SEC Saturday Recap: Looking towards Tampa; End-of-season awards

We entered yesterday’s slate of conference hoops with most of the SEC Tournament bids up for grabs, and today we woke up with the bracket for next weekend’s action in Tampa. Let’s break down the final SEC Saturday of the season.

Tennessee staves off Arkansas comeback

Arkansas had won 14 of their last 15 games and had a chance to swipe the two-seed in the SEC Tournament away from Tennessee in Knoxville yesterday. The Vols entertained no such ideas of dropping their spot in Thompson-Bowling Arena in the first half.

Tennessee raced out to a 31-13 lead as their offense — which has produced at a high level of late — blitzed an Arkansas defense that ranked in the top-five since the turn of the year. Rick Barnes’ club led by 21 at the half, 50-29 and UT appeared to be cruising to perhaps its most impressive performance of the season. But the undersized Razorback backcourt of Chris Lykes and J.D. Notae caught fire in the second half to help Arkansas storm back into the game.

Lykes and Notae splashed a pair of 3-pointers to finally cut the lead back under 10 at 73-65 with just over four to play. In the final minute, free throws by Notae brought Arkansas within two. However, a pair of questionable calls went against the Hogs in the final 90 seconds and Tennessee took care of business at the free throw line to hold on for the 78-74 win.

What did I say over and over again last week? It’s hard to win on the road against ranked teams.

Tari Eason with the Play of the Year for LSU to beat ‘Bama

Alabama vs. LSU was far more entertaining on the basketball court than the football field this season. On the hardwood, a top-10 Tigers defensive unit hosted Alabama’s inconsistent but top-15 and 3-happy offense.

Tide star Jaden Shackelford missed all eight of his 3-point tries but the rest of his team banded together to knock down 11 of ’em. Alabama also grabbed 17 offensive rebounds to boost an offense that only shot 37.7% from the field. But if you’re ‘Bama, you can afford to shoot below 40% and still win games because (1) They create a ton of extra opportunities on the offensive glass, and (2) Most of their shots are 3s, so you make 30% of those and you’re still scoring close to one point per shot on average.

LSU got its scoring from its two power forwards. Darius Days nailed three 3s and scored 24 while likely SEC Sixth Man of the Year Tari Eason came off the bench for 20 points and nine made free throws. He also blocked an Alabama three and drove the length of the court to take the lead late in overtime for LSU.

UNBELIEVABLE pic.twitter.com/OE5LhHEPMI

— LSU Basketball (@LSUBasketball) March 5, 2022

The Crimson Tide did not score after the Eason block and the Tigers held on to win by three at home against a barely-ranked Alabama team. Easily their best win in two months though.

Kentucky ends Florida’s bubble dreams

Plenty of coverage already exists on this very website for Kentucky’s win at Florida, so I’ll keep it brief.

Kentucky went into to a hostile Gainesville crowd, led by 8-12 virtually the entire game and cruised to victory against a team that absolutely needed another marquee home win to hush their worries about qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Florida occupied “Next Four Out” consideration per most bracketologists and a win over Kentucky surely would’ve catapulted the Gators into the projected field. While a loss likely meant the end of their at-large hopes.

So yeah, this was Florida’s Super Bowl. Rightfully so. This game basically decided their fate as an at-large. As a result, they’ll make the quick hike to Tampa knowing they likely need to cut down the nets in order to make the Big Dance.

Auburn couldn’t win there and blew a double-digit second-half lead a few weeks ago. Kentucky kept their foot on the gas and rode future National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe to a win. Very impressive stuff from the ‘Cats.

Auburn takes the SEC regular season crown

Confetti rained down as the Auburn Tigers won just their fifth SEC regular season title in school history by holding off South Carolina at home.

Confetti rains down on the SEC champions 🏆 @AuburnMBB pic.twitter.com/TMvBFvSmqt

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 5, 2022

Some of our fans made fun of Auburn for celebrating a regular season title, but I don’t mind it at all. They won the SEC for the fifth time ever! They oughta celebrate it. Imagine if Kentucky Football won the SEC East — not even the whole conference, just the East. I’d hope we storm the field and make confetti snow angels.

Credit Bruce Pearl and the Tigers for matching Kentucky in regular season titles over the last five years. Hopefully, Pearl and Cal meet for a neutral court rematch in Tampa.

Texas A&M on a roll

Been a year of runs for the Aggies. In Buzz Williams’ third season, Texas A&M started off 15-2 with serious NCAA Tournament aspirations. Then a loss to Kentucky kicked off an eight-game losing streak in conference play. Yesterday, A&M won its fourth in a row at home over Mississippi State and are winners in five of their last six.

That eight-game implosion puts them well out of consideration for the tourney but it’s some nice momentum heading into a crucial year four of the Williams era.

As for “Hail” State, the Bulldogs have now lost seven of their last 10 games. But here’s the kicker: none came by a deficit bigger than 10 (excluding an overtime loss to Auburn). In fact, Mississippi State finished 8-10 in conference play and zero of the 10 losses came by more than 10 points in regulation. The players were good enough, the opportunity was there for Ben Howland’s group. Iverson Molinar is one of the best palyers in the league. State just couldn’t get it done in close games.

Lost to Auburn and Kentucky in overtime, to LSU by four and Alabama by five. Win two or three of those and avoid dropping some bad close losses and this team would have gone dancing. With the talent to pull a few upsets too. Quite a shame.

Bottom-feeder Brawls

Vanderbilt overcame Ole Miss on the road as Kermit Davis and the Rebels continued their spiral. Ole Miss has fallen in eight of their last nine games with a lone victory over last-place Georgia. Meanwhile, the ‘Dores snapped a three-game losing streak with the 63-61 win and also secured their first road victory since mid-January.

Finally, Missouri and Georgia met in Columbia with a combined record of 17-45 this season. A brawl between bottom-feeders if I’ve ever seen one. Missouri deleted Georgia by 10 in a game that likely marked the end of SEC coaching careers between Cuonzo Martin and Tom Crean.

On to more fun topics.

SEC Tournament Bracket

Per the SEC, here is your conference tournament Bracket:

Auburn, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas occupy the double-byes after performing as the clear best four teams throughout the season. Should be a lot of fun next weekend in Tampa, especially for those who make the trip.

All-SEC Teams

While I’m at it, might as well compile my own All-SEC ballot for the loyal readers of these Saturday recaps. None of this nonsense where conferences name eight or nine guys to each team. I’m going straight-up the best five players available for each of the All-SEC teams. Check them out along with awards like Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, etc.

ALL-SEC FIRST-TEAM

• Guard: J.D. Notae | Arkansas
• Guard: Iverson Molinar | Mississippi State
• Forward: Jabari Smith | Auburn
• Forward: Tari Eason | LSU
• Center: Oscar Tshiebwe | Kentucky

SECOND-TEAM

• Guard: Wendell Green Jr. | Auburn
• Guard: Scotty Pippen Jr. | Vanderbilt
• Guard: Jaden Shackelford | Alabama
• Forward: Jaylin Williams | Arkansas
• Center: Walker Kessler | Auburn

AWARDS

Player of the Year: Oscar Tshiebwe | Kentucky

Coach of the Year: Bruce Pearl | Auburn

Freshman of the Year: Jabari Smith | Auburn

Defensive Player of the Year: Walker Kessler | Auburn