FAYETTEVILLE -- The SEC claimed its first victory in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday by winning five of the last six games on the day for a 6-4 margin.
The Arkansas Razorbacks gave the SEC at least a split by holding off Oklahoma State -- which was down two of its top three scorers but had two shots to take the lead in the last five seconds -- by a score of 66-65.
Kentucky, an underdog at No. 7 West Virginia, finished the deal with an 83-76 upset in Morgantown, W. Va.
The SEC notched two road victories, including No. 22 Tennessee's 68-45 rout of Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, while the Big 12 could only muster one, No. 14 Texas Tech's 70-63 triumph at South Carolina, which was coming off a road victory at then-SEC leader Florida.
The SEC narrowed its deficit in the five-year series to 29-21. The Big 12 won the first three installments by a combined total of 20-10, including a pair of 7-3 routs in 2014 and 2016.
"That's kudos to all of the coaches and the commissioner and everyone involved with basketball in the SEC," University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Mike Anderson said. "I think it was a concerted effort by everyone who participated in it.
"And each year I think it's gotten better. The first couple of years it probably wasn't to our liking, but last year it was split even and then this year we took another step. It's going to be year to year, but that says a lot about the commitment and what guys are doing with their teams."
Alabama improved to 2-0 in the series with an 80-73 victory over No. 12 Oklahoma, enhancing the Crimson Tide's NCAA Tournament resume.
The other SEC teams with winning records in the challenge are Florida (4-1) and Tennessee (3-1), while Arkansas (2-2) is the only team in either league with a .500 record.
"You look at our league," Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes said. "I don't think there's any question it was a great week for the SEC in the challenge. This league, I'll be shocked if the winner of this league doesn't have four, five or six losses. Our league is that good."
Ole Miss fell to 0-5 with an 85-72 loss at Texas. The Rebels and Mississippi State (0-1) are the only winless teams in the event.
West Virginia (1-4) and Iowa State (2-3) are the only Big 12 members with a losing record in the challenge.
Arkansas attracted the largest crowd for this year's series, with 18,057 on hand at Walton Arena. No. 5 Kansas drew 16,300 at Allen Fieldhouse for the Jayhawks' 79-68 victory over Texas A&M to finish second, followed by West Virginia (15,385), Alabama (15,383) and Iowa State (14,384).
In and out
CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm dropped his number of SEC teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament field to six after having nine in his bracket last week.
Auburn is a No. 2 seed in Palm's projection Monday, while Tennessee is a 3 seed, followed by 4 seeds Florida and Kentucky, 8 seed Arkansas and 9 seed Alabama.
Palm lists three SEC teams among his first four out: No. 37 RPI Texas A&M, No. 46 RPI Missouri and No. 53 RPI South Carolina, along with No. 43 RPI Boise State.
ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi gave the SEC one more entrant than Palm, adding Texas A&M as a No. 11 seed. His other seeding is 2 Auburn, 4 Tennessee, 5 Florida and Kentucky, 9 Arkansas and Alabama. Lunardi lists Missouri among his first four teams out, with Georgia and South Carolina among his next four teams out.
Streaking Vols
Tennessee is riding a hot streak up the NCAA Tournament bracket projections. The Volunteers have won six of their past seven games, the latest a 68-45 rout of Iowa State on the road in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Coach Rick Barnes has seen his team's defensive effort go to another level. The Vols held Iowa State to a season-low 33 percent shooting, including 23.5 percent from three-point range, and won the rebound battle 49-31. Tennessee's past two opponents, Vanderbilt (15) and Iowa State (19), could not manage 20 points in the first half.
"Our guys were locked in from the beginning defensively," Barnes said.
The Vols host LSU on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Barnes is warning his team to not take anyone for granted.
"If our guys think we can take any nights off, we won't win a lot of games," Barnes said. "It's that simple."
Tennessee notched its fifth road victory, which is more than it had all of last season. Barnes notched his 650th career victory, seventh among active Division I basketball coaches.
Top players
Arkansas guard Daryl Macon and Auburn guard Mustapha Heron shared SEC Player of the Week honors announced by the league office.
Macon averaged 23.5 points; made 14 of 27 shots, including 9 of 17 (.529) from three-point range; and was 10 of 10 at the free-throw line in Razorback victories over Georgia and Oklahoma State.
Heron averaged 17.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in victories over Missouri and LSU.
Kentucky's Kevin Knox, a 6-9 forward, was selected as SEC Freshman of the Week after averaging 26.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in victories over Mississippi State and West Virginia. Knox shot 69.6 percent in the two games, including 75 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
Calm 'Cats
West Virginia forced 11 Kentucky turnovers in the first half and raced to a 48-33 lead at the break, representing the largest halftime deficit the Wildcats had faced all year.
"Unforced turnovers in the first half killed us," Kentucky Coach John Calipari said. "I thought they were tougher than us going to balls."
