EAST
Kentucky 15-0
Tennessee 10-2
Florida 11-3
Vanderbilt 11-3
South Carolina 8-5
Georgia 7-5
WEST
Mississippi State 12-3
Mississippi 11-2
Alabama 10-4
LSU 9-5
Auburn 8-6
Arkansas 7-7
The big story in the SEC this week was the arrest and indefinite suspension of four University of Tennessee basketball players. Tyler Smith, Melvin Goins, Cameron Tatum, and Brian Williams were arrested on a myriad of drug and weapon charges. Some of the charges were felony charges and given the recent problems with UT’s football program, it is hard to imagine any scenario in which the players may step back on the court this season. It is a big loss for the Vols and accounts for 33 points a game out of their lineup. Elsewhere, South Carolina dismissed forward Mike Homes from the team for repeated rule violations. Holmes is the second starter lost this season for the Gamecocks as Dominique Archie was lost for the season due to injury.
Kentucky continues to be the class of the SEC in the rankings, holding onto their #3 ranking in both the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today poll. Tennessee is #15 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and #16 in the AP Top 25. Mississippi remains the third ranked team at #14 in the AP poll and #16 in the ESPN/USA Today. Florida is hovering just outside the top 25 and may re-emerge with another strong week or two.
Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins was named SEC Player of the Week after averaging 18.5 points and 15.0 rebounds in two Wildcat wins. Cousins was the SEC Freshman of the Week last week. This week, that honor goes to Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins who averaged 17.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3 assists in a pair of Commodore wins.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEK:
The parade of cupcakes ends later this week as SEC play officially gets underway. What else really needs to be said? As of right now, the SEC has seven teams with 10 wins already and you have to consider them strong tournament teams right now. Let’s see how these teams hold up as it goes within the conference from here on out:
1/5 – #2 Texas (13-0) @ Arkansas (7-7) – 7:00 PM – ESPN 2
1/5 – #17 Georgia Tech (11-2) @ Georgia (7-5) – 7:00 PM – ESPN 360
1/6 – Charlotte (10-3) @ #15 Tennessee (10-2) – 7:00 PM – ESPN 360
1/9 – Florida (11-3) @ Vanderbilt (11-3) – 12:00 PM – ESPN 2
1/9 – Mississippi State (12-3) @ #16 Mississippi (11-2) – 1:30 PM – ESPN 360
1/9 – Alabama (10-4) @ LSU (9-5) – 5:00 PM
1/10 – #1 Kansas (13-0) @ #15 Tennessee (10-2) – 4:30 PM – CBS
TEAM UPDATES (ratings are AP, ESPN/USA Today)
EAST
Kentucky (#3, #3) – John Wall set a UK record for assists with 16 as UK crushed the Hartford Hawks 104-61 on Tuesday night. DeMarcus Cousins added 19 points and 12 boards and Darius Miller scored a season high 16 points to key the Cat’s win. On Saturday, Kentucky endured a sluggish first half and then pulled away in the second half to defeat bitter in state rival Louisville 71-62. DeMarcus Cousins led the way with 18 points and 18 rebounds. Patrick Patterson and John Wall both had 17 points. Kentucky, at 15-0, is off to their best start in 40 years.
For the rest of this article, head over to Rush the Court and check it out:
http://rushthecourt.net/category/checking-in-on/cio-sec/
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