SEC Week That Was: Volume VIII
Posted by Greg Mitchell on February 24th, 2015For the next four weeks or so, we’ll run down a few weekly superlatives from league play, take a look at how conference teams look in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament selection committee, and anything else that merits discussion. Here is Volume VIII, including games from February 16-23.
Team of the Week. At long last, we relent. When a program with the history that Kentucky has checks off its best start ever (27-0), the award practically gives itself. The Wildcats weathered a poor shooting night and game effort from Tennessee last week to still beat the Vols by 18 on the road, and then didn’t let up against Auburn over the weekend. Kentucky ran out to a 30-4 lead and battered the much smaller-Tigers throughout the game right where they were supposed to with a 44-24 rebounding advantage. There are so many things this Kentucky team does well, including the small things that can help stop an upset bid in its tracks. Kentucky belies its youth by taking great care of the ball, as there isn’t a player on the roster turning the ball over more than 1.9 times per game. The Wildcats also have been fairly strong at the free throw line this season, an area which had been a problem for some of Coach Cal’s elite teams. All four guards plus Karl-Anthony Towns are shooting better than 77.8 percent from the line. In a late-game situation where a foul is coming, a lineup of Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker and Towns provides cover from a lot of angles. Ole Miss and Arkansas also deserve mention here for picking up wins at the Hump against a confident Mississippi State team.
Stefan Moody has stepped right in and replaced Marshall Henderson at Ole Miss (orlandosentinel.com).
Player of the Week. We will mimic the conference’s choice this week and give it to Stefan Moody, who starred in the Rebels’ close wins over Mississippi State (29 points, six rebounds, four steals) and Tennessee (22 points, four rebounds, six steals). The high-octane JuCo transfer comparison to Marshall Henderson is cliched but unavoidable, and this week was no different as Moody put up 23 three-point attempts over both games. He connected on 14 of them, and should continue to have the green light with that kind of success rate. The lift Moody gets on his jumper is incredible, and allows him to be lethal even when the defense knows what is coming. For example, in the second half against Mississippi State, Moody hit threes on three straight possessions, rolling off the same off-ball screen action each time. Henderson and Moody are both exceptional long-range shooting talents, but it’s probably no coincidence that both exploded with the underrated Jarvis Summers running the show next to them. Honorable mention goes to Moody’s intrastate rival Craig Sword (34 points), who seems to be rounding into form as a diverse scoring threat after being sidelined with a back injury early in the year.
Tournament Chatter. Yet again, six is the magic number for the SEC in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology. Jerry Palm agrees, and the (expected) good times roll on, for now. A lot could change in the next three weeks, but I still maintain that four bids is the worst-case scenario for the league.
- Kentucky (27-0, 14-0; beat Tennessee, beat Auburn) may have a sneaky tough game at the Hump on Wednesday night, especially if the Wildcats are looking ahead to the SEC’s marquee game of the year. The Saturday match-up with Arkansas in Rupp Arena will put the conference on a national pedestal it simply hasn’t had this year. This past week was Andrew Harrison’s turn to shine, as the sophomore scored 26 points, handed out 11 assists, grabbed five rebounds and only turned the ball over twice.
- Arkansas (22-5, 11-3; beat Missouri, beat Mississippi State) has made it official: the Hawgs’ identity now includes winning close games on the road. Four of their five SEC road wins have been by four or fewer points. It can’t be understated how important a change this has been this season. Arkansas eventually imposed its will at the Hump (23 turnovers) and is still in full-blown seed improvement mode. Splitting a big week (Texas A&M at home, Kentucky on the road) would be more than acceptable, especially if the win comes on Saturday at Rupp.
- Texas A&M (19-7, 10-4; beat LSU, beat South Carolina) has a solid overall record and nifty conference record, but the Aggies biggest problem is the lack quality wins (0-5 against the RPI top 50). Their win over LSU last week was big, because it adds to an otherwise solid profile (7-1 against the RPI 51-100). Palm has Texas A&M as one of his last four in, while Lunardi is a little higher on the Aggies as a nine seed. Regardless, Texas A&M has its best chance at a real statement win in Bud Walton Arena tonight.
