SEC basketball report

Coaches: League on the way up

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl helps the referees with a foul call against South Carolina during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015 in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Opelika-Auburn News, Todd J. Van Emst)

FAYETTEVILLE -- SEC coaches point to the seven conference teams in the top 50 of the RPI rankings to show the league has made a big move this season and should be in position to land more teams in the NCAA Tournament.

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM

RK;RPI;TEAM (RECORDS);COMMENT

1 (1);1;Kentucky (17-0, 4-0);Massive plus-9.8 rebound margin per game

2 (7);70;Florida (10-7, 3-1);24-game SEC streak snapped at Georgia

3 (9);52;Tennessee (11-5, 3-1);Two SEC road victories already for Tyndall

4 (5);27;Georgia (11-5, 2-2);Bounced back from 0-2 league start

5 (8);47;Ole Miss (11-6, 2-2);Phenomenal first half at Walton Arena

6 (2);31;Arkansas (13-4, 2-2);SEC opponents shooting league-best 51.2

7 (3);33;Alabama (12-5, 2-2);Played Hogs tough twice last season

8 (10);39;Texas A&M (11-5, 2-2);House and Jones have added punch

9 (7);48;LSU (13-4, 2-2);2 road games after damaging home loss to A&M

10 (6);75;Vanderbilt (11-6, 1-3);In the midst of 4 of 5 on the road

11 (11);115;Auburn (10-7, 2-2);Auburn Arena gaining atmosphere under Pearl

12 (13);107;South Carolina (10-6, 1-3);Not capitalizing on victory over Iowa State

13 (12);149;Missouri (7-10, 1-3);Roster inexperience starting to set in

14 (14);218;Miss. State (8-9, 1-3);16-game SEC losing streak snapped

The Ratings Percentage Index is a scale used by the NCAA Selection Committee to rank Division I basketball teams by their performance in light of strength of schedule. Low RPI ranking numbers denote strong teams; and high numbers, weaker ones.

Game of the week

LSU at Florida, 6 p.m., ESPN

The Gators had their 24-game winning streak against SEC teams snapped on Saturday by Georgia. LSU was upset at home by Texas A&M in its previous game. Both teams seem headed for the NCAA Tournament bubble.

By the numbers

1 Field goal for Alabama in the final 9:30 of its 70-48 home loss to Kentucky

4 Longest SEC winning streak, held by Kentucky, after Florida’s loss at Georgia on Saturday

4 Road victories Saturday, including upsets by Texas A&M (at LSU) and Ole Miss (at Arkansas)

7 Teams with 2-2 league records

16 Length of Mississippi State’s regular season SEC losing streak before Saturday’s 57-54 victory over Vanderbilt

Quotebook

“If you allow your mojo to be defined in what happens in one game, particularly against Kentucky, then you’re kind of missing the boat. … They’re different than any other team you play.”

— Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings

“All the teams are good. That mean’s everyone’s [RPI] number is going to be good. That means when you get beat it doesn’t discredit your team. I’m excited for the league, though I’m not excited every day when I’m watching film.”

— South Carolina Coach Frank Martin

"It's the best I've seen, there's no question," Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said. "I came to that realization in January. ... With the exception of Kentucky, teams 2 through 14, you have to play well to beat anybody in this league.

"The bottom of this league and the middle are the best I've seen since I've been in the SEC and covering the SEC in 10 years."

Andy Kennedy, who is in his ninth season as coach at Ole Miss, echoed those thoughts.

"Once we got into league play, we're all seeing the [RPI] numbers that we hoped, with 11 in the top 100 and seven in the top 50," Kennedy said. "You have a lot of opportunity to elevate your profile in this league."

Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings, a 16-year SEC veteran, said the league's improved strength also presents a problem.

"Honestly, I'm a little bit concerned that we're all going to beat each other," Stallings said.

Streak snapped

Florida's 73-61 loss at Georgia on Saturday snapped the Gators' 24-game winning streak against SEC competition. The Gators had not lost to a conference opponent since falling 66-63 to Ole Miss in the championship game of the 2013 SEC Tournament.

"They outplayed us in every facet," Florida Coach Billy Donovan said of the Bulldogs. "For me, this game is a microcosm of our team. "What I mean by that is this is a great example of what I watch in practice."

Donovan said consistency is Florida's biggest issue and that making strides with his young roster is a work in progress.

