An active week engulfed the SEC as we are just about set to put a bow on the January slate. The Big 12/SEC Challenge, key upsets and top performances highlight our new and improved conference roundup. Updated conference standings and rankings can be found at the bottom.

Top 25 Conference Matchups

No. 8 Kentucky 76

No. 22 Mississippi St 55

In the first of two top-25 matchups in the SEC this past week, Kentucky cruised past the Bulldogs behind a stout defensive effort. Mississippi State shot just 19 of 61 (31.1 percent) and hit only three of its 20 three-pointers.

Kentucky’s PJ Washington scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Tyler Herro added 18 points. The two leading scorers combined for six of the Wildcats’ eight made threes.

No. 22 Mississippi St 92

No. 16 Auburn 84

The Bulldogs bounced back quickly in a score-fest in Starkville. Mississippi State shot 50.9 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from deep. Auburn was near perfect from the free throw line and shot at a higher percentage than Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs forced 19 turnovers on the night.

That led to 55 Bulldog field goal attempts to Auburn’s 49, which ended up being the difference maker. Quinndary Weatherspoon followed up a 19-point performance against Kentucky by dropping 27 points on Auburn.

Conference Upsets

South Carolina 80

No. 16 Auburn 77

It was not a good week for Auburn. Before the road loss at Mississippi State, the Tigers fell victim to upset-happy South Carolina. Frank Martin’s team entered January with a 5-8 record, yet the Gamecocks are now 5-1 in conference play and tied for second place.

Chris Silva led South Carolina with 32 points on an efficient 11 of 12 from the floor. He also hauled in 14 rebounds for double-double No. 5 on the year. Auburn’s Bryce Brown poured in 17 against the Gamecocks and 18 against the Bulldogs, remaining one of the SEC’s top-five scorers.

Alabama 74

No. 20 Ole Miss 53

Life has not treated the Rebels well after soaring into the top-25 two weeks ago. Ole Miss has lost three of its last three games, including a 21-point shellacking at Alabama. The Crimson Tide snatched 20 offensive boards and forced 16 turnovers in a game they led by 29 at one point.

John Petty scored 15 points off the bench for the Tide. Rebel guard Breein Tyree was held to nine points, while Terence Davis led with 11 points before fouling out of the game.

SEC/BIG 12 Challenge

The SEC took this challenge last year, six games to four, but it was the Big 12 winning it six to four this time around. The home team was 9-1 this year with Iowa State’s 87-73 win over Ole Miss being the only road victory.

The average margin was just 8.9 points as five of the games were separated by single digits. Texas Tech escaped with a 67-64 win over Arkansas and Baylor eased past Alabama 73-68. TCU beat Florida 55-50 in an ugly, Florida-esque game that saw the two teams shoot a combined 37 of 112 (33.0 percent) from the floor.

Oklahoma State pulled away from South Carolina 74-70, while Kentucky beat Kansas 71-63 in the event's premier game. Here are the other results from the challenge:

No. 1 Tennessee 83, West Virginia 66

Georgia 98, Texas 88

Texas A&M 65, Kansas State 53

Oklahoma 86, Vanderbilt 55

One interesting stat from this series was the free throw disparity. The SEC attempted 23 more free throws than the Big 12 (164-141) but made only nine more of those shots (110-101). That means the Big 12 shot 4.6 percentage points better than the SEC, which is big in close games.