SEC Watch: Two Cats among SEC leaders, the double-bye chase, and Mizzou almost won a game

Only three weeks remain in college basketball’s regular season, meaning Kentucky has only six games to make up ground on the rest of the Southeastern Conference. Currently, the Wildcats are two games back from the league leader, Alabama. Tennessee enters the new week in second place with three losses, followed by four teams with four conference losses, including Kentucky.

Double-bye is still on the table

As KSR noted after the Wildcats’ win at Auburn, the victory on the Plains had significant implications on Kentucky’s place in the SEC Tournament seeding. By beating the Tigers in their only meeting this season, Kentucky played its way back into the conversation for a double-bye in Nashville, whereas a loss likely would’ve secured the Cats’ place in a Thursday game. Kentucky also holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against Auburn, a team that has fallen from a tie for first to a crowded pack of four-loss teams fighting to stay in contention.

KenPom projects a fourth-place finish for UK:

1. Alabama (14-4)
2. Tennessee (13-5)
3. Auburn (13-5)
4. Kentucky (12-6)
5. Florida (12-6)
6. South Carolina (11-7)
7. Ole Miss (9-9)
8. Texas A&M (9-9)
9. Mississippi State (9-9)
10. LSU (8-10)
11. Georgia (6-12)
12. Arkansas (5-13)
13. Vanderbilt (3-15)
14. Missouri (1-17)

South Carolina is going the wrong way

A week ago, South Carolina was in contention to win the league, holding a share of first place in the standings with Alabama. The Gamecocks dropped the next two games, most recently a home game against LSU over the weekend, and now sit among that crowd with four losses.

Against LSU, the Gamecocks had a late lead until LSU’s Jordan Wright tied the game at 60 with a driving layup/and-1 finish. Wright hit two free throws with five seconds left to take the lead and win the tough road game.

Count. The. Basket.

📺 SEC Network | @JoWright32_ pic.twitter.com/IHrMuUrOhS

— LSU Basketball (@LSUBasketball) February 17, 2024

LSU’s win helped your Kentucky Wildcats gain a half-game on South Carolina. Still, Kentucky needs the Gamecocks to lose another due to UK’s head-to-head loss in Columbia.

Mizzou almost won a game

Down at the bottom of the standings, Missouri is still winless, but the Tigers almost earned their first win in one of the toughest venues in the conference. Playing at Ole Miss on Saturday, Mizzou never led in the second half but kept it close the entire time, getting within one late in regulation. Still, the Rebels were too much at home, winning 79-76. Matthew Murrell made six 3-pointers to lead all scorers with 26 points in the Ole Miss backcourt. Louisville native Sean East II had 25 in the losing effort.

Alabama scored 100 again

Later this week, Kentucky will host Alabama in Lexington in a meeting of the league’s two highest-scoring teams. On Saturday, Alabama scored 100 points against Buzz Williams’ Texas A&M defense, marking the eighth time this season that the Crimson Tide scored a hundred. Only the 1995-96 Wildcats had more 100-point games than Alabama has right now. Saturday in Rupp Arena should be fun.

Alabama has scored 100+ points EIGHT times this season 🔥

Over the last 30 seasons, the only SEC team to do that more times in a season is Kentucky in 1995-96 👀 pic.twitter.com/swVT9ZjnJa

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) February 17, 2024

Antonio Reeves still third in the scoring race

Antonio Reeves scored 22 points in Kentucky’s potential season-turning road win at Auburn. Still, he can’t catch the SEC’s leading scorer, Mark Sears at Alabama, who had 23 in each of his last two games. Tennessee sensation Dalton Knecht is on Sears’ heels, too; although he scored only 14 points in Tennessee’s 35-point win over Vanderbilt.

	School	PPG
1. Mark Sears	Alabama	20.6
2. Dalton Knecht	Tennessee	20.1
3. Antonio Reeves	Kentucky	19.5
4. Wade Taylor IV	Texas A&M	19.4
5. Matthew Murrell	Ole Miss	17.1

Reed Sheppard leads the SEC in steals

Kentucky may not have the league leader in scoring, but it has the league leader in steals. Reed Sheppard currently paces the SEC with 2.6 steals per game, a half steal better than second place.

	School	Steals	SPG
1. Reed Sheppard	Kentucky	65	2.6
2. Cameron Matthews	Mississippi State	53	2.1
3. Wade Taylor IV	Texas A&M	52	2.1
4. Zakai Zeigler	Tennessee	49	2.0
5. Jordan Wright	LSU	46	1.8

More than a season-leader, Sheppard is on track to set the all-time record at Kentucky. Look out, Rondo.

	Season	Games	Steals
1. Rajon Rondo	2004-05	34	87
2. Wayne Turner	1996-97	40	79
3. Rodrick Rhodes	1993-94	33	76
4. Cliff Hawkins	2003-04	32	74
5. Kyle Macy	1978-79	31	69
…	…	…	…
12. Reed Sheppard	2023-24	25	65

SEC Scoreboard

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17

AWAY		HOME
Texas A&M	75	(15) Alabama	100
Florida	88	Georgia	82
Arkansas	67	Mississippi State	71
LSU	64	(11) South Carolina	63
(22) Kentucky	70	(13) Auburn	59
Vanderbilt	53	(8) Tennessee	88
Missouri	76	Ole Miss	79

SEC Standings

	SEC	OVERALL
Alabama	10-2	18-7
Tennessee	9-3	19-6
South Carolina	9-4	21-5
Auburn	9-4	20-6
Florida	8-4	18-7
Kentucky	8-4	18-7
Ole Miss	6-6	19-6
Mississippi State	6-6	17-8
Texas A&M	6-6	15-10
LSU	5-7	13-12
Georgia	4-8	14-11
Arkansas	3-9	12-13
Vanderbilt	2-10	7-18
Missouri	0-12	8-17

This Week’s SEC Schedule

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20

	AWAY	HOME	TV
7:00 PM ET	Arkansas	Texas A&M	ESPN
7:00 PM ET	(8) Tennessee	Missouri	SEC Network

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21

	AWAY	HOME	TV
7:00 PM ET	Florida	(15) Alabama	ESPN2
8:30 PM ET	Georgia	Vanderbilt	SEC Network
9:00 PM ET	(22) Kentucky	LSU	ESPN
9:00 PM ET	Ole Miss	Mississippi St	ESPN2

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24

	AWAY	HOME	TV
12:00 PM ET	Missouri	Arkansas	ESPN2
1:00 PM ET	Vanderbilt	Florida	SEC Network
3:30 PM ET	(11) South Carolina	Ole Miss	SEC Network
4:00 PM ET	(15) Alabama	(22) Kentucky	CBS
6:00 PM ET	(13) Auburn	Georgia	SEC Network
8:00 PM ET	Texas A&M	(8) Tennessee	ESPN
8:30 PM ET	Mississippi St	LSU	SEC Network