Thursday’s slate of games in the 2016 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament did not disappoint. Each game was entertaining in it’s own right, but the Tennessee upset win over Vanderbilt was by far the story of the day. Below we will take a quick look at each game and what you need to know as we head in to round 3.
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No. 9 Arkansas 61 No. 8 Florida 68
This was a 1 point game with a minute left. Dusty Hannahs’s 33 points wasn’t enough to lift Arkansas past Florida. Hannahs’s teammates could not get it done on the offensive side of the ball. Hannahs finished 12 of 23 from the field. His teammates combined to go 10 for 38 from the field. Hannahs should be fun to watch in the NIT.
On the other hand, Florida got a huge performance off the bench from Kasey Hill as he finished with a team high 18 points. UF needed his performance as Dorian Finney-Smith and KeVaughn Allen combined to go 6 for 21 from the field for 24 points. Those 2 will have to step it up if the Gators are to have any chance against the No. 1 seeded Aggies in the next round.
No. 12 Tennesse 67 No. 5 Vanderbilt 65
Vanderbilt came out flat and trailed 34-22 at the half. Despite having 2 7-footers in the starting line up, Vanderbilt was out rebounded 37-30. Maybe the two earlier whoopings they put on Tennessee made Vanderbilt think they could turn it on when needed against Tennessee. They were milliseconds away from tying it and going to overtime, but Wade Baldwin IV’s buzzer beating lay up was waived off. Vanderbilt’s tournament chances are now on life support.
What Tennessee has been able to do without their leading scorer Kevin Punter is unbelievable. They wiped the floor with Auburn, but this win over Vanderbilt says that Tennessee is hear to play. We are hearing a lot of Auburn 2015 comparisons. Now Tennessee moves on to play No.4 LSU, the same team Auburn played in their round 3 upset win last year.
No. 10 Alabama 81 No. 7 Ole Miss 73
Stefan Moody put in work and scored 39 points in 38 minutes against Alabama. It was clear from the beginning that the game plans was to shut everyone else down, and force Stefan Moody to beat them by himself. Moody did shoot 12 for 27 from the field, but his teammates shot 14 for 40. Ouch. That type of shooting caused Ole Miss to lose despite winning the rebounding battle 43 to 35. Ole Miss should now be NIT bound.
Retin Obasohan was held scoreless in the first half but the Tide still led at the half. Coach Avery Johnson seemed to light a fire under Obasohan and he came out to score 17 second half points. Getting beat on the boards is a concern to Tide fans as they now move on to take on No.2 seeded Kentucky.
No. 11 Mississippi State 69 No. 6 Georgia 79
Gavin Ware led the SEC in field goal percentage coming into the game according to ESPN’s broadcast, and Georgia held him in check. He went 1 for 7 from the field. Everyone on Mississippi State really struggled as Malik Newman, I.J. Ready, and Craig Sword combined to shoot 14 for 36 from the field. Interesting side note, Malik Newman only played 17 minutes. Is this the end of his career at Mississippi State?
Yante Maten did what Gavin Ware couldn’t do this game. Maten shot 63.6 percent from the field, scoring 20 points and collecting 8 rebounds. J.J. Frazier’s hot shooting led the team in scoring as he put up 28 points, and shot 4 for 9 from the 3-point range. Georgia can beat No.3 South Carolina in the next round, but they will have to have similar offensive performances from Maten and Frazier.
All stats and information taken from secsports.com