by Paul Jordan
EAST
Kentucky 22-1 (7-1)
Tennessee 18-4 (6-2)
Vanderbilt 17-5 (6-2)
Florida 17-6 (6-3)
South Carolina 13-9 (4-4)
Georgia 10-11 (2-6)
WEST
Arkansas 12-11 (5-3)
Mississippi 17-6 (5-4)
Mississippi State 16-7 (4-4)
Alabama 13-10 (3-6)
Auburn 11-12 (2-6)
LSU 9-14 (0-9)
Thanks to Villanova’s loss, Kentucky inched nearer the top in the polls again, moving to #2 in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 and #3 in the AP Top 25. Tennessee moved up a couple of spots to #12 in both polls, while Vanderbilt fell to #22 in the AP Top #25 and #24 with the ESPN/USA Today voters. Mississippi and Florida are still getting votes, but the SEC is looking like a three team race in the East and it appears no one wants to win the West. Arkansas leads the West and critics may point at their 12-11 over all record as a negative, but this is a totally different team with Courtney Fortson in the lineup.
Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time this season and Arkansas’s Courtney Fortson took player of the week honors.
GAMES OF THE WEEK
2/9 -#12 Tennessee @ #24 Vanderbilt – 7PM – ESPN
2/9 – Alabama @ #2 Kentucky – 9 PM – ESPNU
2/10 – Florida at South Carolina – 8 PM – ESPN 360
2/10 – LSU @ Arkansas – 8 PM – ESPN 360
2/11 – Mississippi @ Mississippi State – 9 PM – ESPN
2/13 – Xavier @ Florida – 6 PM – ESPN
2/13 – #12 Tennessee @ #2 Kentucky – 9 PM – ESPN
THE WEEK THAT WAS:
MISSISSIPPI (4-3) @ KENTUCKY (5-1)
Kentucky jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead over the Rebels and never looked back en route to a 85-75 victory. Kentucky never trailed in the game and built the lead to 27-9 just 10:00 into the game. A big part of the Wildcat’s plan was to frustrate Mississippi guard Chris Warren and it worked as UK played tough defensive all throughout the game. Ole Miss would make runs and cut the lead to three on a couple of occasions but UK responded by pushing the lead to double digits where it remained most of the game. DeMarcus Cousins led the way for Kentucky with 18 points, 13 boards and 4 blocks. John Wall added 17 points and 7 assists and put aside any concerns of a rift with UK coach Calipari. Darnell Dodson moved into the starting lineup for UK and had 14 points on 4-5 free point shooting. The Rebels were led by Terrico White with 19 points and Chris Warren rebounded from a bad early start to finish with Eniel Polynice added 14 and the three Ole Miss guards accounted for 48 of Ole Miss’s 75 points.
KENTUCKY (6-1) @ LSU (0-8)
Kentucky was wary of a “trap game” heading into LSU just two days after the Tigers gave Tennessee all they wanted. The Tigers jumped out to a 6-1 lead over UK and were trailing just 12-10 with about 10:44 left in the first half. Any thoughts of a LSU upset were dashed as UK went on a 22-0 lead and took a 42-14 lead in at halftime. Kentucky coasted the second half and never let the Tigers get within 20 and won the SEC matchup 81-55. The game marked the sixth straight double double for DeMarcus Cousins who poured in 19 points and 13 rebounds. Patrick Patterson added 16 and Eric Bledsoe is now 22-1 on the season. Bo Spencer scored 25 points and Tasmin Mitchell added 10 as the Tigers shot just 31.8% for the game.
For the rest of this article, head on over to Rush the Court as it will be posted later today at:
http://rushthecourt.net/category/checking-in-on/cio-sec/
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