SEC Hoops Weekend Wrap-Up

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Tennessee 73, Ole Miss 65

The SEC’s most-surprising team picked up their 21st win of the season and 11th of SEC play Saturday afternoon in Oxford to keep a glimmer of hope of a regular season championship alive. Admiral Schofield had 27 points and seven rebounds for the Vols.

Breein Tyree led Ole Miss with 17 points as the Rebels fell to 12-17 (5-11) on the year.

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Georgia 93, LSU 82

After falling to 4-8 in SEC play with a loss to Auburn on February 10, Georgia has won three of four to pull to 7-9. Their latest victory came Saturday in Athens against LSU, as Yante Maten had a huge day. Maten had a game-high 27 points and 11 rebounds to go along with six blocks. Rayshaun Hammonds added a career-high 21 points off the bench.

On the other side, Tremont Waters (who else?) led the Tigers with 25 points while Skyler Mays had 20 points and six steals in the losing effort. LSU is 16-12 and 7-9 in SEC play, as both they and the Bulldogs look to avoid playing on the first night of the SEC Tournament.

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Mississippi State 72, South Carolina 68 (OT)

The SEC’s lone overtime game of the day took place in Starkville and saw the Bulldogs pick up a key win over the Gamecocks. Lamar Peters did a little bit of everything, with 19 points, four rebounds, five assists, and four steals. The Bulldogs also overcame an 11-point deficit with 11 minutes to play. Mississippi State improved to 21-8 (9-7)

For Frank Martin’s bunch, Hassani Gravett led with 19 points while Chris Silva had 11 points and 12 rebounds. The Gamecocks fell to 15-14 (6-10)

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Texas A&M 89, Vanderbilt 81

The Texas A&M Aggies improved to 18-11 and 7-9 in SEC play with their 89-81 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores. Although Commodores freshman guard Saben Lee had the spotlight with 19 points on 8-12 shooting, four Aggies got into double figures to help lead the way to victory. Tyler Davis led all Aggie scorers with 22 points, shot 7-10 from the field and 7-10 from the free throw line, too. The 6-foot-10 junior also had nine rebounds, an assist and a block. Admon Gilder, D.J. Hogg and T.J. Starks joined him in double figures, scoring 11, 16 and 18 respectively.

The loss dropped Vanderbilt to 11-18 and 5-11 on the year in SEC play. Jeff Roberson and Riley LaChance each scored over 20 points (21 and 23 respectively) but the seniors look to be closing out with a whimper, unfortunately.

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Arkansas 76, Alabama 73

The Arkansas Razorbacks picked up a big win on the road, as they defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide, 76-73.

Daryl Macon was outstanding as the senior guard scored 17 points and had five boards, three assists and three steals. Macon’s 17 points led the way for both sides as he was arguably the best player on the floor. Collin Sexton, who usually holds that crown, had 15 points but had an off night from beyond the 3-point arc. Sexton put up a goose egg, as he missed on all five of his long-range attempts. He got to the free throw line a lot, as he had 13 attempts and made nine of them. But, his efforts were not enough.

Four other Hogs got into double figures to join the aforementioned Macon. Senior guard Jaylen Barford and forward Dustin Thomas scored 10 and 11 points, freshman Daniel Gafford put up 11 as well, and C.J. Jones scored 13 off the bench.

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Kentucky 87, Missouri 66

There was plenty of attention on Michael Porter Jr. heading into this one. But, the star freshman didn’t play, and the Missouri Tigers fell to the Kentucky Wildcats, 87-66.

The star for the suddenly surging Cats was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Shai scored 14 points and dished out eight assists, with five boards, one steal and just one turnover in 36 minutes to boot. Kevin Knox was also terrific. Knox scored a team-high 21 points, shot 6-13 from the field and was a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.

Mizzou got great production, as always, from Kassius Robertson in the loss. Robertson scored a game-high 26 points and was 6-11 from 3-point land. Robertson also added eight boards, three assists and a steal in 33 minutes. But only one other player (Jordan Barnett) got into double figures, which really profiled the problems MIzzou had at Rupp Arena.

Kentucky is suddenly putting it together late in the game. Sound familiar?

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Florida 72, Auburn 66

Auburn’s quest to win the SEC will have to wait. The Florida Gators took down the Auburn Tigers on Saturday night to the tune of 72-66.

The Gators, who hadn’t been very good at home, surprising as that is, ate up in the O-Dome on Saturday night. They held Auburn to a mark of just 34.8 percent from the 3-point line and they scored just a hair over 1.00 point per possession. The Gators, meanwhile, shot 46.4 percent from 3-point land, with Jalen Hudson and KeVaughn Allen playing a big role. Hudson shot 4-6 from beyond the arc, while Allen was a gaudy 6-10. Allen led all scorers with 24 points.

Mustapha Heron led the Tigers with 22 points, but they desperately missed some of their complementary pieces on Saturday night. They’re still in a good spot. They just couldn’t quite clinch it yet.