2015 SEC Basketball Tournament for March 13: Who, What, Where, and When

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We enter day three of the 2015 SEC Basketball Tournament and the top four seeds take the court.  For the most part, the Kentucky Wildcats and Arkansas Razorbacks have locked up bids to the NCAA Tournament.  You can say the same about the Georgia Bulldogs and the LSU Tigers, but a win today will just make those bids a bit more secure.   You can catch all of today’s action on the SEC Network.  We will take a closer at today’s games but first, here is what happened last night.

The Florida Gators are not going to let their title of defending SEC Tournament champions go without a fight.  The Gators pulled aways midway through the second half for a 69-61 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide.  Dorian Finney-Smith led the Gators with 23 points and 11 rebounds. He also had four 3-pointers for his day.  The Gators went bombs away offense with 29 3-point attempts.  Eli Carter added 11 points for the Gators who also out-rebounded Alabama 35-24.  Alabama was led by Jimmie Taylor and Levi Randolph, both with 15 points.  The Crimson Tide had two players foul out which stemmed any hope of a comeback.  Alabama finishes their season at 18-14 but should get a call from the NIT committee Sunday night.

The Auburn Tigers and Bruce Pearl continue their Cinderella impersonation as they knocked off the Texas A&M Aggies and likely burst their NCAA bubble 66-59.  KT Harrell led the charge for Auburn with 25 points and hit 4-6 3-pointers.  Cinmeon Bowers added 10 points and the Tigers won despite shooting just 34% from the field.  It looked as if the Aggies had the game in control as they led 33-23 at the half, but they came out flat in the second half and never recovered.  With no Danuel House, the Aggies struggled to score and Alex Caruso had 11 points.  Caruso was also part of the problem with 11 turnovers.  The Aggies could not get a key basket to get back in the game as they hit just 26.3% of their three pointers.  The Aggies finish with a 20-11 mark and should get a good seed in the NIT.

Mandatory Credit: Joshua Lindsey-USA TODAY Sports

Aside from Kentucky, Vanderbilt was the hottest team in the SEC.  And true to the ides of March, the Commodores and one and out in the SEC Tourney.  Vanderbilt had the game in control with a 12 point lead in the second half, but the Tennessee Volunteers closed with a 20-2 run over the last 6:18 to advance with a 67-61 win.  Josh Richardson had 22 points to key the upset. Robert Hubbs III tossed in 16 and  Devin Baulkman 12 for the Vols.  The rest of the team scored just 17.  Vanderbilt was led by Damian Jones with 18 and Wade Baldwin 16, but it was not enough for Vandy.  The Commodores at 19-13, will wait for a NIT bid.

The Ole Miss Rebels may have seem their NCAA bubble burst with one of the wildest endings in recent memory.  Jarvis Summers completed a four point play to put Ole Miss up 58-57 with seconds remaining.  However, Ladarius While inexplicalbly fouled Tyrone Johnson on a last second heave.  Johnson sanks all three FTs and South Carolina advanced 60-58.  The fantastic finish saved the tedium of an awful shooting night by both teams who hovered around 30% for the game.  Ole Miss finishes their season at 20-12 and will spend a nervous weekend to see if they will get the NCAA bid.

Now, let’s take a look at today’s games.