SEC Basketball Update (2/9/23)



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·   SEC Player of the Week – Mississippi State forward Tolu Smith, a 6-foot-11, 245-pound senior from Bay St. Louis, Miss., averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and a steal in wins over South Carolina and Missouri. He became the sixth MSU player since 2017-18 and 42nd player overall to eclipse 1,000 points in program history. Smith has ripped off double figures in seven straight games and registered double-doubles in five of his last seven outings headed by a trio of 20-10 games. The 25 points versus Missouri was an SEC season-high for Smith, and the nine free throws made were a career-high.

·   SEC Freshman of the Week – Kentucky guard Cason Wallace, a 6-foot-4, 193-pound freshman from Dallas, Texas, had 20 points, three blocks, and two assists in the Wildcat’s win over Florida. Wallace missed the win at Ole Miss with an injury but bounced back to go for 20 points, in the win over Florida. He scored 10 of Kentucky’s final 16 points in the game and notched a career-best three blocks. The contest was Wallace’s 14th double-figure scoring game and second with 20 or more.

·   Six teams are receiving mention in the January 30 Associated Press Top 25 highlighted by Tennessee (2nd), Alabama (4th), and Auburn (25th). Missouri, Texas A&M, and Arkansas 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 50 (1st nationally).

·   Six SEC teams are rated among the top 15 defensive teams in the nation according to KenPom: Tennessee 1st, Mississippi State 5th, Alabama 6th, Florida 11th, Arkansas 12th, and Auburn 14th.

·   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 19.0 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 783 wins), Rick Barnes (6th with 773 wins), Bruce Pearl (15th with 631 wins) and Kermit Davis (29th with 477 wins).

·   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 four 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):

Saturday, February 4

*at Vanderbilt 74, Ole Miss 71

*at #2 Tennessee 46, #25 Auburn 43

*Arkansas 65, at South Carolina 63

*#4 Alabama 79, at LSU 69

*at Mississippi State 63, Missouri 52

*at Kentucky 72, Florida 67

*at Texas A&M 82, Georgia 57

Tuesday, February 7

*at Texas A&M 83, Auburn 78

*Ole Miss 78, at Georgia 74

*Arkansas 88, at Kentucky 73

*at Missouri 83, South Carolina 74

Wednesday, February 8

*at Vanderbilt 66, #6 Tennessee 65

*at #3 Alabama 97, Florida 69

* at Mississippi State 64, LSU 53 

Saturday, February 11

*Kentucky at Georgia                                                     ESPN                                 12:00 pm

*South Carolina at Ole Miss                                         SECN                                 1:00 pm

*#3 Alabama at Auburn                                                 ESPN                                 2:00 pm

*Vanderbilt at Florida                                                     SECN                                 3:30 pm

*Mississippi State at Arkansas                                    ESPNU                              6:00 pm

*Missouri at #6 Tennessee                                          SECN                                 6:00 pm

*Texas A&M at LSU                                                         SECN                                 8:30 pm

Tuesday, February 14

*Vanderbilt at South Carolina                                     SECN                                 6:30 pm

*Missouri at Auburn                                                       ESPN2                               7:00 pm

*LSU at Georgia                                                                SECN                                 8:30 pm

Wednesday, February 15

*Ole Miss at Florida                                                         SECN                                 6:30 pm

*Alabama at Tennessee                                                ESPN2                               7:00 pm

*Kentucky at Mississippi State                                    SECN                                 8:30 pm

*Arkansas at Texas A&M                                               ESPN2                               9:00 pm

Saturday, February 18

*Tennessee at Kentucky                                               CBS                                    1:00 pm

*South Carolina at LSU                                                   SECN                                 1:00 pm

*Florida at Arkansas                                                       ESPN2                               2:00 pm

*Mississippi State at Ole Miss                                     SECN                                 3:30 pm

*Georgia at Alabama                                                      SECN                                 6:00 pm

*Texas A&M at Missouri                                               ESPN2                               6:00 pm

*Auburn at Vanderbilt                                                   SECN                                 8:30 pm