March Madness is nearly upon us and the NCAA Men’s basketball conference tournaments are now in progress. The winners will help determine which teams qualify as one of the 68 teams announced at Sunday’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament:
NCAA Men’s Basketball: SEC Tournament Results
March 11-15 Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Final:
#1 Kentucky v. #2 Arkansas: 78-63
Kentucky continues their perfect season in the NCAA tournament with a solid win over Arkansas. The Wildcats started the game on an 8-0 run, but the Razorbacks would fight back to keep the game close throughout the first half. Kentucky got quality games from Willie Cauley-Stein (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Andrew Harrison (15 points), while backup point guard Tyler Ulis came in and provided a spark. Arkansas — who will be competing in the NCAA tournament — got 18 points from Michael Qualls. Bobby Portis had 13 points, but only 2 rebounds, and that was not nearly enough to beat the Wildcats.
Semifinals:
#2 Arkansas v. #3 Georgia: 60-49
Even with Bobby Portis having an underwhelming game, he would finish with four total points, the Arkansas Razorbacks took an early grasp of this game and held on until the clock hit 0:00. Georgia, who was playing with a depleted roster, was off a beat all game. The Bulldogs will try to get healthy as they wait to hear their name called on Sunday. Arkansas will get another shot at Kentucky, who blew them out a couple weeks ago at Rupp Arena.
#1 Kentucky v. #13 Auburn: 91-67
Kentucky got on Auburn quickly, and never let go once they got ahold of them. The Tigers had a nice run in the tournament, but the Wildcats meant business, and had five players score in double digits. The Wildcats will look to continue their perfect season into the NCAA tournament, as they will face the winner of the Arkansas-Georgia game.
Quarterfinals:
#3 Georgia v. #11 South Carolina: 74-62
Georgia got a balanced win over South Carolina, with four players scoring in double digits, but no more than 15. Yante Martin would lead the Bulldogs down the stretch, and was the main contributor to putting away the Gamecocks in the end.
#2 Arkansas v. #10 Tennessee: 80-72
Arkansas got off to a fast start, and was up big for most of the game. Tennessee didn’t go away easy though, with the help of Josh Richardson, who had 22 points again. Bobby Portis had 26 points for the Razorbacks, but Arkansas would shoot just 4-16 from the three-point line.
#13 Auburn v. #4 LSU: 73-70 (OT)
Riding on a wave of momentum, Auburn found a way to pull out another game in the tournament as KT Harrell made a three at the end of regulation to force overtime. The (Auburn) Tigers would win the extra period, while effectively extending their season. LSU will wait for their fate on Sunday.
#1 Kentucky v. #8 Florida: 64-49
Kentucky, looking to continue their perfect season, put Florida’s offense in a stranglehold in the second half, and rode that to their win. The Wildcats didn’t have a great offensive night, but found a way to put away the Gators. Speaking of Florida, the Gators will not be in the NCAA — or NIT — tournament this season.
Second Round:
#11 South Carolina v. #6 Ole Miss: 60-58
Down three with seconds to play, Mississippi’s Jarvis Summers’ threw up a three-pointer… and was fouled. He made the ensuing free throw that should have given Ole Miss a crazy win. That’s not all she wrote though, as Tyrone Johnson dribbled down court, lifted to shoot, and was obviously fouled with 0.7 seconds remaining. Johnson would make his free throws to give South Carolina the win.
#10 Tennessee v. #7 Vanderbilt: 67-61
Remarkable statistic of the day: Tennessee and Vanderbilt had not played each other in the tournament since 1987. The Volunteers won that game, and would win this one too. Josh Richardson would score 22 points for Tennessee, 15 of which came in the second half after going into the break down six.
#13 Auburn v. #5 Texas A&M: 66-59
Texas A&M might have let their NCAA tournament hopes slip away when they were upset by the Auburn Tigers. Despite being up 33-23 at half, the Aggies let Auburn go on a 16-1 run to start the second half. The Tigers would push their lead to double digits before a late A&M flurry wouldn’t be enough to come back.
#8 Florida v. #9 Alabama: 69-61
A relatively hot start for Alabama wasn’t enough to upend Florida, thanks to a 12-2 run that got the Gators back into the game. Dorian Finney-Smith had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Gators, and helped steady the troops when the game could have got out of hand. Alabama will hope for a NIT bid with a modest 18-14 record.
First Round:
#13 Auburn v. #12 Mississippi State: 74-68
This was a close game throughout, but Auburn would finish off Mississippi State with a 10-3 run to close the game. Bruce Pearl’s improving Tigers got a major contribution from Alex Thompson, who scored a career-high 16 points. Craig Sword scored a game-high 21 for Mississippi State, but that wasn’t enough to pull out the win.
#11 South Carolina v. #14 Missouri: 63-54
The Gamecocks had little trouble against Missouri, who is having an awfully poor season, and came out with a handled nine point victory. An 11-1 run with six minutes left in the contest jump-started South Carolina pulling away from the Tigers. Missouri finished their season losing 16 of their last 18 games.
