SEC report

SEC not damaged by Big 12

Iowa State's Georges Niang (31) tries to backdown Texas A&M's Jalen Jones (12) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in College Station, Texas. Texas A&M won 72-62. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)

FAYETTEVILLE -- The SEC took it on the chin in its "Challenge" series against the Big 12, finishing with a 3-7 record.

The Oklahoma-based teams from the Big 12 made the difference, notching the only two road victories on Saturday with No. 1 Oklahoma's 77-75 triumph at LSU and Oklahoma State's 74-63 road win at Auburn.

The SEC's victories went to Arkansas in its 75-68 overtime victory against Texas Tech, No. 5 Texas A&M with a 72-62 decision over Iowa State, and Florida, which thumped No. 9 West Virginia 88-71.

The SEC could have made a statement just by splitting the series, but No. 20 Kentucky lost a chance to win in regulation at No. 4 Kansas and fell 90-84 in overtime, and LSU dropped a nail biter that was decided in the closing seconds against the Sooners.

LSU Coach Johnny Jones said a "phenomenal crowd" of 13,882 packed the Maravich Assembly Center and the Tigers' standing for the NCAA Tournament didn't take a hit.

"I don't think at the end of the day it was anything that hurt us," Jones said.

Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl one of the SEC's most outspoken promoters, called the timing of the challenge, in the midst of conference play and on the weekend between the NFL's championship games and Super Bowl a "grand slam."

Pearl cited the performances by Florida in victory and LSU and Kentucky in defeat, as positive signs for the conference.

"In spite of the record, I think the conference may have helped itself and certainly didn't hurt itself," Pearl said.

In and out

ESPN's bracketology includes four SEC teams, headlined by a projected No. 2 seed for Texas A&M. ESPN also projected SEC teams with the following seeds: No. 5 Kentucky, No. 8 Florida and No. 10 LSU.

The CBSSports.com projection has No. 2 Texas A&M, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 7 South Carolina and No. 10 Florida.

Both sites project UALR as a No. 12 seed facing Dayton in the first round.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com lists LSU as one of the last four byes and Vanderbilt as one of his first four teams out of the tournament along with Butler, Florida State and George Washington.

Top players

Arkansas center Moses Kingsley and Florida guard KeVaughn Allen picked up SEC player of the week and freshman of the week honors on Monday as announced by the league office.

Kingsley, a 6-10, 230-pound junior from Abuja, Nigeria, averaged 17.5 points and 11 rebounds in victories over Texas A&M and Texas Tech last week.

"Each week it just seems like he's grasping more and more of what we want from him, and so it needs to be on display," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "Our guys are finally figuring out, let's go through Moses and good things take place."

Florida's Allen, the North Little Rock graduate, averaged 17.5 points. 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals in games against Vanderbilt and West Virginia.

Pressing matter

Florida got a preview of what it will see on Wednesday from Arkansas when it excelled against No. 9 West Virginia's full-court pressure in an 88-71 victory on Saturday in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

"West Virginia is a team that presses and gets up and down the floor, so I'm sure it gave them preparation for our team coming in," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said.

"I just think Florida's going to be who they are whether they play West Virginia, Arkansas or Princeton. ... I think obviously it prepares them for us because we like to get up and down the floor as well."

No call

LSU guard Tim Quarterman had a chance for a tying basket at the final horn in the Tigers' 77-75 loss to No. 1 Oklahoma after the Sooners had taken the lead on Isaiah Cousins' 13-foot pull-up jumper over Jalyn Patterson with 3.2 seconds remaining.

"I went to the hole pretty hard and got hit, but they didn't call the foul," Quarterman said. "I tried to get the ball as fast as I could to the other end of the court. I made it to the other end and tried to make a tough layup. There was definitely contact but there was no foul."

Back in

South Carolina returned to the Associated Press top 25 poll after a week's absence. The Gamecocks (19-2) beat Mississippi State 84-74 and Alabama 78-64 at Colonial Life Center last week

South Carolina has been in the top 25 of the USA Today coaches poll since Dec. 14. The Gamecocks have been as high as No. 19 in the AP poll, but fell out of it on Jan. 26 after a 78-69 loss at Tennessee.

No 'Schmo'

Kentucky Coach John Calipari said there are few fellow coaches whose advice he's sought more than that of Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes, whose team hosts the Wildcats tonight at 6. The two have known each other for more than three decades.

"Rick's not one of those guys that tries to be the only guy that can coach," Calipari said. "He knows other guys can coach too, but he has pride in his own self as a coach. But he doesn't say 'Well, I want to be the only guy who's known to coach and everybody else is a schmo.' He's about his players and he's a guy I called on many times as my team has struggled and I've struggled. I'm telling you he's one of the best in our business."

Hog headache

Georgia guard J.J. Frazier, who suffers occasional migraine headaches, toughed out a bout with one before and during the Bulldogs' 76-73 overtime victory against Arkansas on Jan. 23.

Frazier excelled through the pain, scoring a game-high 26 points and hitting a pair of free throws late in overtime.

"He has a prescribed medication he takes when those occur," Georgia Coach Mark Fox said. "I'd say he probably gets three or four a year. This one came on during warm-ups for the game and he didn't have medication on hand."

Foreign influence

Twelve of the SEC's 14 men's basketball teams include players who were born in countries other than the United States.

South Carolina leads the way with five foreign-born athletes, with key players imported from Venezuela (Michael Carrera), Lithuania (Laimonas Chatkevicius and Mindaugas Kacinas), Canada (Duane Notice) and Gabon (Chris Silva).

Kentucky is second with 4. Arkansas, with Moses Kingsley (Nigeria) and Willy Kouassi (Ivory Coast), is one of five SEC teams with two international players.

Sixteen countries are represented, providing 28 foreign-born players on the season-opening rosters of SEC teams.

Auburn and Missouri are the only schools who do not have a foreign-born player on their roster.

Bowers back

Auburn forward Cinmeon Bowers is expected to return from suspension for tonight's 6 p.m. game against LSU at Auburn Arena.

Coach Bruce Pearl sat Bowers for part of the Tigers' 80-63 loss at Ole Miss last Wednesday and all of their 74-63 home loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday, citing "attitude" as the key reason for his benching.

Bowers, the active SEC leader in double-doubles with 22, is averaging 10.7 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Sports on 02/02/2016