A busy pre-Christmas week engulfed the SEC and the conference came away with an impressive 20-5 record, including some marquee wins.
Kentucky nabbed a big win in Chicago, while Vanderbilt and LSU added to their resumes with wins over top-25 teams. The updated KenPom and NCAA NET rankings are included as always.
Alabama
Last week: 2-0
Overall: 8-3
The Crimson Tide followed up their win over Arizona with wins over Liberty and Penn State this week. Alabama needed all it could get in the 84-75 win over the Flames, with Donta Hall scoring 21 on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting.
Hall stayed in his zone against the Nittony Lions, recording 22 points and 11 rebounds while leading Alabama to a 73-64 win. Hall also combined for seven blocks during the wins, as well.
Arkansas
Last week: 1-1
Overall: 8-3
It was a hard week for the Razorbacks, but Arkansas did manage to pull out a win. Before that, though, Georgia Tech came into Bud Walton and handed the Hogs their second consecutive home loss 69-65.
Arkansas did bounce back against Texas State, beating the Bobcats 73-70 after initially falling behind 19-6. Mason Jones scored 21 and added four assists and four rebounds. Daniel Gafford scored 19 and grabbed 10 rebounds in the contest.
Auburn
Last week: 1-1
Overall: 10-2
Auburn fell victim to an upset against North Carolina State before responding with a win over Murray State. The Tigers struggled to get production out of the starters against the Wolfpack with the group only scoring 28 points.
Against the Racers, Austin Wiley was inserted into the lineup for the first time this season and the group dropped 77 points. All five hit double digits and Samir Doughty led with 20 points in Auburn’s 93-88 win.
Florida
Last week: 2-0
Overall: 7-4
The Gators put a couple more notches in the win column over the week with a 71-63 over Mercer and 77-56 win over Florida Gulf Coast. Florida held Mercer to 40.5 percent shooting while Noah Locke led the Gators with 18 points, including five made threes.
The Gator defense had a field day against the team formerly known as Dunk City. The Eagles were held to just 18 made field goals and turned the ball over 22 times. Locke led the way again, this time with 15 points on zero shot attempts from inside the arc.
Georgia
Last week: 2-0
Overall: 7-4
Georgia put together its third two-game win streak of the year and won its first true road game of this season this week. The Bulldogs handled Oakland at home 81-69 and then then beat Georgia Tech on the road 70-59.
Nicolas Claxton had a big week, totaling 30 points and 26 rebounds between the two games. He also had nine assists and nine blocks to complete a highly impressive stat line.
Kentucky
Last week: 1-0
Overall: 9-2
Keldon Johnson and Reid Travis combined for 41 points while Ashton Hagans played thief with eight steals as the Wildcats downed No. 9 North Carolina 80-72.
The game saw a whopping 83 possessions, but 36 ended in a turnover. Kentucky’s 12-5 offensive rebound advantage gave the Wildcats the edge.
LSU
Last week: 1-0
Overall: 9-3
The Tigers hosted No. 24 Furman at home and handed the Paladins their first loss of the year in dominant fashion. Tremont Waters scored 20 points, dished out seven assists and hauled in five boards in LSU’s 75-57 win.
LSU shot 62.8 percent from inside the arc - 50 of the Tigers’ 75 points came inside the paint - and won the rebounding battle 40-22.
Mississippi State
Last week: 2-0
Overall: 11-1
Ben Howland’s Bulldogs continued their winning ways over the week, beating Wofford 98-87 on Wednesday and Wright State 67-63 on Saturday.
Aric Holman, Lamar Peters and Quinndary Weatherspoon combined for 56 of Mississippi State’s points against Wofford. Holman grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked eight shots between the two games.
Ole Miss
Last week: 1-0
Overall: 9-2
Breein Tyree continued his scoring renaissance, this time a 24-point outing against Middle Tennessee State on 10 of 13 shooting. The Rebels cruised to a 74-56 win in Nashville and are off to their best start since 2015-16.
Missouri
Last week: 2-0
Overall: 8-3
Missouri is starting to find its rhythm, extending its win streak to five with wins over Xavier and Illinois this week. The Tigers had little trouble with either, beating the Musketeers 71-56 and the Illini 79-63.
The Tigers actually held a 62-33 lead over Xavier at one point. The Musketeers shot 38.8 percent while Illinois didn’t fare much better at 40.7.
South Carolina
Last week: 0-2
Overall: 4-7
Frank Martin’s tough start got a little bit rougher this week. The Gamecocks were drubbed at home by No. 5 Virginia 69-52 and then lost to Clemson at home 78-68.
South Carolina shot an abysmal 7 of 34 from three between the two contests. Chris Silva has been the only bright spot, scoring 29 points and grabbing 13 rebounds during the week.
Tennessee
Last week: 2-0
Overall: 10-1
Tennessee continues to roll through the non-conference schedule, this time steamrolling Samford and Wake Forest at home over the past week. Jordan Bone scored 24 points and recorded 11 assists in the Volunteers' 83-70 win over Samford.
Grant Williams had the double-double against Wake Forest, dropping 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the 83-64 win.
Texas A&M
Last week: 2-0
Overall: 6-4
The Aggies have five straight wins after starting the season 1-4. Texas A&M blew past Valparaiso 71-49 before beating Marshall 92-68. Brandon Mahan and Christian Mekowulu each had 20 points in the win over the Crusaders.
Five Texas A&M players hit double digits in scoring against Marshall. Josh Nebo scored 16, pulled in eight rebounds and blocked two shots.
Vanderbilt
Last week: 1-1
Overall: 7-3
Vanderbilt captured a ranked win by beating No. 18 Arizona State 81-65, but then fell to Kansas State 69-58 on Saturday. The shots were falling against the Sun Devils, but a lid was on the rim in Kansas City.
The Commodores shot just 15 of 47 (31.9 percent) against the Wildcats while losing the turnover battle 15-7. Yanni Wetzell averaged 10 points and seven rebounds over the week.
