Feast Week is in the books and there’s plenty of good and not-so-good happening throughout the SEC. Here’s the good: The league boasts two undefeated teams and four teams with just a single loss. On the flip side, there are two teams siting at .500 and two others already under .500. Here are the nuts and bolts of the previous week in SEC basketball.

The Aggies didn’t win the Battle 4 Atlantis, but they impressed nonetheless. (AP)

• Team of the Week. Texas A&M didn’t win the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, but the Aggies nonetheless made a statement. They started with an emotional win over intrastate rival Texas in the opener, and while the Longhorns are in a transition year, that win may improve as the year wears on. A&M then knocked off top 10 team Gonzaga in its second game, notching a win that will pay dividends the rest of the year. The experience that young players such as Tyler Davis and Tonny Trocha-Morelos got against the Bulldogs’ elite frontcourt should be a good primer for future games against Kentucky. And while the team ran out of gas against Syracuse in the championship game, what stood out most might have been the Aggies’ depth. Over the three-game tournament, Davis, Morelos, Jalen Jones, Danuel House and Anthony Collins all played starring roles at various times. The team has been extremely balanced in both contributions and results, ranking among KenPom’s top 30 in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency — a combination that can be useful in predicting March success.

• Player of the Week. We’ll cop out and split this week’s award between two high-scoring guards who are heavily relied upon by their respective teams: Ole Miss’ Stefan Moody and Tennessee’s Kevin Punter. Moody scored 21 points in wins over Bradley and Georgia State as the Rebels’ only consistent offensive threat from the perimeter. He has also doubled his assist output as Ole Miss waits for Sam Finley, J.T. Escobar or someone else to emerge as a reliable point guard. Tennessee lost two games last week but it wasn’t because of Punter. The senior scored 23 points against Nebraska, 24 points against a good George Washington team, and 26 points in a win over Army. At this point, Punter looks like a strong contender to become the SEC’s scoring leader.
• Had a Rough Week. Missouri was feeling fine after two opening weekend wins and a solid effort in a loss at Xavier, but the good vibes vanished during an ugly loss to Kansas State in the CBE Classic. The Tigers looked sluggish on both ends of the floor, scoring just 0.65 points per possession and failing to really compete against an old Big 12 rival. It was more of the same the following night as Missouri fell into a dark early 31-11 hole to Northwestern. The Tigers drew within three points in the final minute and got an excellent performance from freshman guard Terrence Phillips, but an 0-2 trip where the team barely scored 100 points over two games is cause for concern. Talent and development issues are expected for a rebuilding program, but there is no excuse for the kind of lethargic effort Missouri exhibited for a substantial portion of the CBE Classic. Consistent effort will be something to watch for during Kim Anderson‘s crucial second season.
• Video of the Week. Jamal Murray seems to get a bit overshadowed because he reclassified into this year’s freshman class and plays alongside Skal Labissiere. His 12 points in the pre-Thanksgiving win over Boston University didn’t particularly jump out of the box score, but it highlighted the all-around game that will make him a high draft pick as soon as next year.

