SEC basketball notebook: A&M arrives, Alabama thrives, Kentucky revives (maybe?) and more
Some of the things we thought we knew about SEC basketball have turned out wrong. Or at least shaky. But don’t blink, because if the past week has taught us anything, it’s that the league can flip faster than luck at a blackjack table. Here’s a look around the SEC.
A&M arriving
Coming off a season where the Aggies were basically backdoored out of the NCAA Tournament, Buzz Williams’s team had some expectations entering the season. Then, they did things like lose to Colorado by 28, lose to Boise by 15, and lose to Wofford. But A&M has opened SEC play at a 4-0 clip. Granted, their biggest win yet has been to Missouri, but when the Aggies go +20 and +30 on the glass, as they did in their past 2 games, then Buzz Williams’ guys might just make some March noise. Wade Taylor is averaging 16 points per game in league play, and was 7-for-14 in A&M’s past 2 games. Will it continue?
Will the real Kentucky please stand up …
Which UK is real? I’m not sure John Calipari even knows.
Kentucky 1) lost a soul-crushing home game against lowly South Carolina, then 2) won in Knoxville, and then 3) let Georgia score at will in a home game in the first half Tuesday, trailing by 8 at intermission, and finally 4) blew Georgia away in the second half on a 37-and-24 game from Oscar Tshiebwe.
Which UK is the real UK? All of them? None of them? Who knows. Sahvir Wheeler’s inconsistency at both ends of the court have made it harder for John Calipari to keep leaning on him, and UK might finally just cast its team behind Cason Wallace at point guard. Or something else bizarre and unexpected might happen.
Bama balling
Alabama obviously is dealing with some very serious issues off the court.
On the court? Alabama is 6-0 in the league with an average victory margin of 21 points. Brandon Miller is leading the league in scoring in conference play, and has done so while shooting almost 58% overall, including a cool 22-for-44 from 3-point range. But defense might be the hidden key here — Bama has held SEC foes to 33.4% shooting. That’s 1.5% ahead of 2nd-place Tennessee, and a full 4.2% better than 3rd-place Florida. The Tide are also hitting 11 3-point shots per game in SEC play, which is miles ahead of UT in 2nd place with 7.5 treys per game. Can it last? It’s worth noting that Alabama has yet to lose a game in which it hasn’t had 19+ turnovers. Protect the ball and the Tide should be fine.
Arkansas’ struggles continue
On the other hand, Arkansas hasn’t been fine. The “will he/won’t he” Nick Smith situation is doing no one any favors, and who knows when or if Smith will ever play for Arkansas again. And the Hogs opened SEC play at 1-4. A big problem is, frankly, shooting. Arkansas is 343rd in D1 basketball in 3-point percentage, shooting a sickly 29.1% from long range. And two of the better shooters were Smith and Trevon Brazile, who is out for the year. In their past 2 SEC games, meanwhile, Arkansas has allowed Alabama and Vandy to shoot a combined 19-for-38 from 3-point territory as the Hogs lost both games. Considering that the schedule still includes trips to Alabama, Mizzou, Baylor, and Tennessee, the 12-5 Hogs could well lose double-digit games. And could still be dangerous in March.
Bracket update
BracketMatrix’s most recent projections have just 5 SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament field — and Joe Lunardi agrees. In the BM bracket (which is a combination of dozens of alleged expert bracket predictions), Alabama has earned a top seed and UT is a No. 2 seed. Auburn is slated for a 5 seed, Arkansas for a No. 6, and Missouri for a No. 9 seed. Kentucky and Mississippi State are the No. 3 and 4 teams out in BM’s bracket, while Lunardi has UK as the last team out of the NCAA field, with Texas A&M 2 spots below.
Games to watch
A few highlights from the week to come:
Arkansas at Mizzou (Wednesday): This game probably wasn’t circled on preseason calendars, but the Tigers are a slight home favorite over the Hogs, who could use a win to not fall to 1-5 in SEC play. Meanwhile, Mizzou has stumbled a bit lately and will be looking to rebound.
Texas A&M at Kentucky (Saturday): Is either team for real? Can either team score enough to put the other away? Feels like an olden day slugfest of the 58-50 nature.
Tennessee at LSU (Saturday): The Vols did lose to Kentucky, but it felt a little fluky, particularly in light of how many open UT shots just fell off the rim. The Vols bounced back and want to keep momentum with a road win.
