The first full SEC basketball Saturday of the season featured fights, points and much more.
Let’s dive right in.
Georgia 71, Missouri 66
The first half of this game was ugly. Really ugly.
Of course, it got uglier when benches cleared and assistant coaches for both teams were involved in a brouhaha on the court:
That was the most exciting thing that happened during this entire game. Georgia sleepwalked its ways through the majority of this one, turning the ball over 20 times and struggling mightily until JJ Frazier gave the Bulldogs a boost in the second half.
Give Missouri credit for putting in a good effort in Athens despite leading scorer Kevin Puryear (12.7 PPG) scoring his only two points at the 11:38 mark of the second half.
Considering the unpredictability of Bruce Pearl’s young Auburn team, Tuesday’s game in Columbia may be winnable.
South Carolina 79, Texas A&M 68
The Gamecocks came into the game allowing opponents to only shoot around 35% from the floor. Texas A&M shot 53% on Saturday and still didn’t win.
The reason was simple: 25 turnovers for the second straight game. Billy Kennedy’s team has now committed 66 turnovers in its first three SEC games, so an 0-3 start isn’t in any way shocking when you consider those numbers.
DJ Hogg had an outstanding performance shooting-wise in putting up 25 points and going 7-of-9 from three point land, but it’s hard to win a game when the other team gets 19 more shots than you.
Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier combined to only go 9-of-28 from the floor for the Gamecocks, which is another reason this was a missed opportunity for Texas A&M.
The good news for the Aggies is that their first conference win should come on Wednesday when they host LSU.
Mississippi State 95, LSU 78
Just when you think you have Johnny Jones and LSU figured out (note: you never have Johnny Jones and LSU figured out), they get blown out at home as the favorite.
The Bulldogs deserve a lot of praise for bouncing back from a tough home loss to Alabama to start SEC play. Mississippi State moved the ball better and took better shots, which was helped by another less than stellar performance on the defensive end of the floor by the Tigers.
The stats speak for themselves in this case. Here is what LSU has given up in three of its last four games:
- 110 points at Wake Forest
- 96 points vs. Vanderbilt
- 95 points vs. Mississippi State
In looking at the Tigers’ remaining SEC schedule, I don’t see more than two more wins on there. And if LSU plays defense like it has recently, there may not be another win on there at all.
That probably means Jones will get a raise and an extension.
Florida 83, Tennessee 70
It was another gritty road performance from the Vols, but the Gators are simply rolling these days.
KeVaughn Allen and Justin Leon were great for Florida in pulling away in the second half after trailing by one at halftime.
Both teams shot 50% from the floor in the game and had the same amount of rebounds, but the difference down the stretch was Tennessee’s 19 total turnovers to Florida’s 11.
Mike White’s squad has a level of confidence right now that will make them tough to beat.
Ole Miss 88, Auburn 85
Everything was going so well for Bruce Pearl and the Tigers. But since the second half of their opening SEC loss to Georgia, this team hasn’t looked the same.
Auburn put together a better performance than it did at Vanderbilt this past Wednesday, but it wasn’t enough to take down the Rebels.
Andy Kennedy has to be pleased with the balance that he got from his team on the road. Six Ole Miss players scored in double figures, with Deandre Burnett leading the way with 18 points despite a cold shooting night from the floor (3-of-10 FG).
Jared Harper led the way for the Tigers with 24 points in 21 minutes of action.
Now for a trio of bad news items for Auburn:
- It was the Rebels’ ninth consecutive victory over Auburn, which is the longest streak over an SEC opponent in the program’s history
- Danjel Purifoy is out indefinitely after suffering an ankle injury in the first half
- Pearl’s team plays at Missouri and Kentucky this upcoming week
The first one is far from a given after Missouri played somewhat decent basketball at Georgia.
Alabama 59, Vanderbilt 56
How good is Alabama defensively?
Consider this: Vanderbilt scored 96 points and Mississippi State scored 95 in road trips to LSU. The Commodores scored 56 and the Bulldogs scored 58 in games against the Crimson Tide.
This was a game that played out like most expected it to. Offense didn’t come easy for either team, with Vandy shooting 36% and Alabama shooting 32%.
But another glaring stat showed the difference in this game. The Crimson Tide racked up 20 offensive rebounds to win the overall rebounding battle by 15. Alabama turned up its aggressiveness and physicality in the second half, and the Commodores didn’t like it.
This is a Vandy team that has never played well against pressure, so it wasn’t surprising to see the struggles once Avery Johnson dialed up extra pressure late in the game.
Another problem that the Commodores are running into right now is depth. Nolan Cressler contributed 10 points off the bench, and Joe Toye added a single bucket. That was it.
Meanwhile, Alabama got 36 points from its bench, with Ar’Mond Davis leading the way with 12 points.
Kentucky 97, Arkansas 71
This was close at the half, but then Kentucky decided it wanted to run the Razorbacks out of Rupp Arena.
Arkansas is a team that I thought could at least keep up with the Wildcats for a while due to athleticism and scoring, and it did. But winning? That was a different story.
De’Aaron Fox was the star of the show on this particular night, scoring 27 points and adding six rebounds and six assists to go along with it.
SEC leading scorer Malik Monk only scored 12 points. And yes, Kentucky still won by 26. Go figure.
The Wildcats have now scored 92 points or more in 11 of their 15 games this season, which doesn’t bode well for the rest of the SEC.
Blake Lovell has worked in sports media for over 10 years. He currently covers SEC football and basketball for various publications.