SEC basketball is here and it’s as beautiful as ever. It took all of two games for SEC Fever to make its annual return as conference play opened with a bang on Saturday.
Ten teams across five games were in action, including Arkansas’ road win over Texas A&M. You can find our recap of the Razorbacks’ game here, and we’ll hit on the other four games below...
Alabama 77
No. 13 Kentucky 75
It didn’t take long for the SEC to witness its first upset. The Crimson Tide came into this game at 9-3 with only one game played against a KenPom top-50 team, that game a 70-64 loss to UCF.
Alabama snagged its biggest win of the season at home against the Wildcats by holding Kentucky to 43.1 percent shooting from the field and 27.8 percent from the three-point line.
This contest was neck-and-neck most of the way, but with 12:45 left to play, Kira Lewis finished a layup to give Alabama a lead it would not relinquish. The Crimson Tide had an eight-point lead with one minute left and nearly blew it, but Tyler Herro's three-pointer at the buzzer didn't fall.
Tevin Mack led the Tide with 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc, while Lewis scored 12 points in a team-high 34 minutes and Donte Hall notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Kentucky’s entire starting five reached double digits, led by PJ Washington's 15 points, but its bench scored only 11 points in a combined 42 minutes.
Alabama will play at LSU on Tuesday before returning home to host Texas A&M. Kentucky will try to get back on track Tuesday when it hosts the Aggies. The Wildcats then play Vanderbilt at home on Saturday.
No. 3 Tennessee 96
Georgia 50
The Volunteers plastered Georgia at home to move to 12-1 while the Bulldogs fell to 8-5 in the 46-point loss. Tennessee played 14 players and 10 of them scored. Vols guard Jordan Bowden led all scorers with 20 points off the bench.
Tennessee shot 53.1 percent from the field compared to Georgia's 32.1 percent. Of the 20 three-pointers the Bulldogs attempted, only one dropped.
It all fell apart at about the 12-minute mark in the first half. Tyree Crump had just hit a pair of free throws to cut the Vols lead to 14-12. Tennessee then went on a 26-5 run sparked by an Admiral Schofield three.
Schofield and Grant Williams each had 18 points and combined for 14 rebounds. Derek Ogbeide was Georgia’s only double-digit scorer, dropping 17 points.
Georgia limps home to play Vanderbilt on Tuesday before another tough road test at Auburn on Saturday. Tennessee gets back-to-back road games this week, first Missouri and then Florida.
South Carolina 71
Florida 61
The Gamecocks were 5-7 and riding a four-game losing streak against Division I opponents, yet Frank Martin’s team stunned the Gainesville crowd with a dramatic upset.
Florida held the lead from 18:21 in the first half to 4:39 left to play in the second half. At one point in the second half, the Gators led by 14. South Carolina forward Chris Silva pulled the Gamecocks back into it and gave South Carolina a 67-66 lead on a layup with 3:39 remaining.
Only one field goal was made by either team the rest of the game. That bucket came with 1.5 seconds left on the clock. Keyontae Johnson had just given Florida a 66-65 lead with a free throw but a full-court heave to Silva connected and Silva finished strong to give the Gamecocks the unlikely win.
Silva scored 18 points while Hassani Gravett led South Carolina with 22. Noah Locke led Florida with 17 points on five three-pointers.
Florida may be in danger of a slow start, with road games against Arkansas and Mississippi State and a home tilt against Tennessee in between coming up. The Gamecocks play Mississippi State and Missouri at home this week.
Ole Miss 81
Vanderbilt 71
The Rebels continue their hot start, moving to 11-2 with their eighth win in a row. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt drops to 0-3 against KenPom top-50 teams.
Breein Tyree poured in a career-high 31 points for Ole Miss in a game that was much tighter than the score might suggest. Neither team held a lead greater than six points until the final five minutes of the game when the Rebels started putting the Commodores at arm’s length.
Vanderbilt won the turnover battle, but its 12 missed free throws proved costly. Simi Shittu led the Commodores with 21 points and nine rebounds.
Ole Miss has a tall task ahead if it hopes to continue the streak, as the Rebels play both Auburn and Mississippi State this week. Vanderbilt plays a couple of road games this week, one at Georgia and one at Kentucky.