LSU at Arkansas (Tuesday): The Tigers have lost SEC momentum and particularly if the Mizzou game doesn’t go Arkansas’s way, Arkansas could really use a win here.
I think the UK team that showed at Tennessee and in the second half against Georgia is the real UK team, if they want it.
I think Cal is realizing his best lineup is Wallace, Toppin, Tshiebwe, Frederick, and Reeves. Wheeler only played 11 minutes last night.
TBH, I think Wheeler has more positives than negatives, and I’d like to see him on the floor more than that, but who in that lineup should he replace? Frederick and Reeves add spacing and shooting, and Wallace should run the point. Wheeler gets too erratic.
The performances we got from Oscar and Toppin last night are what we need to see every game going forward. There are no easy games left on the schedule.
UT really beat themselves against UK. Kudos to UK for destroying UT on the boards, but UT missed layup after layup and it wasn’t because UK changed the trajectory of the layup. I worry about Vescovi being out an extended period if he does as he is UT’s best player.
I thought Kentuckys defense played lights out at Tennessee and that’s why they won. That and they wanted it more.
Tennessee struggles to score, especially against good teams. Barnes always produces an elite defense but it’s the offense that will have yall as a popular pick to lose the first weekend of the tourney, unless it improves.
Agreed TN missed some shots that they normally don’t miss. I don’t know if that was a function of Kentucky’s defense, or just an off night. The Vols have a nasty, nasty defense and that can keep them in games against anybody in the country- and if the offense can be a little more consistent, they’re going to be really hard to beat.
Vescovi being out? It was only a matter of time through the law of percentages, he has been there for at least a decade!
He’s been at UT since 2019 which is hardly a decade.
I’m sure math in the backwater doesn’t work like it does elsewhere but the guy is only 21 so you should still be able to work that out.
I agree that lineup is probably where Cal needs to continue… I just don’t know where Wheeler fits in. He plays hard, but is extremely inconsistent. While Oscar had the stat line last night, I think Toppin’s play was actually a little more important. We’ve seen that Oscar can’t win every game by himself, but when he has some help, especially on the boards and on the defensive end, good things seem to happen. The offense, for whatever reason, looks better. But the one thing that’s been constant in the wins over Georgia and Tennessee were hitting free throws.
And rebounds, UK has out rebounded their opponent last 2 games total rebs Uk 77 vs 54, most impressive is on the offensive glass Uk 29 vs 8…. UK has held each opponent last 2 games to only 4 offensive rebounds.
Wheeler for the season is 53% from the line, a huge liability at the point just on that stat. Assist- turnover last 3 games 9-5 a even bigger liability at the point. 2 games he had over 35 min + and had only 3 assists a game. You automatically lose the battle at that position against a opponent with those numbers. You have no other option but change who is running the point. Wheeler can be a asset, but not playing like this, it’s that simple. That’s just on the offensive end, defense he is UK’s biggest liability. He played better perimeter D against UGA, but previously it’s been atrocious. It’s not a secret to opponents either.
Rebounding margin last 2 games 87-54.
Possible there is a lack of desire to win similar to what happened with Texas football. Talent everywhere infused with a good dose of “we’re Texas”.
This Bama team is good enough to win multiple ways on the offensive end, but limiting turnovers and stretches of great defense has been the catalyst for this recent stretch of dominating wins.
Yep, they kill their opponents.
Sure, their average margin of victory in SEC play is 21 points and they have beaten all six opponents by double figures.
My comment went over your tiny head. Your players literally murder people.
The irony of this response is outstanding.
At this point in the season most teams are who they are. TBH the entire SEC (minus Bama and perhaps A&M) is just a big bag of inconsistency. Mizzou beats KY handily, Arkansas beats Mizzou handily, Auburn beats Arky handily, Kentucy beats TN, SC clips KY. Over half the conference is the best team in the conference on any given night yet also the worst team on any given night. Kinda wild this year.
“Alabama obviously is dealing with some very serious issues off the court.”
Yep, they had a murderer on their team. Bama is scum.
your hate sustains me
You house murderers.
Are you saying that 9lbHammer is harboring murderers in his own home? That is quite the accusation. I surely hope that is not true.
I agree with Booches94. A lot of inconsistency. The teams that make the tournament will be the ones that settle down and produce reliably.