SEC Tournament Recaps – Day One
by Ryan Glenn
No. 5W Ole Miss 53, No. 4E South Carolina 52
ATLANTA, Ga. – The first game of the tournament was quite a good one. With these teams meeting less than five days ago, both were ready for what the other would bring. Ole Miss came out ready to play in the first half and quickly jumped to a 5-0 lead. South Carolina came storming back though with some help from Carlos Powell. The score flip-flopped throughout the first half, with Ole Miss just barely holding on to that lead. Powell got a lay-up with five seconds left in the half, to cut the Ole Miss lead to just two as they went into the locker rooms.
The second half brought the same intensity that was found in the first. The lead went back and forth until about the five minute mark. That is when Ole Miss went on a 9-0 run to take the lead by seven. With eight seconds left, Todd Abernethy sank two free throws to put the Rebels up three. Tre Kelley quickly shot and made a three, or so he thought. South Carolina stole the inbound pass and called timeout with 0.9 left on the clock. Officials then went to look at the last play and declared that Kelley’s foot was on the line and counted it a two point basket. “Specifically on the play it was requested by Coach Barnes that we review the play. We obliged and he is permitted to do that,” lead official Gerald Boudreaux said after the game. “The replay was conclusive that he had a foot on the line. South Carolina’s last second attempt didn’t go and the Rebels squeaked out the win.
Tommie Eddie and Ed Glass led the way for Ole Miss. Eddie finished up with seventeen points and four rebounds. Glass had fifteen points and pulled down five rebounds.
Powell, the only Gamecock in double-digits, was the sole leader for South Carolina. He ended up with nice duo of 21 points and seven rebounds. “There is no question that he has been our anchor for two years and I am extremely proud of him,” Coach Dave Odom said when asked about the career of Powell.
Ole Miss, with the win, advances to face No. 1W Alabama in the quarterfinals on Friday.
No. 3W Mississippi State 76, No. 6E Georgia 65
In the battle of the Bulldogs, Georgia was able to keep it closer than most had expected. Mississippi State jumped out to an 8-0 lead and kept Georgia scoreless until the 17:10 mark. Once they got that first basket, Georgia went on a 6-0 run to bring them within two. With both teams shooting over 44% for the half, neither team got a substantial lead. Sundiata Gaines put in a three near the end of the half to cut Mississippi State’s lead to just four, 39-35.
Mississippi State came out of the locker room a whole new team. By about eight minutes into the half, Mississippi State had their lead up to nine points. The lead didn’t stop growing from there. With five minutes left, Mississippi State was up by fifteen and the game was all but over. A late three from Kevin Brophy brought Georgia within eleven, but that is the margin that would end the game.
The trio of Shane Power, Winsome Frazier, and Lawrence Roberts were the leaders on the Mississippi State side. Power was the leading scorer with fifteen points and he had six rebounds. Frazier put up thirteen points and had five rebounds. Roberts was the leading rebounder with nine and also added ten points for Mississippi State. Gaines and Dave Bliss, each with fourteen, were the leading scorers for Georgia.
“You have to give Georgia credit. They’ve had a tough year, and they’ve battled. Our biggest concern going into this game was where it fell in the schedule following the emotional loss against Alabama,” Coach Rick Stansbury commented after the game. “I didn’t know if our team would be mentally sharp. We didn’t play our best. Besides our starters, our bench – (Wesley) Morgan, (Dietric) Slater, (Jamall) Edmonson – came up big for us. We had the game under the control until the 3:45 mark of the second half. I’m proud of our team for coming out with a win.”
Mississippi State will face the No. 2E Florida on Friday
No. 5E Tennessee 65, No. 4W Arkansas 46
Scooter McFadgon is back in a big way for Tennessee. McFadgon scored fifteen in the first half as the Volunteers cruised to a ten-point halftime lead. Brandon Crump also stepped up for the Vols, as he added nine points in the half. Chris Lofton, the Volunteer freshman star, was shut out for most of the half with just three points. Arkansas couldn’t get a good half from anybody. Nobody finished with more than six points and the Razorbacks did not make a three point shot in the half.
The second half of the game was more of the same play from Tennessee. Not long into the half, Tennessee went on a 13-0 run to give them a 23 point lead. After that, the Razorbacks could not get their deficit below nineteen.
McFadgon ended up with 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the Vols in scoring. Crump, second in scoring for Tennessee, finished with sixteen. Darian Townes and Ronnie Brewer were the only double-digit scorers for the Tigers, each with ten points.
After the game, McFadgon was understandably happy about breaking out of his slump. “It felt real good. We needed a few baskets to get warm. We needed to get some rebounds to get going and get our legs warmed up. Scooter hit some shots and that was it,” he said.
Tennessee moves on to play No. 1E Kentucky.
No. 6W Auburn 77, No. 3W Vanderbilt 73
In the biggest upset in the first round, Auburn was able to survive a strong come back by Vanderbilt to move to the quarterfinals.
The first half saw great shooting from the Auburn. The Tigers were 50% from the field (14-28) and 53.8% from behind the three point line. Quinnel Brown led the Tigers in the half with eleven points. Mario Moore was about the only production Vanderbilt had in the half as he scored thirteen points, including three three-pointers. Moore’s play was the main reason that the Commodores were only down 33-40 at the half.
For about ten minutes of the second half, Vanderbilt was playing the same as the first half and had fallen down by 21 points. Right then, the Commodores went on an 18-0 run to put them down by just seven. Another blow for Auburn was that Quinnel Brown, their big man, fouled out with 5:09 left in the game. With less than two minutes to play, Shan Foster hit three big free throws to cut Auburn’s lead to just four. That was quickly followed by Toney Douglas making four free throws to put the Tiger lead back at eight. Baskets were then traded, until Corey Smith sank a three to put Vandy back within five. Vanderbilt quickly fouled, and Frank Tolbert only made one of his two free throws to put the Tigers up by six. Alex Gordon then quickly got off and made a three to put the Commodores down 73-76. That would be as close as they would get however. Ian Young put down a free throw, with ten seconds left, that ended Vanderbilt’s hopes at a comeback.
Douglas was once again the all-around leader for Auburn. He scored 23 points and had ten rebounds, both of which led the Tigers. For Vanderbilt, it was Moore and Foster who had the big nights. Moore finished with a team-high 21 points, and Foster finished with nineteen.
Auburn will face No. 2 LSU in the late game on Friday.
