Around the SEC: Week 10 (Basketball)
It’s easy to say the start of SEC play has not gone as expected.
Alabama has gone from barely being over .500 a year ago and losing to Penn State in the process to now being undefeated in SEC play and ranked No. 9 in the country. With the Tide rising while Kentucky continues to fall, let’s take a look at how things have gone for the SEC.
The Crimson Tide are currently on a ten game winning streak not winning a game by less than four in the process. The Tide proved they’re for real when they smashed the current runner-ups in the conference, beating LSU by 30 points.
John Petty Jr. scored 24 points in that game and he currently leads the team in scoring putting up 13.9 points per game. Petty Jr. and the Tide will have a tough out of conference game coming up facing No. 24 Oklahoma.
Despite being fifth in the conference, Missouri currently sits at No. 12 in the country just a few spots behind Alabama. The Tigers lost a few days ago against Auburn but were able to pick up a major win against a Tennessee team that was ranked sixth in the country at the time.
Xavier Pinson dominated with 27 points in the game which is his season high to this point. Potentially the biggest game of the season is coming up for the Tigers next week as they will host Alabama on Feb. 6.
Elsewhere in the conference, Tennessee after once ranking as high as No. 6 in the country has now fallen down to No. 18 and third in the Big Ten behind Alabama and LSU. The Volunteers did however make up for consecutive losses with a close win against Mississippi State where the team’s highest scorer only had 13 points.
LSU has also been on a downswing as it had a two-game losing streak to the previously mentioned Alabama and against Kentucky. The Tigers ended that streak on Tuesday in an eight point win against Texas A&M. Cameron Thomas dominated the game with 28 points with nine of them coming on free throws.
Kentucky has fallen off of a cliff in the last few weeks as SEC play kicked into a high gear with the Wildcats losing four of their last five. The one win did come against LSU but this team is not the same as the one that was seen as a top team in the country at the start of the season.
Mississippi State is in a similar boat as Kentucky, although the Bulldogs didn’t have the same hype at the start of the season. They are currently on a three-game losing skid and are falling out of the race like the Wildcats. Although the Bulldogs almost upset Tennessee, they lost by 18 to Ole Miss who is ranked near the bottom of the SEC.
Logan Bourandas is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him email lxb5412@psu.edu.
