· SEC Player of the Week – Texas A&M guard Wade Taylor IV, a 6-foot, 185-pound sophomore from Dallas, Texas, averaged 19.5 points, five assists, 3.5 rebounds, and two steals in wins over Arkansas and at Missouri. Taylor connected on 60 percent (6-of-9) of his 3-point tries and over 45 percent (10-of-22) of his field goal attempts. His pesky style of defense also produced a pair of steals in both games as the Aggies limited the Razorbacks and Tigers to more than 10 points below their overall and SEC scoring averages. The SEC leader in free throw percentage, Taylor made 13-of-15 free throws in the victories, including a perfect 10-of-10 effort in the Aggies’ road victory over Mizzou.
· SEC Freshman of the Week – Kentucky forward Chris Livingston, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound freshman from Akron, Ohio, averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in wins at Mississippi State and over No. 10 Tennessee. He scored all 13 of his points against the Bulldogs in the second half and notched his first career double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) in the win over the Volunteers.
· Six teams are receiving mention in the February 20 Associated Press Top 25 highlighted by Alabama (2nd), Tennessee (11th), and Texas A&M (25th). Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri are among the teams receiving votes.
· Two teams rank in the Top Five of the NCAA’s NET rankings (1st nationally), and nine are in the Top 60 (t-1st nationally).
· Six SEC teams are rated among the top 25 defensive teams in the nation according to KenPom: Tennessee 1st, Alabama 3rd, Mississippi State 5th, Arkansas 12th, Auburn 13th, and Florida 21st.
· Five SEC players were named the USBWA’s Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List: Kobe Brown (MO), Ricky Council IV (AR), Brandon Miller (UA), Oscar Tshiebwe (UK), and KJ Williams (LS).
· LSU’s KJ Williams became the 123rd player in NCAA history to score 2,000 points and have 1,000 rebounds on Jan. 21.
· Alabama’s Brandon Miller leads all freshmen nationally with 18.7 points per game.
· Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe had 37 points and 24 rebounds against Georgia on Jan. 17. It was the first 30/20 game by an SEC player since South Carolina’s Sindarius Thornwell had 44 points and 21 rebounds against Alabama on Feb. 7, 2017.
· Four SEC coaches rank among the winningest active Division I coaches in the nation: John Calipari (4th with 785 wins), Rick Barnes (6th with 774 wins), Bruce Pearl (15th with 632 wins) and Kermit Davis (29th with 477 wins).
· Alabama is the fourth different SEC school to be ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Poll since the 2018-19 season (Auburn 2022, Kentucky 2020, and Tennessee 2019).
· Alabama became the first team since the 1965-66 season to beat two teams ranked No. 1 (North Carolina on Nov. 27 and Houston on Dec. 10) before New Year’s Day.
· Tennessee has won five straight games against Associated Press Top five opponents.
· The SEC, ACC, and ESPN announced on Nov. 28the formation of the SEC/ACC Challenge for men’s and women’s basketball, which will begin as part of the 2023-24 season.
· 50 SEC players have been selected in the last five NBA Drafts. That leads all conferences: 45 ACC, 33 Big Ten, 33 Pac-12, 25 Big 12 and 14 Big East.
· The SEC has had 27 NCAA Tournament selections over the last three tournaments.
· 14 of 14 SEC teams have made at least one NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven tournaments.
· The SEC has had at least one team advance to the Sweet 16 in 31 of the last 32 tournaments.
· Nine different SEC teams have advanced to the Sweet 16 in the last five NCAA Tournaments. All 14 SEC members have advanced to the Sweet 16 since 1996.
· The SEC has advanced at least one team to the Elite Eight in nine of the last 12 tournaments.
· The SEC has advanced a team to the Final Four in six of the last 11 tournaments.
SCHEDULE/RESULTS (All times Eastern):
Tuesday, February 14
*Vanderbilt 75, at South Carolina 64
*at Auburn 89, Missouri 56
*at Georgia 65, LSU 63
Wednesday, February 15
*at Florida 79, Ole Miss 64
*at #10 Tennessee 68, #1 Alabama 59
*Kentucky 71, at Mississippi State 68
*at Texas A&M 62, Arkansas 56
Saturday, February 18
*at Kentucky 66, #10 Tennessee 54
*South Carolina 82, at LSU 73
*at Arkansas 84, Florida 65
*Mississippi State 69, at Ole Miss 61 OT
*at #1 Alabama 108, Georgia 59
*Texas A&M 69, at Missouri 60
*at Vanderbilt 67, Auburn 65
Tuesday, February 21
*#11 Tennessee at #25 Texas A&M ESPN 7:00 pm
*Mississippi State at Missouri SECN 7:00 pm
*Georgia at Arkansas SECN 9:00 pm
Wednesday, February 22
*Kentucky at Florida ESPN 7:00 pm
*Vanderbilt at LSU SECN 7:00 pm
*#2 Alabama at South Carolina ESPN2 9:00 pm
*Ole Miss at Auburn SECN 9:00 pm
Saturday, February 25
*Missouri at Georgia SECN 1:00 pm
*Arkansas at #2 Alabama ESPN/2 2:00 pm
*#25 Texas A&M at Mississippi State SECN 3:30 pm
*Auburn at Kentucky CBS 4:00 pm
*Florida at Vanderbilt ESPN2/U 6:00 pm
*South Carolina at #11 Tennessee SECN 6:00 pm
*LSU at Ole Miss SECN 8:30 pm
Tuesday, February 28
*Florida at Georgia SECN 7:00 pm
*Arkansas at Tennessee ESPN/2/U 9:00 pm
*South Carolina at Mississippi State SECN 9:00 pm
*Texas A&M at Ole Miss ESPNU 9:00 pm
Wednesday, March 1
*Auburn at Alabama ESPN2 7:00 pm
*Vanderbilt at Kentucky SECN 7:00 pm
*Missouri at LSU SECN 9:00 pm
Saturday, March 4
*Georgia at South Carolina SECN 1:00 pm
*Tennessee at Auburn ESPN 2:00 pm
*Alabama at Texas A&M CBS 12:00 pm
*Kentucky at Arkansas CBS 2:00 pm
*Ole Miss at Missouri SECN 3:30 pm
*LSU at Florida SECN 6:00 pm
*Mississippi State at Vanderbilt SECN 8:30 pm