West Virginia led by 17 at 54-37 early in the second half before Kentucky rallied behind better ball security, some of its best three-point shooting and the scoring of Kevin Knox, who had 19 of his career-high 34 points in the second half.
Tigers down
Missouri is down to eight scholarship players after junior guard Terrence Phillips was suspended indefinitely Friday and did not travel for the Tigers' loss at Mississippi State.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the school has opened a Title IX investigation into Phillips and that it had spoken to an alleged victim on the condition of anonymity who said her complaint against the player involves "multiple allegations of physical abuse."
"Phillips future status with the program will be determined in coordination with campus and department leadership," the Tigers said in announcing his suspension.
The Post-Dispatch reported Phillips does not have an arrest record at either the city of Columbia or the university police departments.
Phillips started 53 of 64 games his first two seasons, but his playing time has been reduced drastically this year. He is averaging 2.5 points and 1.8 assists in 10.6 minutes per game.
Three remain
Kentucky's 66-64 home loss to Florida on Jan. 20 and Florida's 77-72 loss to South Carolina on Wednesday left only three teams unbeaten in the SEC at home: Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss.
Alabama will take a 4-0 SEC record at Coleman Coliseum into Wednesday's 8 p.m. game against Missouri. Auburn improved to 4-0 in the SEC at Auburn Arena after Saturday's 95-70 trouncing of LSU. The Tigers are 10-0 at home as the only unbeaten home team in the conference. Ole Miss, 4-0 at The Pavilion, is the only SEC school to be 0-4 on the road and 4-0 at home in league play.
Up and down
South Carolina played four consecutive games against ranked teams the past two weeks and went 2-2, with big victories over Kentucky and Florida.
In their road upset at Florida, the Gamecocks connected on 11 of 21 (52.4 percent) three-point shots, including 5 of 7 by Wesley Myers.
The Gamecocks then turned around and made 5 of 26 (19.2 percent) three-pointers in their 70-63 loss to Texas Tech.
South Carolina Coach Frank Martin lamented his team's recent offensive lapses.
"When the guys off the ball stand, it allows the defense to stand," he said. "Any time the defense stands, with the teams we're playing against, the defense wins."
(SEC Report, for 1.30)
FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
RANK;LAST WEEK;RPI;TEAM (RECORDS);COMMENT
1;2;6;Auburn (19-2, 7-1);May be part of Big 12/SEC Challenge next year
2;1;36;Florida (15-6, 6-2);Stayed in AP poll at No. 23 after loss to S. Carolina
3;3;13;Tennessee (15-5, 5-3);Hottest SEC team with 5 wins in past 6 games
4;4;12;Kentucky (16-5, 5-3);Home vs. Vandy, at Missouri this week
5;5;29;Alabama (14-7, 5-3);SEC-best 6.3 blocked shots per game
6;6;21;Arkansas (15-6, 4-4);RPI jumped 11 places with 2-0 week
7;9;53;South Carolina (13-8, 4-4);Went 2-2 vs. ranked teams past 2 weeks
8;8;83;Ole Miss (11-10, 4-4);Only SEC club to go 4-0 at home, 0-4 on road
9;7;46;Missouri (13-8, 3-5);Lost each of past 3 games by 11-plus points
10;10;81;LSU (12-8, 3-5);Hosts Arkansas after road date at Tennessee
11;11;37; Texas A&M (13-8, 2-6);Aggies are 2-7 in their past 9 games
12;12;60;Georgia (12-8, 3-5);Slipped to 5 losses in their past 6 games
13;13;70; Miss. State (15-6, 3-5);Snapped 2-game skid by beating Missouri
14;14;122;Vanderbilt (8-13, 2-6);Win over TCU was 2nd in past 7 games
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
Auburn at Ole Miss, 8 p.m. today (SECN)
Auburn, the SEC's surprise leader, is aiming for its fourth conference road victory. Ole Miss, tough at home with a 4-0 mark in league play, is running out of chances for significant RPI leaps. This is a big one.
QUOTEBOOK
"We have some great coaches in our league, and that gave us an opportunity to stick our chests out as we play against another conference. You'll see some of those matchups again once the [regular] season's over with." -- Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson on the SEC's 6-4 victory over the Big 12
"I don't like people standing around offensively. We're not getting open-court opportunities right now, which is a little frustrating for me. We're not getting open-court, attack shots and I'm trying to put my finger on that." -- South Carolina Coach Frank Martin
By the numbers
0
Free throws attempted by TCU in its 81-78 loss at Vanderbilt
2
Consecutive Arkansas victories when trailing by 13 or more points in the first half
17
Points Kentucky trailed by with 17 minutes left before rallying at West Virginia
18
Tennessee's rebounding edge in its 68-45 rout of Iowa State
Sports on 01/30/2018