SEC Notepad - March 4

Photo by Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee had a great week, winning 2 key games. They knocked off Ole Miss in a tightly contested battle on the road, before destroying Kentucky, 71-52 on Saturday. Last week, I said that it would be an important week for the Vols. They needed to get back on track after dropping 2 out of 3 games. That’s exactly what they did, as they remain in the race for the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament.

The Vols moved up to No. 5 in the AP poll on Monday and they look to have regained their confidence and energy from earlier in the season. Fans expected a close game in Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday, especially after Tennessee’s narrow, 2-point win at Ole Miss on Wednesday. Nobody saw a 19-point victory coming, but the fans were elated to avenge the loss Tennessee suffered in Lexington just 2 weeks prior.

It was an eventful week in the SEC. Let’s take a look at what happened.

POWER RANKINGS

1. Tennessee (up 2): Tennessee won 2 important games this week. The Vols survived a good Ole Miss team on the road, 73-71. They returned to Knoxville and throttled Kentucky 71-52, avenging their previous loss to the Wildcats. They are now tied with LSU for first place in the SEC.

2. Kentucky (down 1): The Wildcats survived Arkansas on Tuesday, winning 70-66, before getting crushed by Tennessee, 71-52.

3. LSU (down 1): The Tigers didn’t lose this week, but they drop one as a result of Tennessee’s jump. LSU beat Texas A&M and Alabama to move to 14-2 in conference play.

4. Mississippi State (—): The Bulldogs took care of business against Missouri on Tuesday, winning by 19 points. Then, they fell to Auburn on the road by 5 points.

5. Ole Miss (up 2): A 2-point loss to Tennessee and a 1-point loss to Arkansas certainly didn’t help the Rebels’ spirits, as they have now lost 3 out of 4 games.

6. Florida (down 1): Florida beat Vanderbilt, before losing to Georgia by 6 points on Saturday. This gives Georgia their second conference win of the season.

7. South Carolina (down 1): The Gamecocks have lost 4 out of 6 games, with losses to Alabama and Missouri this week.

8. Auburn (up 1): A 3-point win at Georgia and 5-point win over Mississippi State kept the Tigers in the race for a double-bye in the upcoming SEC Tournament.

9. Alabama (up 1): Alabama escaped Columbia with a 68-62 win over the Gamecocks, before dropping a home game against LSU, 74-69.

10. Texas A&M (down 2): The Aggies lost to LSU on Tuesday, before beating Vanderbilt by 7.

11. Arkansas (up 1): The Razorbacks lost to Kentucky by 4 points in Lexington, before ending their 6-game losing streak with a 74-73 win over Ole Miss on Saturday.

12. Missouri (down 1): The Tigers fell to Mississippi State on Tuesday, before winning their fourth conference game of the season against South Carolina on Saturday.

13. Georgia (—): The Bulldogs had lost 9 consecutive games, before winning their second SEC game of the year, beating Florida on Saturday.

14. Vanderbilt (—): You guessed it. The Commodores are still winless in the SEC and just 9-20 overall. The year 2019 has still not seen Vanderbilt win a game.

Jotting down some notes…

Positive Aspects for the Vols:

Tennessee has a chance to win the SEC regular season title for the second consecutive year, after going undefeated in Thompson-Boling Arena. They have one home game remaining and are a perfect 17-0 up to this point. Coach Barnes spoke on what completing the season without losing a home game would mean. He said, “It means that you have had a great year, and your players have done a lot. But you go into this next game respecting your opponent. If I'm not mistaken, Mississippi State and Auburn were both picked in the top six in the league in the preseason poll. Both of those teams are fighting for the fourth spot in the league. With Mississippi State coming in, they are a talented team, and Ben Howland does a great job with his group. But we want to win, and we know it is not going to be easy. I think some of the things our team has accomplished this year, I think we will look back at it later and will appreciate it probably more than we do right now because we are in the thick of trying to finish where we are right now. It's hard to think about what it means, and I'm not sure I can give you that answer until after that year when I can really focus on it. That's not what we are really trying to focus on. We are just trying to focus on this next one. Not what can give us an undefeated season. We just have to worry about this game."  

Need to Improve On:

Tennessee looked absolutely incredible against Kentucky on Saturday. Still, Rick Barnes knows that his team can always improve in some area. Kyle Alexander has been on the wrong end of some poor calls from the officials lately. He foules out against Kentucky and several of those fouls were more than questionable. Rick Barnes wants the senior to keep his head up. He knows how tough it can be for Kyle right now, but remained positive by saying, “It is tough, but what I do know is that he can get out of it. My gut feeling is that he's going to break through right here when he needs it most, and when we want him to need it most. He's doing his part in terms of getting himself prepared mentally and physically. Kyle is a guy that has put his heart and soul in it, and I still think he's just getting started with basketball. You wish you could keep him because his best is ahead of him, but I'm hoping that we're going to get to see him do the things that we know he can do."

Up Next for the Vols:

Tennessee closes out the regular season with a home game against Mississippi State on Tuesday and a road meeting with Auburn on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs are 21-8 this season and Coach Barnes has said that they are great at capitalizing on turnovers. The Vols will look to remain perfect in Thompson-Boling Arena in the home finale. The game begins at 9:00 p.m. It will be senior night for Admiral Schofield, Kyle Alexander, Brad Woodson and Lucas Campbell. Then, the Vols face Auburn, a team who has struggled as of late. They are 20-9 (9-7 SEC).