SEC Hoops: Texas isn't Clutch, Alabama Survives Hubbard's Shooting Spree

The first month of conference play has reached the end of the road. As has been the case for most of January, two of the three SEC games on Wednesday night delivered the goods.

Texas did everything right except win the game. No. 23 Ole Miss entered the matchup on a three-game losing streak since they knocked off Alabama. Chris Beard’s team found themselves once again on the ropes late at home. This time, they got a little lucky.

Freshman phenom Tre Johnson, the SEC’s leading scorer, had the ball in his hands, down one point, with a chance to take the lead in the final 15 seconds of the game. He got a clean look off the glass that just bounced off the rim. The Longhorns had a player ready to clean it up, but he couldn’t finish the tip-in.

After a couple of made free throws, Texas got one more look to keep the game alive. Ole Miss let Johnson take the shot. Why? Great question. He was pretty, pretty open in the corner, but the game-tying three-point attempt was just short. Johnson finished with 22 points. Sean Pedulla led the way for Ole Miss with 19 points (4-7 3FG) in the 72-69 win.

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Hubbard’s Best SEC Performance Isn’t Good Enough

Josh Hubbard has a reputation as one of the best scorers in the SEC. He developed that reputation a year ago. The sophomore has been far from sensational this season. Entering Wednesday night, he had only scored 18+ points in one SEC game, the opener against South Carolina, the worst team in the league.

Alabama got the best of Hubbard at The Hump. He scored 38 points while shooting 50% from the field in a thrilling high-scoring affair that went down to the wire.

A Grant Nelson three gave the Crimson Tide a lead with 2:30 on the clock. Mississippi State cut it to one with under a minute to play. The Bulldogs had a clean driving lane to the bucket that was denied from behind by Cliff Omoruyi. Chris Jans was begging for the foul but didn’t get a whistle. Chris Youngblood hit a couple of free throws to cap off his 23-point night (7-10 3FG) as Alabama won 88-84, a fourth-straight SEC win for the Crimson Tide.

The third game of the night was Auburn’s 12th-straight victory. LSU was able to keep the deficit within single digits for most of the second half, but they just didn’t have enough firepower for the top-ranked team in America. Johni Broome had 26 points and 16 rebounds in the 87-74 Auburn win over LSU.

SEC Standings at the End of January

Team	SEC	Overall
Auburn	7-0	19-1
Alabama	7-1	18-3
Florida	5-2	18-2
Missouri	5-2	16-4
Texas A&M	5-3	16-5
Ole Miss	5-3	16-5
Vanderbilt	4-3	16-4
Kentucky	4-3	15-5
Tennessee	4-4	17-4
Mississippi State	4-4	16-5
Georgia	3-5	15-6
Texas	3-5	14-7
Oklahoma	2-5	15-5
LSU	1-6	12-8
Arkansas	1-6	12-8
South Carolina	0-8	10-11

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