"There's nothing consistent in what we do right now," he said.

Rebel rise

Arkansas, which lost to Ole Miss 96-82 at Fayetteville on Saturday, appeared to catch the Rebels at a time when they are on the rise, gaining strength from a healthy point guard Jarvis Summers and the veteran team gaining comfort in their roles.

"I'm very, very impressed with their team and really think their team is under appreciated from a national media perspective," said Georgia Coach Mark Fox, whose team hosts Ole Miss tonight. "This is a team that has won a lot of games over the last five years."

Ole Miss Coach Andy Kennedy's team shot 74.1 percent in the first half and 56.4 percent overall against the Razorbacks, and the Rebels' bench outscored Arkansas' 33-15.

Kennedy, who is 5-3 at Walton Arena, praised the atmosphere created by the sellout crowd of 19,200.

"I want to tell you, to me, it's a pleasure to coach in this environment," Kennedy said. "Great fans. Energy in the building. Loud. ... I'm a basketball fan and I enjoy the tradition of this place and the passion of the fan base is second only to Kentucky.

"It's the best venue, not only in the SEC, but throughout the Southeast and to me it's always exciting to play here."

The victory was Ole Miss' first on the road against a ranked opponent under Kennedy and the program's first since the 2002-2003 season.

"You come into this building and win by 14, it shows the potential of this team," Kennedy said.

Vol chemistry

Tennessee Coach Donnie Tyndall said having unselfish and coachable players is the biggest reason why his team is off to a 3-1 start in SEC play, including road victories at Mississippi State and Missouri.

"We have a great group of guys," Tyndall said. "We have a very coachable group of young men. We don't have guys that resist coaching or have bad body language or want to talk back and have a chemistry problem."

Vexed at Vandy

Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings sounded an alarm for his team, which is in the midst of playing four of five games on the road, during Monday's SEC coaches teleconference.

"We just have to figure out how to make ourselves better and climb out of this valley we're in," Stallings said. "Every week is a tough week in this league, and this one's about as tough as any we could have."

The Commodores, who lost at home to Georgia and on the road at Mississippi State last week, face Kentucky at Rupp Arena tonight before hosting LSU on Saturday.

Stallings said he won't let his team be defined by how they fare against Kentucky.

"Their defense is truly amazing," Stallings said. "Hopefully it doesn't happen to where our confidence gets dinged any more than what it is."

Quick trigger

LSU Coach Johnny Jones lamented his team's quick -- and errant -- shooting from three-point range in the second half that helped feed Texas A&M's comeback from a 13-point deficit to a 67-64 victory Saturday at the Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.

"In hindsight, we certainly should have done what got us the lead, which was getting some inside touches and working from the inside out," Jones said. "We didn't do a good job of protecting the lead or grinding it when we had an opportunity to."

The Aggies held LSU to two points in the final 4:26 and never led until Danuel House's jumper with 22 seconds remaining.

Top play

Ole Miss guard Stefan Moody's alley-oop dunk on a feed from Martavious Newby in the first half at Arkansas was the No. 7 play on ESPN's SportsCenter on Saturday. The 5-10 Moody was well above the rim as he caught and flushed the pass.

Ex-Patriot excels

Former Little Rock Parkview standout I.J. Ready scored five of his team-high 11 points in the final 1:12 to help Mississippi State rally past Vanderbilt 57-54 on Saturday, breaking the Bulldogs' streak of consecutive losses in SEC regular season games at 16.

Ready's three-pointer from the left wing with 1:12 remaining broke a 52-52 tie, and the sophomore guard added two free throws to help seal the victory.

Worth noting

• Kentucky freshman Devin Booker has made 20 of 28 three-pointers (71.4 percent) over the past seven games.

• Georgia notched its 100th victory against Florida on Saturday, its wire-to-wire 73-61 victory dropping Florida's edge in the series to 109-100.

• Texas A&M's 67-64 victory at LSU on Saturday dropped the Tigers to 9-1 at home and marked the Aggies' first victory in Baton Rouge since Dec. 14, 1941, snapping a nine-game home winning streak in the series for the Tigers.

• Alabama's sellout crowd at Coleman Coliseum for Saturday's 70-48 loss to No. 1 Kentucky was the Crimson Tide's first since a sellout against the Wildcats two years ago.

• The next blocked shot for Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein will be the 200th of his career.

Sports on 01/20/2015