SEC Basketball Weekend Recap

Another weekend of SEC hoops is in the books. Let’s glance back, shall we?

Tennessee 78, Florida 67

The No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers rallied to win their 10th consecutive game of the season. They pulled off the win in a close one against the Florida Gators, 78-67. After being down in the first half by three, the Volunteers came out strong to rally and finish off the Gators.

Grant Williams scored 20 points and had nine rebounds to lead the Volunteers in both categories in the win. Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner came off the bench to help rally against the Gators. Bowden had 17 points and Turner scored 12. Admiral Schofield also added to the victory with 14 points and nine rebounds.

KeVaughn Allen led the Florida Gators in points with 18 points and Kevarrius Hayes led in rebounds with seven. Noah Locke had 16 points in the loss.

Kentucky 56, Vanderbilt 47

Ashton Hagans and Keldon Johnson each scored 15 points to bring the Kentucky Wildcats back from a slow start in the 56-47 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Aaron Nesmith led Vanderbilt with 11 points and Joe Toye led in rebounds with six.

Reid Travis led the Wildcats in rebounds with 12. Immanuel Quickley came off the Kentucky bench to score 12 points in the victory.

Texas A&M 81, Alabama 80

In a nail biter, the Texas A&M Aggies squeaked by the Alabama Crimson Tide with a buzzer-beating three-pointer by T.J. Starks to take the win.

Josh Nebo led the Aggies in points with 21 points, hitting 10 of his 12 field goals in the victory against the Crimson Tide. Nebo also led the team in rebounds with nine. Wendell Mitchell contributed to the win scoring 18 points and snagging six rebounds.

John Petty led Alabama with 22 points, hitting seven of his 12 attempted field goals and 55 percent of his three-point shots. Donta Hall led the team in rebounds with 16 rebounds and also had double digits in points with 14.

Ole Miss 81, Mississippi State 77

The Ole Miss Rebels continue to surprise as they collected their 10th consecutive victory on Saturday. The Rebels defeated their arch nemesis, the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 81-77 in a nail biter.

The Rebs trailed the Bulldogs 48-39 with 18:01 to play in the second half. But a rally pushed them ahead and eventually they built up a lead as big as eight with 6:21 to go in the second half.

They picked up the win thanks to the play of Breein Tyree and Blake Hinson. Hinson and Tyree combined to score 45 points, with Hinson collecting 26 of those 45. Tyree had 19 points and Hinson starred with five 3-pointers made. Devontae Shuler and Terence Davis got into double figures also, scoring 10 and 12 respectively.

Quinndary Weatherspoon led the Bulldogs with 18 and Nick Weatherspoon put up 11. Lamar Peters, meanwhile, had 16 points with three made 3-pointers.

Auburn 93, Georgia 78

The Auburn Tigers rebounded off their loss to Ole Miss with a 93-78 win over the Georgia Bulldogs.

Georgia merely led by four with 9:39 to play in the first half. But Auburn surged ahead after that and never really looked back. They held a lead of 93-75, their largest lead, with 20 seconds to play in the game. This was, in essence, a dominant showing for the Tigers and one that was much needed.

Jared Harper led the way with 22 points, the only player to surpass the 20-point threshold. Bryce Brown and Anfernee McLemore each had 15 points while Samir Doughty and Malik Dunbar had 11 each. William Jackson of UGA had 16 points, which led the Dawgs in the losing effort. Nicolas Claxton put up 15 points, Tyree Crump had 14, while Teshaun Hightower collected 12.

LSU 94, Arkansas 88

The LSU Tigers racked up their fifth consecutive win and seventh in their last eight games on Saturday with their 94-88 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The win came in OT and happened because Arkansas roared forward with 22 points to LSU’s 13 in the final 10 minutes of the game. But LSU outscored Arkansas 13-7 in the five minute OT period to help carry them to a victory.

Naz Reid showed out with 27 points but Marlon Taylor was excellent himself. Taylor had 21 points and was a perfect 6-for-6 on 2-point tries.Tremont Waters had 17 points while Skylar Mays had 15 himself. Waters had a double-double with 17 and 11 assists, and Reid was 6-for-8 on 2-point tries, 4-for-4 on 3-pointers, put up seven boards and had two assists.

The leading scorer was Daniel Gafford as he had 32 points on 19 shots from the field. Mason Jones put up 22 and Reggie Chaney had 12, but they were the only players to get into double figures for the Hogs.

South Carolina 85, Mizzou 75

This game was played on Sunday due to inclement weather on Saturday.

The South Carolina Gamecocks scored their fourth consecutive win, defeating the Missouri Tigers 85-75. SC might be 8-7 on the season but they’re 3-0 in conference play with their wins over Mizzou, Mississippi State and Florida now. The Gamecocks got five players into double figures including three of their starters. Keyshawn Bryant led the way with 15 points while Chris Silva had 14 and A.J. Lawson had 11. Hassani Gravett scored 12 points off the bench and, like Silva, Felipe Haase also had 14 points. Gravett was a perfect 12-for-12 on free throw attempts.

Mizzou got 21 points out of Javon Pickett who went 7-for-11 from the field and 4-for-4 on his free throws. Jordan Geist and Mark Smith each put up 14 points but scoring was hard to come by otherwise.