FAYETTEVILLE — The Big 12/SEC Challenge is scheduled for Saturday, with the SEC trying to win the event for only the second time in its eighth edition. The Big 12 holds a 40-30 edge through seven challenges.
The conferences tied 5-5 for the second time last year, with the A-teams — Alabama, Arkansas and No. 16 Auburn — winning at home, and Kentucky and LSU winning on the road for the SEC.
This year’s top matchups: No. 2 Baylor at Auburn, No. 5 Texas at Kentucky, No. 9 Alabama vs. Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, TCU at No. 12 Missouri, No. 15 Kansas at No. 18 Tennessee in a battle of struggling powers, and Arkansas at Oklahoma State.
An added wrinkle to the Longhorns visiting Rupp Arena: Texas Coach Shaka Smart announced Monday that he had tested positive for covid-19.
The other matchups: Texas Tech at LSU, Texas A&M at Kansas State, Florida at West Virginia and Iowa State at Mississippi State.
SEC teams Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Vanderbilt are not participating.
Baylor continues to rock along with the best record in the challenge at 6-1, while Alabama (3-1) is the only other school with just one loss. Tennessee (4-2), Florida (4-3) and Kentucky (4-3) have winning records for the SEC, while Arkansas (3-3), Georgia (2-2) and LSU (2-2) have broken even.
In the Big 12, Kansas (5-2), Oklahoma (5-2) and Oklahoma State (5-2) have been salty, while TCU (4-3) and Texas Tech (4-3) are also above .500.
On the other end of the spectrum, Ole Miss (0-6) and Mississippi State (0-2) have gone winless, while South Carolina (1-3), Texas A&M (2-4), Vanderbilt (2-4) and Missouri (1-2) have struggled.
Four Big 12 teams are below .500 in West Virginia (2-5), Kansas State (3-5), Iowa State (3-4) and Texas (3-4).
Revenge game
Missouri got payback on Tennessee on Saturday in a battle of ranked teams as the Tigers led wire to wire and won 73-64 in Thompson-Boling Arena for their first victory in that venue since 1972.
The Volunteers had dealt a 73-53 loss to the Tigers in their SEC opener on Dec. 30.
Missouri took over the best record in the SEC (10-2) while notching its league-high fifth Quad 1 win. Only No. 1 Gonzaga (6-0) has more Quad 1 victories than the Tigers, who are 5-1 in those games.
Missouri Coach Cuonzo Martin said Tennessee’s win at Mizzou Arena was a wake-up call.
“You have to give all the credit to Tennessee beating us at our place,” Martin said. “They won the game. But that wasn’t us as a team and our guys knew that. That was a hard pill for me to swallow, just from a toughness standpoint.
“Everything you can think of, they did it. It was like it was just practice for them. … If they were going to beat us [Saturday] they were going to beat us playing the way we wanted to dictate tempo, being aggressive, getting in their face and making them make plays.”
Projections
CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm added Arkansas as a sixth SEC team in his NCAA Tournament projection on Monday, picking the Razorbacks as a No. 11 seed. Palm’s other projections for SEC teams: 2 seed for Missouri, 3 seeds for Alabama and Tennessee, 8 seed for Florida and 10 seed for LSU.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi also had Arkansas as a No. 11 seed in his last projection Friday, joining 3 seeds Alabama and Tennessee, 5 seed Missouri, 8 seed LSU, and 9 seed Florida. That projection came before Missouri’s win at Tennessee on Saturday.
Hanging tight
Mississippi State gave Alabama its first tight run in two weeks on Saturday before falling 81-73 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The No. 9 Crimson Tide won its ninth consecutive game, its longest streak since opening the 2002-03 season 9-0. They will aim for a sweep of Kentucky and a 10th win in a row tonight at 6 at Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama had won its last three games by a combined 71 points over Kentucky, Arkansas and LSU, with the first and last of those on the road. Against the Bulldogs, there were 13 ties and five lead changes, all in the first half.
Mississippi State was within three points twice in the second half, the last at 76-73 with 58 seconds remaining. However, John Petty Jr. made a three-pointer with 4 seconds left on the shot clock and 32 seconds left to ice the victory.
Alabama can eye its best SEC season ever: a 14-0 run in 1955-56 by what was knows as the “Rocket 8” team.
Aggies go low
Texas A&M plays low-scoring games under Coach Buzz Williams, but the Aggies’ recent play has been painstaking.
Texas A&M has lost four of its last five games and is averaging 53.2 points per game in that span. The Aggies’ lone victory since a 68-66 home win over Auburn on Jan. 2 was a 56-55 nail-biter at Mississippi State on Jan. 13.
The Aggies’ league-low scoring average of 55.4 points in conference games is 11 points lower than the next team, Ole Miss at 65.6 points per game.
Texas A&M ranks last in field-goal shooting (38.7%), three-point shooting (26.8%) and assists (10.7) in SEC play.
Top players
Missouri’s Dre Smith and Alabama’s Joshua Primo were named SEC players of the week on Monday by the league office.
Smith, a 6-3 guard from Evansville, Ind., averaged 17 points, 4 rebounds and 2.5 assists and had 2 total turnovers in wins over South Carolina and Tennessee and was named SEC player of the week.
Primo, a 6-6 wing player from Toronto was the SEC freshman of the week after averaging 19 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, as well as 5 three-pointers made in wins at LSU and vs. Mississippi State. Primo made 14 of 19 shots (73.7%) in the two games, including 10 of 13 (76.9%) from three-point range.
Down birds
South Carolina Coach Frank Martin unpacked some emotions and let it rip after Saturday’s 109-86 home loss to Auburn.
