SEC basketball race: Kentucky up two games with five to go
Auburn’s surprise 65-55 loss at Georgia on Wednesday night leaves Kentucky boasting a two-game lead in the SEC basketball standings with five regular-season games remaining.
Auburn dropped back into a second-place tie with LSU and Florida at 9-4, two games in back of first-place Kentucky. The Wildcats are 11-2 after their 79-76 win over LSU at Baton Rouge on Tuesday night. Florida moved up by virtue of its 73-59 win over Arkansas on Tuesday.
Mississippi State defeated visiting South Carolina 79-76 on Wednesday to move into a fifth-place tie with the Gamecocks. Both teams are 8-5. Tennessee and Texas A&M come next at 7-6.
Auburn shot just 31.3 percent from the floor in its loss at Athens to a Georgia team that is now just 3-10 in league play. Bruce Pearl’s Tigers made only four of 26 three-point shots while losing their second straight game. Missouri beat a visiting Auburn 85-73 last Saturday.
SEC basketball 2019-20 results and schedule in a Google Sheet
Anthony Edwards scored 18 points for Georgia, which snapped a four-game losing streak for Coach Tom Crean. Georgia had lost 82-60 at Auburn back on Jan. 11. All three of the Bulldogs’ league wins have come at home — 80-63 over Tennessee; 63-48 over Texas A&M and the 65-55 win over Auburn.
Meanwhile, Alabama’s NCAA Tournament chances took a big hit with the loss to Texas A&M. Nate Oats’ team fell to 14-12 overall and 6-7 in conference play. The visiting Aggies outscored the Tide 46-34 at Coleman Coliseum to earn their fourth SEC road win. Buzz Williams’ club is 3-4 at home and 4-2 on the road in the conference.
Outside of Kentucky, which has won five straight and nine of its last 10, the league’s hottest team right now is UK’s next opponent. Florida will arrive at Rupp Arena on Saturday having won five of its last six games. The Gators jumped to a 26-9 lead over Arkansas on Tuesday then held on despite getting just 12 minutes from Kerry Blackshear because of foul trouble. Keyontae Johnson scored 24 points for the Gators in the win.
Here are the remaining five games for the league’s top four teams:
Kentucky (11-2)
- Feb. 22 Florida
- Feb. 25 @Texas A&M
- Feb. 29 Auburn
- March 3 Tennessee
- March 7 @Florida
Auburn (9-4)
- Feb. 22 Tennessee
- Feb. 25 Ole Miss
- Feb. 29 @Kentucky
- March 4 Texas A&M
- March 7 @Tennessee
LSU (9-4)
- Feb. 22 @South Carolina
- Feb. 26 @Florida
- Feb. 29 Texas A&M
- March 4 @Arkansas
- March 7 Georgia
Florida (9-4)
- Feb. 22 @Kentucky
- Feb. 26 LSU
- Feb. 29 @Tennessee
- March 4 @Georgia
- March 7 Kentucky
Saturday’s games
- 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 20, 2020 at 8:57 AM.
