SEC/Big 12 Challenge Recap: The Good, Bad and Ugly

In SEC Basketball by Blake Lovell

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The 2017 SEC/Big 12 Challenge was filled with plenty of entertaining action from start to finish.

Here’s a breakdown of the good and bad for the SEC after Saturday’s games.

The Good

  • The biggest positive was that people on the outside finally saw what I’ve said for a while: the SEC is much-improved this season. The conference exceeded expectations in Saturday’s games, with five teams winning games against arguably the best conference in the country. It’s easy for people to overlook the progress that’s being made due to how bad the league was in recent years, but teams are undoubtedly getting better. It takes time to build programs, and when you have so much young talent around the league, that process doesn’t come easy. No, SEC basketball isn’t a dominant powerhouse like SEC football. But there’s solid basketball being played in the league this season, and the strength of the conference should only get better going forward.
  • Given Vanderbilt’s late-game woes against Arkansas, I didn’t think the Commodores would bounce back with a big win over a really good Iowa State team. They did. It was the second biggest win of the season for Bryce Drew’s team, with both coming in a span of seven days. While Luke Kornet led the Commodores with 21 points, the play of Nolan Cressler (20 points) and Jeff Roberson (16 points, nine rebounds and six assists) was huge in getting the victory. Both Cressler and Roberson have continued to improve throughout SEC play.
  • Florida destroyed Oklahoma by 32 in Norman, which wasn’t a result many people saw coming. But like I’ve said many times, teams seem to find a groove after beating LSU. The Gators become the sixth team (out of seven) to win their next game after knocking off the Tigers.
  • I thought Tennessee might experience a letdown after the emotional win over Kentucky. Instead, all the Vols did was control the game from start to finish in scoring an impressive win over Kansas State. Tennessee dominated the glass and got another great performance from freshman Grant Williams.
  • A win is a win, and even if it was ugly, it’s one that Georgia desperately needed. The Bulldogs ended their two-game losing streak with a 59-57 win over Texas, but now must prepare for a brutal four game stretch: at Kentucky, at South Carolina, vs. Florida, at Tennessee.
  • Given the unpredictability of young teams, of course Auburn would rebound from an awful 29-point loss at South Carolina to beat a solid TCU team on the road. The Tigers went on a 25-2 run down the stretch, with big man Austin Wiley once again showing how dominant he’s going to be in the years to come (25 points and seven rebounds).
  • Despite losing, Texas A&M stays in this section due to the fight it showed down the stretch in a hostile environment. The Aggies did turn it over 23 times, but that’s to be expected against a team like West Virginia. Tyler Davis was dominant with 19 points and 18 rebounds, while Admon Gilder had 24 points and JC Hampton scored 21 off the bench. Billy Kennedy can build off of his team’s toughness late in the game.

The Bad

  • It’s not that Ole Miss played terrible against Baylor. Losing by three to the No. 5 team in the country is nothing to get upset about. However, it was another case of the Rebels not being able to find late stops in close games. There’s still reason for Andy Kennedy to feel good about his team going forward after that performance, but it was certainly a missed opportunity.
  • I really didn’t think Kentucky would lose at home to Kansas. After losing at Tennessee on Tuesday, it felt like we’d see the Wildcats bounce back with a vengeance. Instead, Kansas showed no fear in bouncing back from an early deficit, and used a zone defense that gave the home team some trouble. I don’t think there’s any reason for John Calipari to be overly concerned with this loss, but Kentucky will need to learn from its second half performance to have a shot at making a deep run in March.

The Ugly

  • Arkansas had a chance to earn a signature road win in Stillwater, but things went south in a hurry. The Razorbacks gave up 59 first half points to Oklahoma State and went on to lose by 28. The most glaring stat from the game was Daryl Macon – the team’s second leading scorer at 13.3 PPG – not scoring a single point.
  • Since LSU only gave up 77 points in its loss at Texas Tech, you could argue that maybe the Tigers don’t belong in the ugly category. However, when you’ve lost seven in a row and nine of your last 10, that qualifies as ugly. If you think things are gonna get better, here is the team’s next four games: vs. South Carolina, vs. Texas A&M, at Kentucky, vs. Arkansas.

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