NASHVILLE — Kentucky got even with Alabama.

The Wildcats (27-5) avenged a 77-75 loss to the Crimson Tide earlier this season and welcomed the return of senior Reid Travis to the lineup with a 73-55 win in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament Friday night at Bridgestone Arena.

Kentucky, a No. 2 seed, will play the winner of the Tennessee-Mississippi State contest in the second of two quarterfinal games Saturday at Bridgestone Arena. Florida takes on Auburn in the opener at 1 p.m. The Gators eliminated top-seeded LSU 76-73 at the buzzer Friday afternoon. The Tigers posted a 73-64 win over South Carolina.

Travis returned to the lineup after missing the previous five games because of a strained knee. Travis made his first appearance in nearly a month at the 17:23 mark of the first half. Travis finished with eight points and played 23 minutes. Travis started and scored Kentucky’s first basket of the second half.

Tyler Herro paced the Wildcats with 20 points and tallied 11 in the first half. Immanuel Quickley came off the bench and scored 12 points. Quickly was 3-for-3 from the field and perfect on all three of his shots from long range. PJ Washington followed Herro with 10 points and has scored double figures in four straight contests and 16 of the past 17 games.

Alabama defeated Mississippi 62-57 in the second round but couldn’t sustain the momentum against the Wildcats. The Crimson Tide was led by Alex Reece who finished with 15 points and Donta Hall chipped in with 14.

BLOCK PARTY

Kentucky collected 11 blocks, paced by Travis and Washington with three each. Keldon Johnson, Herro, EJ Montgomery and Nick Richards each had one block. The Crimson Tide managed just 18 points in the paint.

BACKUPS STEP UP

Kentucky got 35 points from its reserves, including nine from forward Nick Richards. Richards and EJ Montgomery combined for 11 points and five rebounds.

Nine of Kentucky’s 10 players scored in the contest.

In his first postseason outing, Kentucky sophomore guard Jemarl Baker contributed with xx points and scored six points in the first half. Baker had scored eight points combined in the previous eight games.

SEC SUCCESS

Kentucky improved to 23-3 in the SEC Tournament under John Calipari. The Wildcats have won four straight tournament titles, including the last three at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Alabama has lost four straight to the Wildcats in the postseason and fell to 2-17 against Kentucky in the conference tournament.

Kentucky is 45-11 in quarterfinal games and will be making its sixth consecutive appearance in the semifinals.

Gametracker: Kentucky vs Tennessee or Mississippi State, 3 p.m. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.