· SEC Player of the Week – Vanderbilt guard/forward Jordan Wright, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound senior from Baton Rouge, La., averaged 21 points, five rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game in wins at No 23 Kentucky and over Mississippi State last week. Wright came off the bench to finish with 23 points and four rebounds at Kentucky. His turnaround jumper with 2.5 seconds left proved to be the game-winner. It was Vandy’s first road win at Kentucky since 2007. Wright followed up with 19 points and a team-best six rebounds to help take down Mississippi State during the regular season finale.
· SEC Freshman of the Week – Florida guard Riley Kugel, a 6-foot-5, 207-pound freshman from Orlando, Fla., averaged 20 points, 4.5 rebounds, and two assists in wins at Georgia and over LSU. Kugel has posted eight straight double-figure scoring games, the longest streak in SEC play for a Florida freshman since Bradley Beal (10, 2011-12). He is averaging 18.3 points over that eight-game span and averaged 21.0 per game over the last four games of the regular season. Kugel has led the Gators in scoring in four of the five games since Colin Castleton’s injury.
· Seven teams are receiving mention in the March 6 Associated Press Top 25 highlighted by Alabama (4th), Tennessee (17th), Texas A&M (18th), Kentucky (23rd), and Missouri (24th). Vanderbilt and Arkansas are among the teams receiving votes.
· Two teams rank in the Top Five of the NCAA’s NET rankings (1st nationally), five in the Top 25 (2nd nationally), and eight are in the Top 50 (t-1st nationally).
· Five SEC teams are rated among the top 25 defensive teams in the nation according to KenPom: Tennessee 1st, Alabama 3rd, Mississippi State 8th, Arkansas 17th, and Auburn 25th.
· 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 19.6 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.
· Three SEC coaches rank among the winningest active Division I coaches in the nation: John Calipari (4th with 788 wins), Rick Barnes (6th with 776 wins), and Bruce Pearl (15th with 634 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.
2023 SEC Basketball Tournament (All times Eastern)
Wednesday, March 8
12 South Carolina vs. 13 Ole Miss SEC Network 7:00 pm
11 Georgia vs. 14 LSU SEC Network 9:00 pm
Thursday, March 9
8 Florida vs. 9 Mississippi State SEC Network 1:00 pm
5 Tennessee vs. Game 1 winner SEC Network 3:00 pm
7 Auburn vs. 10 Arkansas SEC Network 7:00 pm
6 Vanderbilt vs. Game 2 winner SEC Network 9:00 pm
Friday, March 10
1 Alabama vs. Game 3 winner ESPN 1:00 pm
4 Missouri vs. Game 4 winner ESPN 3:00 pm
2 Texas A&M vs. Game 5 winner SEC Network 7:00 pm
3 Kentucky vs. Game 6 winner SEC Network 9:00 pm
Saturday, March 11
SEC Tournament Game 11 ESPN 1:00 pm
SEC Tournament Game 12 ESPN 3:00 pm
Sunday, March 12
Championship Game (Game 13) ESPN 1:00 pm