SEC Notebook
by Ryan Glenn
Just to illustrate the great parity in the SEC, South Carolina shocked the 3rd-ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday. A season-high 21 turnovers, combined with just 35% shooting from the field, prevented the Wildcats from getting anything going down the stretch. The other big game this week was LSU’s surprising victory over Mississippi State. This game was for 2nd place in the SEC West. The Tigers came out shooting great and were able to contain Lawrence Roberts to get the win.
This weekend’s schedule is set up perfectly. Almost all the games are even matchups, it is really hard to pick winners. The interdivision match-ups will conclude on Saturday as Mississippi State tries to get something going as they hope to upset Kentucky at Rupp.
SEC Reprimands Georgia Coach
On Friday, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive issued a public reprimand to Georgia’s head coach, Dennis Felton. Felton was reprimanded for his comments on South Carolina’s Carlos Powell. Felton called Powell “The biggest faker and flopper. He’s fraudulent,” on his radio show last week. In their statement, the SEC stated that, “Coach Felton has violated the Southeastern Conference Code of Ethics,” Slive said. “SEC Bylaw 10.5.1 clearly states that the coaches and administrators shall refrain from directed public criticism of other member institutions, their staffs or players.” The commissioner also mentioned that he reminded all the coaches of their responsibility to comply with this policy.
Arkansas-LSU Referees won’t ref another Razorback game this year
On Friday, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that the SEC had rotated their officiating schedules around so the referees that worked the Arkansas-LSU game on January 19 would not be working any more Arkansas games this year. This report came after a controversial ending of that game. Michael Jones sank a three with 1.8 seconds left and gave the Razorbacks a 59-58 lead. Head referee Tom Eades and John Hampton had different signals following the shot. Eades watched the tape and ended up ruling the shot a 2 pointer. LSU went on to win the game in overtime 66-63.
East-West Challenge
This Saturday will mark the first time all the teams in the SEC will play an interdivisional game. The match-ups look great, as all the teams are evenly matched. Here is the schedule for the challenge:
South Carolina at Alabama 3 p.m. ET Florida at LSU 3 p.m. ET Auburn at Georgia 4 p.m. ET Tennessee at Ole Miss 5 p.m. ET Arkansas at Vanderbilt 7 p.m. ET Mississippi State at Kentucky 9 p.m. ET
Hoopville’s SEC Rankings
1. Kentucky
2. Alabama
3. Florida
4. LSU
5. Mississippi St.
6. South Carolina
7. Vanderbilt
8. Tennessee
9. Arkansas
10. Auburn
11. Ole Miss
12. Georgia
SEC Teams in the Polls
The SEC has two teams in the AP poll this week. Kentucky is 3rd in the AP and 3rd in the Coaches’ poll. Alabama is 16th in the AP and 17th in the Coaches’ poll.
SEC Player of the Week
Jonathon Modica of Arkansas was named SEC Player of the week. Modica had has two best games of the year last week. He led the Razorbacks to wins over Georgia and LSU. Against Georgia, he scored 14 points and had four rebounds. In the LSU game, he had his best game of the year with season and game highs of 25 points and nine rebounds. For the week, he shot 60.7% from the field (17-28)
SEC East
Kentucky (19-3, 10-1)
Coming away from the Georgia game, you could tell the Wildcats were lacking a certain spark to their game. That lackluster play carried itself into South Carolina. After just shooting 35% from the field and having 19 turnovers, the Wildcats could not put anything together as they got handed their first conference loss.
Tubby Smith did not react lightly to the loss. Smith has the team at 6 A.M. practices following the letdown as he is “trying to shake the loss we had to South Carolina.” Expect something to change in their play this weekend, as the Cats have finally received a wake-up call. You might just see Ravi Moss enter the starting lineup this week.
Florida (16-6, 8-3)
After their loss at Kentucky, the Gators had some critics saying they might not be able to rebound from the loss and were moving towards another disappointing end to the season. Florida has come out in their last two games and proved them wrong. Against Ole Miss, they absolutely crushed the Rebels, 90-53. They were able to get double digit scoring from their big three of Roberson, Walsh, and Lee.
Up next for the Gators is a trip to Baton Rouge. The Gators will have their hands full with the Tigers. Brandon Bass had one of his best games on the road against Mississippi State, and will be a key player for Florida to stop.
South Carolina (14-8, 6-5)
With a win against Kentucky, the Gamecocks still have a chance to make this year’s NCAA tournament field. The two toughest games South Carolina has left are Florida and Alabama. If they can win one of the two against them, and win the other games, I could see them showing up in the big dance. Coach Dave Odom thinks that Alabama has the best starting five in the league. If they can come out and play with the intensity that they had against Kentucky, and possibly get Alabama into some foul trouble, they will have a good chance in this game.
Vanderbilt (15-10, 5-6)
Vanderbilt, like South Carolina, is still hoping for a shot at a tournament bid. They helped themselves Wednesday night by getting a 24-point win over Auburn. The Commodores, however, did not play a great game. Instead, they played a great half. Trailing 21-26 at the half, Vandy came out and outscored the Tigers 46-17 in the second half. Corey Smith, who was due for a big game, finally got it. Smith scored 19 points and was the only Commodore in double digits. The Vanderbilt defense also helped their own cause, by holding freshman star Tony Douglas to just five points. Douglas had been averaging 18 points a game.
