35-30 on a Darnell Dodson 3-pointer just before the break, and the Wildcats were within 35-34 mere moments into the second half. But the Tide stretched it back to 40-34.

The Wildcats responded with a 9-0 spurt and extended their lead to 55-45 with less than 10 minutes left.

Alabama got the deficit down to 55-51 and then stayed within 64-61 on a nifty, left-handed layup from senior point guard Mikhail Torrance with 2:58 left. Two Torrance free throws got Bama back within one possession at 66-63 with 1:44 left.

Kentucky junior forward Patrick Patterson slam-dunked seconds later to make it 68-63, though, and the Tide committed a turnover with 1:17 left.

“To say this was a tough defeat would be an understatement,” Grant said. “Our guys came out here today and played to win, and we certainly had opportunities in this game.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to finish it out. Given Kentucky credit. Obviously, all year long they’ve been one of the beat teams in the country. When you look at their record, it speaks for itself.”

Alabama sophomore forward JaMychal Green said he was “sorry” to see Grant’s first season end. And it might be finished. The Tide are far from guaranteed a spot in either of the NCAA’s less-prestigious postseason tournaments.

“We’re hopeful that we’ll have an opportunity to continue to play,” Grant said. “We’ll have to wait and see what happens throughout, but I think we’ve made some strides in the right direction over the course of the year.”

*Mississippi State 75

Florida 69

Barry Stewart scored 17 points and hit five late free throws as Mississippi State held on to defeat Florida.

The Bulldogs (22-9) will face No. 20 Vanderbilt.

Mississippi State held a 58-39 lead with 13:29 left when it fell into a six-minute scoring drought.

The Gators (21-12) took advantage with a 14-0 run. A 3-pointer by Erving Walker and a free throw by Chandler Parsons cut Mississippi State’s lead to 58-53 with 8:17 left.

Kenny Boynton, who led Florida with 23 points, hit a jump shot over Jarvis Varnado’s head to cut Mississippi State’s lead to 71-68 with 27 seconds left, but Stewart hit five of six free throw attempts down the stretch to preserve the win.

Entering the game, the SEC East’s top four teams — Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Florida — had a combined 28-0 record against teams from the West Division. By the time Mississippi State and Florida tipped off, the Bulldogs were the only SEC West Division team remaining in the tournament.

The Gators, the East’s No. 4 seed, eliminated Auburn 72-67 in a first-round game on Thursday.

Mississippi State seemed well rested coming off its first-round bye. The Bulldogs dominated the first half and all five starters scored in double digits.

The Bulldogs opened with a 10-0 run and shot 62.5 percent to keep a double-digit lead for the last 9 minutes before halftime.

Florida only hit 32.1 percent of its shots in the first half. The Gators had help from Boynton, who hit 4 of 6 shots from 3 and had 16 points at halftime. Only three other Gators scored before the break.

One of Boynton’s 3s from the wing cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 13-9 with 12:38 before halftime, but Mississippi State had an answer from Riley Benock, who hit a 3 from the top of the key. The Bulldogs hit 7 of 11 from behind the arc.

Mississippi State is trying to secure a place in the NCAA tournament.

The Bulldogs shared the SEC West regular-season title with Mississippi but don’t have a resume-building win to make a strong case for the postseason.

Florida’s chances are even murkier. The Gators’ biggest win was a 75-62 victory at home over then-No. 19 Tennessee, but they finished fourth in a crowded SEC East.*

*Vanderbilt 78

Georgia 66

John Jenkins scored 22 of his career-high 25 points in the second half, and No. 20 Vanderbilt held off Georgia in the Southeastern Conference quarterfinals.

The Commodores (24-7) came in with only their third first-round bye since the SEC went to divisional play in 1992 as the East’s No. 2 seed, and they managed to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2004 and just the second time in coach Kevin Stallings’ 11 seasons.

A program that has only one SEC tournament title back in 1951 will play Mississippi State, the West’s No. 1 seed, today.

Jenkins was 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Jermaine Beal also had 16 points and A.J. Ogilvy had 10 points.

Georgia (14-17) couldn’t recreate the magic of 2008 with four wins in four days. Travis Leslie had a career-high 34 points, and Trey Thompkins had 13, all in the second half.

Other contacts for Wes Rucker are www.twitter.com/wesrucker and www.facebook.com/tfpvolsbeat.