SEC Tournament Quarterfinal Takeaways: Auburn Falls + UT vs. UK Semi
More drama unfolded in Tampa on Friday with Auburn, the #1 seed, getting dropped in their first game of the postseason by Texas A&M. Meanwhile, the other three top seeds in the tournament handled their business. None came easily, though, as all three got pushed before advancing to Saturday’s SEC Tournament semifinals. Here are the recaps and takeaways from Friday’s action.
#8 Texas A&M beats #1 Auburn 67-62
In the first match of the quarterfinals, Buzz Williams’ team pulled the upset of the SEC Tournament thus far with a 67-62 victory over #1 Auburn. The SEC’s regular-season champion led for less than a minute in this one as the Aggies took an early lead that they’d never relinquish. Texas A&M’s ‘Big 3’ led them in this one, specifically Quenton Jackson who scored 17 points in a game full of highlights. He was helped in the backcourt by Tyrece Radford, who was an X-Factor in this one with 19 points on five threes. Meanwhile, Henry Coleman showed no fear of SEC blocks leader Walker Kessler with a double-double of 16 and 10.
The Aggies led this one by 16 at halftime and by as much as 20 in the second half. Auburn tried to make a game of this in the final 10 minutes after four bombs from Wendell Green, but the closest the Tigers would get was four. For the second straight day, Texas A&M survived a comeback and kept their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. Meanwhile, Auburn will await Sunday to see where they land in the NCAA Tournament picture.
Texas A&M: Win It & You’re In IT
Even after two massive wins in as many days, some still have Texas A&M on the wrong side of the bubble heading into Saturday. No matter where you stand on whether or not they should be in, the Aggies still have a simple solution: win. If they knock off Arkansas, they will be on a seven-game win streak having beaten three teams in the field or on the bubble in three days. That’s more than some bubble teams can say for their whole season. Another decent showing against the Razorbacks may still be enough to get them in. With the momentum they have, though, they may very well make the SEC title game, which should squash any argument against them making it in on Sunday.
Auburn: Restore your early season magic
It’s hard to think of another top team in the country that’s had a bigger regression than Auburn. After starting the season 22-1, they’ve been far less convincing with a 5-4 stretch to end the year. Losses at Arkansas and Tennessee are forgivable, but their performances even in wins during that stretch have raised questions about the Tigers. At their best, they’re one of the best in the nation. The problem is we haven’t seen the Tigers at their best in the last few weeks. Coming into the SEC Tournament that way cost them both an SEC Tournament title and a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Now that they’re stuck at a #2 seed at best, they’ll need to regroup heading into next week. One improvement has to come from their backcourt. At one point, Auburn’s guard play was some of the best in the country. Now, it cost them again in Tampa with 9-39 shooting and seven of Auburn’s nine turnovers coming from Green, Jasper, Flanigan and Johnson. You could point to their misuse of Jabari Smith as of late as part of their struggles, but they’re not beating anyone legitimate in March with guard production like that. Which Auburn team shows up in the bracket next week will determine whether or not they’re still a contender or just a pretender.
#4 Arkansas beats #5 LSU 79-67
In Game 2 of the quarterfinals, Arkansas blitzed LSU to start the second half to get a 12-point win. Albeit low scoring, the first half was fairly competitive. Even with Xavier Pinson in early foul trouble, the Tigers had a three-point lead with a minute left in the first half. At that point, Will Wade earned himself an ill-advised technical foul with 22 seconds left. From that point on, it was all Arkansas as that triggered an 18-0 Razorback run. The lead would grow to as much as 17 and LSU would never get their deficit back to single digits as Arkansas cruised to the semifinals.
LSU: Find some offense by next week
LSU brings one of the best defenses in the country to the table. That will allow them to be competitive with whoever they draw in the NCAA Tournament. The issue for them is the offense. The Tigers scored 26 points and then threw it in park for over five crucial minutes of gameplay. That’s when their three-point lead became a 15-point deficit.