1. Kentucky (6-0). The Wildcats kept humming along with blowout wins over Boston University and South Florida. Not only has Skal Labissiere dazzled with an array of ways to score in the post, he’s also doing so efficiently with a 61.8% eFG rate. The best news for Kentucky? Tyler Ulis‘ elbow injury doesn’t look too serious, which prevents Isaiah Briscoe from being rushed into a bigger role.
2. Texas A&M (6-1). The Aggies’ win over another loaded Gonzaga team caught our attention despite the subsequent loss to Syracuse. Also of note is the length Billy Kennedy can throw into a zone when Danuel House and Alex Caruso are the guards up top.
3. Vanderbilt (5-1). There’s certainly no shame in losing to a Kansas team that looks like the perfect mix of experience and elite talent. However, it would have been nice to see someone other than Damian Jones create some offense when the three-pointers (6-of-27) didn’t fall against the Jayhawks.
4. South Carolina (6-0). The Gamecocks have a real chance to run the table in their non-conference slate. Their only remaining challenges are against Memphis at home and versus Clemson at a neutral site. But maybe we need to pump the brakes on Frank Martin‘s squad since their only true quality win has come against Tulsa.
5. Florida (5-1). The schedule ramps up for the Gators in the next few weeks with consecutive games against Richmond, Miami (FL), Michigan State and Oklahoma State. One thing to watch is how Florida’s athletically-inclined front line fares on the boards against better competition. The Gators were outrebounded in their only loss to Purdue, but that was to be expected.
6. LSU (3-2). Uh-oh, here come the Johnny Jones rumblings. The Tigers lost two close games in Brooklyn over the holiday weekend, including a win that slipped away against NC State. LSU may already be too reliant on Ben Simmons to make its offense sing — the Tigers struggled to score in overtime against the Wolfpack after he had fouled out. Still, Simmons’ full range of skills was on display in controlling the game despite not scoring his first field goal until late in the second half.
7. Auburn (3-1). Tahj Shamsid-Deen reinjured his shoulder in the Tigers’ recent win over Northwestern State. This is the same injury that hampered him last season, and is a sad development for a guy many pegged to have a breakout year. It also deprives Bruce Pearl of the chance to pair Shamsid-Deen with Kareem Canty, another playmaker who is off to a great start on the Plains.
8. Ole Miss (5-2). The Rebels have struggled against semi-decent competition thus far, which makes an upcoming game on the road against UMass one to watch. On the plus side, Sebastian Saiz has been great down low and Tomasz Gielo looks like he’s found his three-point shot.
9. Tennessee (4-3). Two of the Vols’ three losses have been close. Freshman Admiral Schofield had a nice game in Tennessee’s defeat to Nebraska (12 points in 17 minutes), which is a good sign considering that the bulk of the team’s production has come from its upperclassmen. If Rick Barnes is going to build another successful program in Knoxville, he’ll had need to lay the foundation with his young players.
10. Alabama (3-2). I’m hesitant to shoot the Tide too far up this list after beating a struggling Wichita State team without the services of its point guard, Fred VanVleet, but its two losses have been in blowouts to good teams (Dayton and Xavier). Alabama hasn’t played as fast as we expected, but that could be because of limitations in its backcourt.
11. Georgia (2-2). The Bulldogs have quickly tumbled down this list. An uninspiring win over High Point and subsequent loss to Seton Hall don’t do much to generate confidence. Georgia is struggling to score and cannot afford off nights from J.J. Frazier and Charles Mann, both of whom gave Mark Fox just that in the past week. That’s unfair pressure on just two players, but the Bulldogs are a thin team at this point.
12. Mississippi State (3-3). Wins over Missouri State and UT-Martin don’t do much to move the needle. The problem with the Bulldogs’ rough start is that, outside of a mid-December game against Florida State, there isn’t any room in the non-conference schedule to atone for it. On the positive side, Gavin Ware (20.2 PPG, 7.3 RPG) is already off to an all-SEC start.
13. Arkansas (2-3). Losses to Georgia Tech and Stanford in Brooklyn seem to confirm that this will be a long season in Fayetteville. Mike Anderson should have built up enough slack with last year’s excellent season, but we’ll see how patient Hogs fans actually are.
14. Missouri (2-3). A disappointing trip to Kansas City for the CBE Classic means that the Tigers are now riding a three-game losing streak. On the bright side, Phillips and Kevin Puryear have looked like long-term pieces.

Greg Mitchell (@gregpmitchell) (231 Posts)

This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2015 at 9:31 am by Greg Mitchell and is filed under microsites, sec. Tagged: alabama, arkansas, auburn, feature, florida, georgia, jamal murray, kentucky, kevin punter, lsu, mississippi state, missouri, ole miss, sec, Stefan Moody, tennessee, texas a&m, vanderbilt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.