Martin said the lack of practices for his team, which has struggled through the covid-19 crisis, has made them look like an AAU team at times with little cohesion and structure.
Martin has had two positive tests for the coronavirus and just returned from his second bout last week.
Among Martin’s thoughts was this touting of Auburn’s bounce-back from a tough mid-week loss at Arkansas in which the Tigers led by 19 points in the first half.
“Auburn lost their mid-week game in a game that they had a lead and didn’t do a very good job to close out the game,” he said. “They weren’t very happy with that outcome. We lost a mid-week game and had no fight in our belly.
“They just toyed with us. They beat us on the glass. They beat us everywhere.”
On the team’s leadership: “When we’ve got bad leadership, I say it’s bad leadership. Right now, we’ve got no leadership.
“When you look in the mirror, that person that’s looking back at you, what’s that person stand for? Right now, we as a team, we don’t stand for anything. We’ve got to figure out a way to get better in that department before we’ve got any chance to win a game.”
Gator chomp
There have been some wild blowouts during the young SEC season, but nothing compared to the shock value of Florida’s 75-49 dragging of No. 6 Tennessee last Tuesday.
The Gators were playing without star forward Colin Castleton (ankle), guard Scottie Lewis (covid-19 protocols) and guard Keyontae Johnson, who has been out six weeks after collapsing on the court.
Florida shot 49.2%, held the Volunteers to 29% and beat them 44-36 in rebounding and 42-22 in points score in the paint in dealing the surprising rout. The Gators converted 18 turnovers into 27 points.
Noah Locke led the way with 14 points for Florida, while transfer guard Tyree Appleby had 13 points and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career.
“Who saw that coming? I didn’t. I’ll be the first to tell you,” Florida Coach Mike White said.
Sharp shooting
Auburn enjoyed a blistering shooting performance on Saturday while destroying South Carolina 109-86.
The Tigers shot matching 51.9% from the field (40 of 77) and three-point range (14 of 27) and missed just one free throw (15 of 16) for a 93.8% performance from the line while hitting their highest point total in an SEC road game in school history.
Little Rock Parkview product Allen Flanigan led the way with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
“We made history tonight,” Flanigan said. “The guards focused on being able to beat guys off the dribble and everybody moving and spacing the floor so we can get open shots and make plays for everybody.”
Game of the week
Missouri at Auburn, 8 p.m. Central today (ESPN2)
OK, maybe the Kentucky at No. 9 Alabama game at 6 p.m. (ESPN) carries a little more cachet, as the Wildcats look to avenge an 85-65 home loss to the Crimson Tide on Jan. 12. However, Auburn is picking up steam, with three wins in its last four games, while Missouri is coming off a 73-64 road win at No. 6 Tennessee that avenged an earlier 20-point home loss to the Vols.
By the numbers
18 – Turnovers in back-to-back losses for then-No. 6 Tennessee last week at Florida and vs. Missouri
56 – Combined differential in two high-profile SEC games last Tuesday: Florida’s 75-49 home rout of Tennessee, and Alabama’s 105-75 road win at LSU
75 – Number of 3-pointers out of 100 Alabama guard John Petty Jr. estimated he would make unguarded on the SEC Network on Saturday
Quotebook
“When you’re talking Quad 1 wins, like I said to our guys, a top 10 team won the game today, and I truly feel that. … We grinded against a top 10 team in a tough environment and won the basketball game.” — Missouri Coach Cuonzo Martin after his team improved to 5-1 in Quad 1 games with a 73-64 win at Tennessee
“I think it was good to play in a close game as well. We have been hitting shots at a pretty good pace and blowing teams out, so it was good to get in a late game situation.” — Alabama Coach Nate Oats after a tight finish in an 81-73 win over Mississippi State
“We’re just there, you know. We’re just there. And in life there’s nothing worse than just being there.” — South Carolina Coach Frank Martin after losing 109-86 to Auburn
SEC basketball power rankings
RANK; LAST WEEK; NET; TEAM (RECORDS); COMMENT
1; 1; 9; Alabama (13-3, 8-0); Who could give Tide their first SEC loss?
2; 4; 23; Missouri (10-2, 4-2); Avenged 20-point home loss to Tennessee
3; 2; 11; Tennessee (10-3, 4-3); How do Volunteers respond to 2-game skid?
4; 3; 35; LSU (10-4, 5-3); Laid eggs at home vs. Bama, on road at UK
5; 7; 26; Florida (8-4, 5-3); Riding high on wins over Vols and Georgia
6; 5; 82; Kentucky (5-9, 4-3); Tough week: at Bama, home vs. Texas
7; 9; 33; Arkansas (12-4, 4-4); Top defensive rebounding team in SEC
8; 6; 92; Miss. State (9-7, 4-4); Lost 3 of 4 heading into Knoxville tonight
9; 11; 64; Auburn (9-7, 3-5); Hosts No. 12 Missouri, travels to No. 2 Baylor
10; 13; 65; Ole Miss (8-6, 3-4); Heating up and heading to Bud Walton Arena
11; 12; 101; Georgia (9-5, 2-5); Best SEC win streak in Crean’s 3 years: 2
12; 10; 136; Texas A&M (7-6, 2-5); Scored 56 or less in 6 of 7 SEC games
13; 8; 110; South Carolina (3-5, 1-3); 8-game win streak vs. UGA on line Wed.
14; 14; 185; Vanderbilt (4-7, 0-5); Stackhouse steamed at showing vs. Hogs
The NCAA instituted in 2018-19 a rating system called the NET Rankings, which took the place of the Ratings Percentage Index. An acronym for NCAA Evaluation Tool, the NET rankings take into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency and the quality of wins and losses.