The first one’s always the hardest, John Calipari said Thursday. Spoken like a prophet, his team struggled in the first game of its postseason. The top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, heavy favorites to win their 28th Southeastern Conference Tournament title, needed herculean efforts from their frontline Friday to outlast a scrappy LSU team and advance to the semifinals. UK will play No. 22/19 Florida (23-9) on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
