SEC Men’s Basketball Roundup

SEC men’s basketball teams took the court this week for some high profile matchups. The No. 11 Alabama Crimson Tide outlasted the South Carolina Gamecocks. Despite a second half comeback attempt, the No. 16 Tennessee Volunteers topped the Georgia Bulldogs. Ole Miss continued to take down ranked opponents, defeating No. 10 Missouri on Wednesday night.

The Tide Top South Carolina

No. 11 Alabama, 81 vs. South Carolina Gamecocks, 78

Alabama has had an impressive season so far, managing to stay undefeated in the SEC for 10 games in a row. They dropped their first conference matchup against No. 10 Missouri by three points.

South Carolina’s efforts were close on Tuesday night but the Tide managed to top their SEC opponent.

The Tide struggled early offense-wise as they only scored two points in the first four minutes of the game. This was due to three turnovers and various missed shots.

Juwan Gary was responsible for those two points, but an awkward fall on the court made him miss the rest of the game. After the game, it was announced that Gary suffered a shoulder injury.

A three-pointer by Joshua Primo woke up Alabama’s offense, and started a 10-point run for the Tide.

After this, the lead was constantly changing between teams, totaling five lead changes. The game was also tied seven times.

During the first half, both teams combined for 20 turnovers. Both teams were able to score 17 points off of the other teams’ turnovers.

The game was very even through both halves as both teams were struggling to score. It was so even, that both teams scored the exact same points in the second half (42).

The difference came from the first quarter in which Alabama scored three points more than the Gamecocks (39-36).

South Carolina finished the game with a 24 percent from behind the arch, and 44.4 percent from the field.

Alabama on the other hand finished with 35.3 percent on three-pointers and 38.2 percent from the field.

Up Next

Alabama’s next match will be on Saturday, Feb. 13 against the Georgia Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Meanwhile, South Carolina will host the Ole Miss Rebels on the same day. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

Tennessee Overcomes Georgia’s Second Half Surge

Georgia, 81 vs No. 16 Tennessee, 89

This match between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Georgia Bulldogs seemed like an easy win for the Vols at first.

Georgia struggled offensively in the first half of Wednesday night’s game, making 10 of their 29 shots and finishing 30 percent  from the three-point line.

Jaden Springer led the way for the Vols, making 12 points in the first half. He continued to lead his team in scoring, finishing the game with 30 points.

Tennessee outscored the Bulldogs in the first half, 44-26.

But the second half was a different story. Georgia started connecting with the net more, as they ended up outscoring the Vols 55-45.

They made 54.5 percent of their shots while holding the Vols at 47.8 percent.

Although Georgia did not make this easy for the Volunteers, their second-half efforts were not enough to defeat Tennessee.

Georgia’s head coach Tom Crean said that his team needs to work on playing hard during the full 40 minutes.

 “We have to play aggressively for 40 minutes. It’s amazing, we’re playing faster in the second half with less turnovers, and that’s just what we have to do,” Crein said. “We’ve got to be able to establish that whether the offense is going or not.”

Up Next

The Georgia Bulldogs will play Alabama next on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Tennessee will face LSU on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

Ole Miss Takes Down No. 10 Missouri

No. 10 Missouri Tigers, 59 vs. Ole Miss Rebels, 80

Ole Miss is now on a three-game winning streak, in which all victories were against ranked SEC opponents. The two previous victories were against then No. 11 Tennessee and the No. 10 Auburn.

The first half of Wednesday’s game ended fairly close as Ole Miss scored 42 points and Missouri only trailed by five (37). The Rebels went on a 17-2 run that spanned the last two minutes of the first half and the first three minutes of the second half.

This run helped build a 51-37 lead for the Rebels.

Ole Miss held the Tigers to three field goals during the first eight minutes of the second half. This eliminated any hopes for a comeback by Missouri.

Jarkel Joiner led Ole Miss with 21 points. He was able to also get three rebounds and three assists.

Devontae Shuler and Luis Rodriguez contributed with 15 points apiece. Rodriguez also recorded six rebounds while Shuler got two.

Dru Smith, on the other hand, led the Tigers with 17 points. Also in the double digits for Missouri was Javon Pickett who scored 10.

Up Next

The Missouri Tigers will go back home as they prepare to face SEC opponent Arkansas on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. On the other hand, Ole Miss will go on the road to face the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday. The tipoff for this game is set for 6 p.m.