Kentucky basketball now alone in first place in SEC standings
After a wild weekend in the SEC — not to mention college basketball in general — Kentucky finds itself all by its lonesome atop the conference standings.
The Wildcats were able to survive a scare from the Ole Miss Rebels, rallying from a seven-point deficit with under 10 minutes to go on their home floor to outlast the Rebels 67-62. Their now former fellow first-place leaders were not so lucky.
LSU fell victim to an inspired performance from Alabama’s Herbert Jones, who despite playing with a cast on his broken left wrist, grabbed 17 rebounds and hit two key one-handed free throws to give the Crimson Tide an 88-82 victory. Jaden Shackelford scored 28 points and Kira Lewis 27 for Bama.
A bigger surprise was Auburn’s 85-73 loss at Missouri. A team that often has trouble putting the ball in the basket, the host Tigers led 45-32 at the half and shot 54.9 percent for the game. Dru Smith and Xavier Pinson each scored 28 points for Mizzou.
That trio of results left Kentucky all alone in first place on the SEC leaderboard with a 10-2 record. Auburn and LSU are now tied for second with a 9-3 mark. Right behind are Florida and South Carolina, each 8-4.
Perhaps inspired the presence of former Gators coach Billy Donovan, there for the dedication of the court at the O’Connell Center bearing his name, Florida based to a 48-19 halftime lead and crushed visiting Vanderbilt 84-66. The Gators shot 51.9 percent and made 10 of its 20 three-point shots.
South Carolina had a much closer shave. Malik Kotsar made four free throws in the final 21 seconds to hold off visiting Tennessee 63-61. John Fulkerson scored 25 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished six assists, but it wasn’t enough for the Volunteers, who dropped to 6-6 in league play.
Mississippi State improved to 7-5 with a 78-77 win at fading Arkansas, now 4-8. Abdul Ado’s tip-in with 0.6 seconds left won it. Tyson Carter came off the bench to score 26 points for the Bulldogs, who shot 58.8 percent in Fayetteville. Arkansas hasn’t been the same since losing Isaiah Joe to injury. Eric Musselman’s team has lost five of its last six.
Texas A&M improved to 6-6 while continuing Tom Crean’s second-year woes at Georgia. The Aggies rallied from a 38-29 halftime deficit to beat the Bulldogs 74-69 in College Station. Emmanuel Miller scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Buzz Williams’ club.
Looking ahead to this week, Tuesday features the Kentucky-LSU showdown in Baton Rouge. It’s a 9 p.m. start as the second game of the weekly Super Tuesday doubleheader. Since an 8-0 league start, LSU has lost three of its four games. All three losses came on the road — 99-90 at Vanderbilt; 91-90 in overtime at Auburn; 88-82 at Alabama. The Tigers get UK at home.
Meanwhile, Kentucky has won eight of its last night, the lone loss coming at Auburn, 75-66, on Feb. 1. And John Calipari’s team has held its last six opponents to 40 percent or below shooting from the floor. UK has a shot of cracking the AP Top 10 on Monday, given that No. 5 Louisville, No. 10 Seton Hall and No. 11 Auburn all lost on Saturday. Louisville lost two games last week.
Here’s the SEC schedule this week:
Tuesday, Feb. 18
- 6:30 - Vanderbilt at Tennessee (SEC)
- 7:00 - Arkansas at Florida (ESPNU)
- 8:30 - Ole Miss at Missouri (SEC)
- 9:00 - Kentucky at LSU (ESPN)
Wednesday, Feb. 19
- 7:00 - Auburn at Georgia (ESPN2)
- 7:00 - Texas A&M at Alabama (SEC)
- 9:00 - South Carolina at Mississippi State (SEC)
Saturday, Feb. 22
- 12:00 - Tennessee at Auburn (CBS)
- 1:00 - Missouri at Arkansas (SEC)
- 3:30 - Mississippi State at Texas A&M (SEC)
- 6:00 - Florida at Kentucky (ESPN)
- 6:00 - Georgia at Vanderbilt (SEC)
- 8:00 - LSU at South Carolina (ESPN2/ESPNU)
- 8:00 - Alabama at Ole Miss (SEC)
This story was originally published February 16, 2020 at 8:45 AM.