Tennessee (11-13, 4-7)
The question for Tennessee right now is, how long will Coach Buzz Peterson be around? After two straight home losses, to Alabama and Florida, it is starting to seem like he might not make it past this season. Tennessee athletic director, Mike Hamilton, has said that after this season is over, he will evaluate the men’s basketball program. This is bad news to Peterson, no doubt.
Things aren’t going to get easier for the Vols. In their last four games, two of the opponents include Kentucky and the hot South Carolina.
Georgia (7-15, 1-10)
Georgia took a break from their struggling conference play as they faced off against Clemson. The Tigers proved easily that the SEC isn’t the only the place Georgia is playing bad.
After their game at Kentucky, Georgia was actually starting to look like a team that might upset somebody in the conference. Against Clemson though, they looked like their old, struggling self. This week we might finally have the worst team named after Auburn heads to Georgia, in what I am dubbing “The Battle of the Bottom.”
SEC West
Alabama (20-4, 9-2)
Alabama continues to hold on to the top spot they have in the SEC West. Even with Chuck Davis sick, the Crimson Tide was able to down Arkansas. Davis, who was not feeling well throughout the game, was still able to rack up 21 points to lead the Tide to the win.
Up next, Alabama takes on South Carolina. Coach Gottfried knows not to underestimate the Gamecocks, but knows his guys are very capable of the win. “We are playing a team with a lot of confidence right now. I think South Carolina made believers out of a lot of people Tuesday night with their win over Kentucky. My guys know how good they are and they will be ready to play,” he said.
LSU (14-8, 7-4)
When you watch this year’s LSU team, you never know exactly which one you are going to see. It might be the one who has beaten Mississippi State twice, or it might be the one who lost to Southern Miss in overtime. If LSU wants to make this year’s field of 65, they need to get some big wins down the stretch. Their first chance will come in the East-West Challenge, as Florida comes up to Baton Rouge, after routing Ole Miss. “They are playing very well right now and will be a tremendous challenge for us to be in a position to win the game, even though we are at home,” coach John Brady added.
Mississippi State (18-7, 6-5)
Even with the return of Winsome Frazier, the Bulldogs still looked like they were missing something. Shane Power really stepped up for the Bulldogs in the game against LSU, scoring a game-high 20 points and pulling down 4 rebounds. He will have to keep up that type of play if Mississippi State wants to win at Rupp Arena. Frazier actually surprised many people, coming out and scoring 11 points in 24 minutes.
If Frazier gets back to 100% soon, the Bulldogs will be a tough team to stop in March.
Arkansas (17-8, 5-7)
Arkansas had their three game winning streak snapped on Wednesday, as they fell to Alabama by nine. The Razorbacks are still hoping at a chance to make the tournament field, but with a 1-7 record against teams ranked in the top 50 RPI, it is going to be a tough road ahead.
This weekend, they go to one of the toughest places to play in the SEC at Vanderbilt. “This is a huge game for us. Going on the road is always tough for everybody. This will be the first time a lot of my players have gone to Vanderbilt and played in that unique environment. We will have to do a good job of preparing for what they do in their offense. Vanderbilt is not your conventional basketball arena. It’s a great home-court advantage for Vanderbilt,” responded coach Stan Heath when asked about the Vanderbilt game.
Auburn (12-12, 3-8)
Just when Auburn thought they might win two in a row in the SEC, a second half collapse cost them the game against Vanderbilt. The Tigers did not score in the first seven minutes of the second half, as Vanderbilt scored 21 points unanswered. It is amazing that a team that came away with a win against South Carolina could get outscored 46-17 in the second half, but that was the case in Nashville.
Up next for the Tigers, is the team that is struggling as well, Georgia. Both teams are struggling drastically in the conference and will at least be looking to avoid the label, “Worst Team in the SEC”.
Ole Miss (12-13, 3-9)
Ole Miss extended their losing streak to three games on Wednesday, as the Gators just dominated the game. The Gators shot 64 percent from the field and the Rebels just didn’t have an answer.
“You don’t want to come down here when they are playing like that,” Coach Rod Barnes added after the game.
The Rebels have the chance to break their losing streak, as Tennessee comes down to Ole Miss on Saturday.
Game of the Week
Mississippi State at Kentucky (9:00 ET on ESPN)
Both of these teams are coming off tough losses to divisional opponents. The key players for Kentucky will be Rajon Rondo and Patrick Sparks. Rondo only was able to sink seven points in their loss to South Carolina and just didn’t look like his normal self. Sparks played a game he would like to forget. He only had six points, after shooting 2-9 from the field.
For Mississippi State, I see the key players being Winsome Frazier and Shane Power. Frazier had a decent night on his return against LSU, if he can improve some for this game, it will help the Bulldogs’ chances greatly. Power had one of his best games this season against LSU, scoring 20. If Frazier and Power come out and play a great game, I can see the Bulldogs leaving Rupp with a win.
