Alabama, Texas A&M advance to SEC Championship

Vanderbilt v Texas A&M — NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 11: Solomon Washington #13 of the Texas A&M Aggies reacts to a basket against the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first half during the semifinals of the 2023 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 11, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carly Mackler/Getty Images)

The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will compete for the SEC Tournament championship on Sunday, with Alabama defeating Missouri and Texas A&M beating Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon in Nashville.

The Crimson Tide earned the first victory of the day, cruising to a 72-61 win over the Tigers. Entering the day as nine-point favorites, Nate Oats’ squad converted on 49% of its shot attempts overall and 30% of its 3-pointers while allowing the opposition to shoot just 33.8% from the field and 28% from deep.

Freshman star Brandon Miller again led the way for the Tide with 20 points on 8-11 shooting and 3-6 from three to go with 12 rebounds and four assists. Noah Clowney added 19 points on 7-11 shooting and 3-6 from deep while pulling down three boards, with Charles Bediako rounding out double-figure scorers with 10 points and five rebounds.

D’Moi Hodge finished with 21 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers while DeAndre Gholston added 17 points and Noah Carter closed out with 10.

And then to close out the afternoon, the Aggies ended the Commodores’ impressive run of 10 wins in 11 games — two being against Kentucky, most recently on Friday in the SEC quarterfinals. It was a statement victory for A&M going against the hottest team in the conference, controlling the game from start to finish to secure the 87-75 win.

The Aggies shot an absurd 59.6% from the field and 52.6% from three, a hot start that paved way for a dominant 49-25 lead going into halftime. Vanderbilt clawed back ever-so-slightly in the second — it would still shoot 53.8% from the field and 40.9% from three in the loss — but it just wasn’t enough to overcome Texas A&M’s all-around effort.

Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

Wade Taylor IV led the way for the winning team with 25 points on 8-13 shooting and 4-7 from three in the win, followed by Tyrece Radford with 16 points, five assists and four rebounds and Julius Marble with 13 points, and four rebounds.

Tyrin Lawrence led Vanderbilt with 18 points, followed by Jordan Wright with 17, Ezra Manjon with 16 and Colin Smith with 15. Four double-digit scorers, but only five total points off the bench and 21 rebounds compared to 18 and 30 in those areas for the opposition, respectively.

Alabama will take on Texas A&M inside Bridgestone Arena at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, championship trophy up for grabs.

As for the Kentucky Wildcats, they will learn their NCAA Tournament seeding and path tomorrow on Selection Sunday. The latest projections indicate a No. 7 seed may be in the cards, with ESPN’s Joe Lunardi putting UK in the South Region with a first-round matchup against Southern California in Des Moines. CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm and Bracketville both list Kentucky as a No. 7, with the former predicting a head-to-head battle with Bryce Hopkins and Providence in the opening round. The latter projects a matchup vs. Utah State in the West.

The team’s fate is now in the hands of the Selection Committee.