This Week in Kentucky Basketball: SEC Tournament

Champ Week is officially here. Once March rolls around there are a lot of days, or weeks, that could be labeled as the best. This coming week of basketball all day long from Tuesday to Sunday is certainly in the running for the best of the best. Some teams will punch their tickets to the NCAA Tournament, others will go home, but all of it will be exciting.

For your Kentucky Basketball team, the journey doesn’t begin until Friday after earning a coveted double-bye in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. The Wildcats finished the season winning five of their last six games to earn the #3 seed. Injury concerns continue to surround the program, but they are playing some of their best basketball of the season as we begin the month of March.

Kentucky’s roller-coaster regular season finished on a high note in Fayetteville on Saturday. After losing at home on Senior Day to Vanderbilt expectations were not high going into the finale at Arkansas. Then, Cason Wallace was ruled, out leaving the ‘Cats without a point guard. Even the most optimistic among Big Blue Nation didn’t necessarily expect a win against the Razorbacks.

However, head coach John Calipari and company delivered a surprise 88-79 win in front of a hostile road environment. The victory lifted the Wildcats’ final record to 21-10 overall and 12-6 in the SEC. Considering the trials and tribulations of this season, Kentucky ended up in a pretty good spot and will be a dangerous team entering March Madness.

From here on out it is all about tournament basketball. “Survive and advance” is the manta and winning is the only thing that matters. Kentucky has been at their best when their backs have been against the wall so the win-or-go-home nature of the SEC and NCAA Tournament could be just what the Wildcats need. However, their general inconsistency also makes the win-or-go-home notion a scary one.

Regardless of how you look at it, March Madness is here and the ‘Cats are in a position to make it an exciting month. After three straight years of March sadness, for varying reasons, Big Blue Nation is clamoring for postseason success. This week will serve as phase one for quenching the fanbase’s thirst.

As we do each Monday, it’s time to take a look at the week ahead as it pertains to the basketball program. We will highlight the biggest storyline surrounding the team this week, preview the (potential) upcoming opponents, take a look at the updated SEC standings, and feature the top games to watch nationally.

Let’s dive into another edition of this week in Kentucky Basketball.

Top Kentucky Basketball Storyline: Cason Wallace’s Health

There is no reason to sugarcoat it at this point in the season. While the Wildcats were able to win on Saturday without Cason Wallace at Arkansas, entering March Madness without a point guard is essentially a death sentence. It isn’t sustainable to rely on 37 points from Antonio Reeves or for Adou Thiero and Jacob Toppin to run the point when tournament play begins. Quite simply, the chances of winning more than one game in either the SEC Tournament or NCAA Tournament without Cason Wallace are slim to none. However, the good news is that there isn’t necessarily any reason to believe he will be out for an extended period of time.

Kentucky has battled adversity throughout the season and found success when doing so. They defeated Tennessee at Thompson Boling Arena with a hobbled Wallace and no Sahvir Wheeler just days after losing at home to South Carolina. The ‘Cats won at Mississippi State with their NCAA Tournament lives at stake despite a 1-13 shooting performance from Wallace. Then, they took down Arkansas on Saturday without Wallace at all. So, this team has proven they can win without getting much from their star point guard. However, everything is tougher in the month of March. Kentucky needs all hands on deck, or as close as they can possibly get to that, throughout the rest of this season.

This Week in Kentucky Basketball: Vanderbilt or Georgia or LSU

One of the tough parts about tournament basketball is the quick turnaround times and not knowing your opponent until less than 24 hours before tipoff. However, at least in the SEC Tournament, it isn’t as big of a deal because you know all of the teams so well. Kentucky has already taken on Vanderbilt and Georgia twice while LSU would be a bit more of a wildcard having only played them once all the way back on January 3rd. We will have to wait until late Thursday evening to find out UK’s first opponent as the #6 Commodores will play the winner of #11 Georgia and #14 LSU in the final game of the evening session. That will give the coaching staff, and us here at Kentucky Sports Radio, about 22 hours to prepare.

As for Vanderbilt, they are certainly the favorite to match up with the Wildcats on Friday night. The Commodores enter the SEC Tournament having won eight of their last nine games. That stretch of success obviously includes last Wednesday’s win at Rupp Arena as well. Head coach Jerry Stackhouse has his team playing as well offensively as any team in the country.

In fact, per Bart Torvik, Vandy has produced the third-best offense in the country during this 8-1 run. Unfortunately, 7-foot center Liam Robbins will miss the rest of the season with a leg injury. The talented big man was playing at a really high level before getting hurt once again early in the game at Rupp Arena. He simply cannot catch a break health-wise.

Kentucky certainly owes Georgia some payback as well after losing an ugly game down in Athens 75-68. The ‘Cats have struggled this season guarding Terry Roberts and Kario Oquendo off of the dribble in their two matchups. As for LSU, that was a hard-fought game way back in early January but the Tigers then lost 12 more in a row after falling to Kentucky. They really struggle offensively aside from Murray State transfer KJ Williams, who has had a fantastic season. It seems unlikely the Tigers can make a run to Friday, but head coach Mike White’s group certainly is capable of knocking off Vanderbilt. That is even more true now with Robbins being out for the season. Still, the most likely scenario is a rubber match between the Wildcats and Commodores on Friday night in Nashville.

Around the Southeastern Conference

The standings are officially set and we are ready to embark on the Southeastern Conference Tournament. All 14 member schools will descend on Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena beginning Wednesday evening for 13 games culminating in Sunday’s championship contest.

Let’s take a look at the official 2023 SEC Tournament bracket.

• The Crimson Tide fell to Texas A&M on the final day of the regular season but held on to the SEC’s #1 seed. A tip of the hat to head coach Buzz Williams and the Aggies is in order as well. They finished the regular season 15-3 in the league and deserve a ton of praise for outperforming expectations. Neither team will be an easy out this week at Bridgestone Arena.
• Speaking of teams nobody wants to play right now, Kentucky continues to look dangerous. Despite missing point guard Cason Wallace the ‘Cats went into Bud Walton Arena and knocked off Arkansas. They wrapped up at 12-6 in the SEC to earn the #3 seed and a double bye to Friday.
• Missouri came out on top of a three-way tie at 11-7 to earn the fourth double-bye. DeAndre Gholston’s buzzer-beater at Tennessee ended up being the difference for the Tigers. Excellent job by head coach Dennis Gates in his first season in Columbia.
• There is certainly a case to be made for the depth of the SEC when teams such as Tennessee, Auburn, and Arkansas are the #5, #7, and #10 seeds, respectively. All three are NCAA Tournament teams that could walk out of Nashville with the title. That Auburn vs. Arkansas game could be one of the best SEC Tournament Thursday games in a long time.

Games to Watch Nationally

Champ Week is here! With bracket play running the show from here on out, it’s hard to highlight specific games. However, the power conference tournament brackets can be found below. Also, the five championship games already set for this week are listed as well. We will start to get some great daytime hoops action beginning on Tuesday. Let’s all buckle in for a great month of March!

Monday, March 6th

#16 Saint Mary’s vs. BYU @ 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN)
#9 Gonzaga vs. San Francisco @ 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN2)
Louisiana vs. South Alabama @ 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN2) – Sun Belt Championship
Furman vs. Chattanooga @ 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN) – SoCon Championship

Tuesday, March 7th

Merrimack vs. Fairleigh Dickinson @ 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN2) – NEC Championship

ACC Tournament Bracket

Big 12 Tournament Bracket

Big East Tournament Bracket

Big Ten Tournament Bracket

Pac 12 Tournament Bracket