- Ole Miss (19-8, 10-4; beat Mississippi State, beat Tennessee) swept the season series from Mississippi State for the first time since 1998. If those bragging rights weren’t enough to be happy about, the Rebels have won eight of their last nine games, and are that one-point loss to Arkansas away from a nine game winning streak. This has been a refreshing SEC stretch for an Andy Kennedy team, as Ole Miss appears to be kicking it in strong. A 2-2 SEC finish would put the Rebels at 12-6, which should keep them solid. As a bonus, their win at Oregon in early December looks a lot better after the Ducks got their 20th win by knocking off Utah.
- LSU (19-8, 8-6; lost to Texas A&M, beat Florida) kept just enough distance from Florida to win comfortably at home on Saturday. The Tigers, unlike Texas A&M, do have four wins against the RPI Top 50, including a road win over West Virginia that got a bump when the Mountaineers beat Kansas. But LSU is in a similarly tenuous position because they have three losses to the RPI 101-200. There is a tough week on the horizon, with a visit to an Auburn team that beat the Tigers at the PMAC and then a home visit from red-hot Ole Miss. An 0-2 week probably doesn’t kill LSU, but it’s not a scenario Johnny Jones would like to test.
- Georgia (17-9, 8-6; lost to South Carolina, beat Alabama) prevented an absolute free-fall by grinding out a one-point road win at Alabama. The damage done by the consecutive home losses to Auburn and South Carolina can’t be undone, but it didn’t appear to knock Georgia onto the wrong side of the bubble. The Bulldogs core five (J.J. Frazier, Marcus Thornton, Nemanja Djurisic, Kenny Gaines, Charles Mann) have all averaged 29 minutes or more per game this year, so Mark Fox needs his reserves to step up and alleviate the pressure. Cameron Forte’s twisting game winner against the Tide was a nice moment in that regard. Remaining games against Ole Miss and, obviously, Kentucky are big opportunities, but at a minimum the Bulldogs need to take care of business against Missouri and Auburn.
Had a Rough Week. You can excuse all of the teams that had winless weeks: Tennessee had a brutal stretch with losses to Kentucky and to Ole Miss at the Tad Pad; Auburn lost a rivalry game to Alabama and then had to bow to the altar of Calipari; and the wheels have simply fallen off Missouri (although consecutive road games are difficult for anyone). You can excuse Mississippi State’s two losses, but we’ll reluctantly hand this one to the Bulldogs. Rick Ray’s team lost two hard-fought home games to Ole Miss (six points) and Arkansas (four points), and there’s no shame in losing to two of the best the league has to offer this year. But either win would’ve been an exclamation mark on what has been a good run for the Bulldogs, and put them ever-so-close to .500 in the league (6-7). The loss to the Rebels in the basketball Egg Bowl had to be especially frustrating since the Bulldogs largely controlled the first half. Still, getting to 9-9 in conference would be a great first step for Mississippi State, and there’s every chance to do that with games remaining against Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
Looking Ahead. The picks this week go to Texas A&M at Arkansas (February 24, 9:00 PM ET, ESPN), Kentucky at Mississippi State (February 25, 7:00 PM ET, SEC Network) and Arkansas at Kentucky (February 28, 4:00 PM ET, CBS). The Aggies get their best crack at a marquee win barring a conference tournament draw against Kentucky. Alex Caruso will need help handling the ball against the Arkansas pressure. The Wildcats depth should be too much for the Bulldogs to handle, but if the Bulldogs can get off to a good start, and if they hold their own on the glass, and if Craig Sword and Fred Thomas get red-hot, they may have a chance. Admittedly, that is a lot of ifs. With Florida down, the Kentucky vs. Arkansas game becomes easily the conference’s biggest of the year. It would be much more compelling if it were in Bud Walton, but these two teams have a recent track record after Arkansas won both games in overtime last season.
