SEC Tournament Report

Struggling Allen gets no awards

Florida guard KeVaughn Allen (5) keeps the ball away from an Arkansas defender during an NCAA college basketball game in Gainesville, Fla., Wednesday Jan. 17, 2018. Florida won, 88-73. (Brad McClenny/The Gainesville Sun via AP)

ST. LOUIS -- A year after Florida guard KeVaughn Allen made the coaches' All-SEC first team, the junior and North Little Rock graduate was nowhere to be found when the 2018 conference honors were announced Tuesday.

Allen wasn't among 16 players voted to the first or second teams.

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It didn't come as a surprise that Allen didn't receive All-SEC recognition. He is averaging a career-low 11.3 points after averaging 14.0 as a sophomore and 11.6 as a freshman. He's shooting 37.0 percent from the field.

Allen has struggled at times to find his role offensively with the Gators adding transfers Jalen Hudson and Egor Koulechov.

Hudson, a junior who redshirted last year after transferring from Virginia Tech, is averaging a team-high 15.6 points. Koulechov, a graduate transfer from Rice, is averaging 13.8 points.

Florida Coach Mike White said it's taken the Gators' returnees time to mesh with the impact newcomers, especially on offense.

"I think KeVaughn is probably our best overall example of that," White said. "He's had some huge games, and he's looked like the KeVaughn we all know he's capable of being, and then he's had some other games where he wasn't quite as aggressive.

"He's had to learn how to fit in with the transfers we've added."

Allen's big games include scoring 28 points against the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 24 against Auburn and 23 against Gonzaga. He also endured a four-game stretch against Texas A&M, Missouri, Mississippi State and Ole Miss in which he averaged 4.4 points and shot 7 of 24 from the field.

White said Allen has improved his all-around game despite experiencing a dip in his scoring average.

"Overall, I think he's a better defender and he's a better rebounder and he's a better passer than he was as a sophomore or a freshman," White said. "He's actually developed and improved in other areas."

Fast-breaking Sexton

Earlier this season, Alabama Coach Avery Johnson described freshman guard Collin Sexton's speed.

"Collin's such a blur in transition," Johnson said. "He can be a one-man fast-break."

That's exactly what Sexton was in scoring the winning basket at the buzzer to lift the Crimson Tide to a 71-70 victory over Texas A&M on Thursday.

Sexton, who had a season-high 27 points, hit a jump shot with 17 seconds left to give Alabama a 69-67 lead.

Aggies freshman guard T.J. Starks' three-pointer put Texas A&M ahead 70-69 with 4.4 seconds left.

After a timeout called by Texas A&M Coach Billy Kennedy, Sexton caught an inbounds pass and raced up the court, darted through the Aggies defenders and lofted a shot from about 5 feet out that swished through the net as time expired.

"Coach just told me to race it up the floor and get to the basket," Sexton said. "He knew how fast I could get there, so he said just get to the basket and get a layup for us."

Sexton said it's a play he's often practiced.

"You know like when you're in the gym sometimes and you just imagine stuff like that happens, and you've always got to be prepared for that," he said. "When you're doing drills and stuff, you weave through and try to get to the basket. So it was just like practice."

Kennedy said he called timeout so the Aggies would be organized on defense to stop Sexton.

"We wonder if we could have made Collin catch it a step further up the floor and maybe put two people on him," Kennedy said. "I would do differently, obviously knowing that he was able to get it off.

"But the reason why we called timeout was to not let that happen on a broken play, and he ended up making a play. We could have done a better job of making it a little bit harder for him to get the ball."

Johnson said the key part of the play was that Sexton got the ball in space with room to use his speed.

"We work on a lot of those end-of-game situations," Johnson said. "We try to do it when they're tired at the end of practice."

Porter returns

Missouri freshman forward Michael Porter Jr., the No. 1 recruit in the country, played his first game in four months and predictably had mixed results in Georgia's 62-60 victory over the Tigers.

Porter Jr. had 12 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot in 23 minutes off the bench, but he was 5 of 17 from the field.

"In that kid's defense, it's awful hard to play your first couple college games," Georgia Coach Mark Fox said. "He didn't practice for most of the year, and then he had to come out and play in a high-level game.

"You're probably not going to be real efficient. So I've got a lot of respect for him even trying to do what he did today."

Porter Jr.'s only previous playing time was the first two minutes of the season opener against Iowa State on Nov. 10 when he suffered a back injury that required surgery. He was medically cleared to practice two weeks ago.

The pro-Missouri crowd cheered wildly when Porter Jr. entered Thursday's game with 17:22 left in the first half.

"I loved being out there with my team," Porter Jr. said. "My whole thing coming back was just to be able to do what I can to help."

George at the mic

John George, who has been handling public address duties at Arkansas home games for the past 37 seasons, is doing the same at the SEC Tournament for the 12th consecutive year.

While George can silently root for the Razorbacks, as the tournament announcer his voice has to reflect an equal level of enthusiasm for all teams.

Bracket projections

Arkansas will be a No. 6 seed and play No. 11 Marquette in Dallas, according to CBSSports.com's NCAA Tournament projection. ESPN projects the Razorbacks to be a No. 7 seed and play No. 10 Providence in Charlotte, N.C.

Kennedy on TV

Andy Kennedy, who resigned as the Ole Miss coach Feb. 12 in his 12th season with the Rebels, is at the SEC Tournament working as an analyst for the SEC Network.

Sports on 03/09/2018