It doesn’t matter how well you defend if you don’t put some points on the board as well. They hold teams to 63.1 points a game, but it cancels out when they’ve averaged just 65.5 points themselves in their losses. Finding consistent offense beyond Tari Eason will be the key for the Tigers heading into next week.
Arkansas: Keep your momentum in the SEC Tournament
After a 1-5 stretch in the middle of the season, the Razorbacks have ripped off 15 wins in their last 17 games. Eric Musselman’s team is playing their best ball of the season at the right time and they showed it again on Friday. That kind of stretch against SEC opponents makes them almost due for a letdown game. Tomorrow’s semifinal could provide an opportunity for that with how Texas A&M is playing and what they’re playing for.
With that in mind, Arkansas has plenty on the line too. The Razorbacks could position themselves to get as high as a #3 seed on Selection Sunday with an SEC title appearance or win. Arkansas just needs to find a way to come out ahead in a game on Saturday between two teams who both have a ton of wind in their sails. They snuck out a three-point win over the Aggies earlier this season and will look to get another one in the semis.
#2 Tennessee beats #10 Mississippi State 72-59
The Volunteers pushed through an in-game injury bug to secure a 13-point win over Mississippi State in their quarterfinal matchup. Tennessee’s postseason aspirations hung in the balance more than once in this one as Kennedy Chandler went down multiple times with an ankle injury that plagued him throughout this game. Even with the bad ankle, he finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds and five steals in 34 minutes of play. While stagnant offenses kept this close in the first half, Josiah-Jordan James lit up the Bulldogs in the second half with 18 points of his own on the night. Pair that with 22 combined points from Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler and the Vols picked up their fifth straight win and 10th victory over their last 11 games. They’ll move on to play Kentucky in their semifinal game.
Mississippi State: Can they add more impact transfers?
Mississippi State isn’t the first place you’d think of when you think of top transfer destinations in the SEC. That wasn’t the case last offseason after the additions of Garrison Brooks (North Carolina), DJ Jeffries (Memphis), Shakeel Moore (NC State), and Rocket Watts (Michigan State). Three of those guys were impact players this season paired with juniors Iverson Molinar and Tolu Smith. After an 18-15 year in 2020-21, it was hit or miss season for Mississippi State. Now, assuming you bring back most of that core, can they develop with one more year as seniors and who can you add to them from the transfer portal? Ben Howland brought in some big names last offseason and he’ll likely look to do so again.
Tennessee: Is Chandler good to go?
With Chandler remaining in the game on Friday after multiple drops to the floor from that ankle, it seems as if he’ll be ready to go on Saturday in their semifinal game against Kentucky. Still, Tennessee would be wise to monitor their star freshman leading up to tipoff. The Volunteers have become one of those teams that could have Final Four potential in the NCAA Tournament. A conference tournament crown is significant, but not at the expense of compromising his health moving forward. Again, he continued to play in the game and Rick Barnes said postgame that his young point guard said he was good to go. With that said, it’s something to keep an eye on heading into Saturday’s semifinal and in the game itself.
#3 Kentucky beats #11 Vanderbilt 77-71
The Wildcats held off an upset bid from Vanderbilt with a six-point win in Kentucky’s first game of the SEC Tournament. With two days of games under their belt, Vanderbilt’s game legs helped them compete with Kentucky throughout this one, especially on the glass early. The Commodores would take a seven-point lead to start the second half before Kentucky put their foot down with a 16-1 run. From that point on, Vanderbilt’s legs seemed to give out on them although Jerry Stackhouse’s team fought until the very end. TyTy Washington led the way for UK with 25 points and Oscar Tshiebwe recorded another double-double on the Wildcats’ way to Saturday’s semis.
Vanderbilt: Bring back Scotty Pippen Jr.
Over three days in the SEC Tournament, it feels as if the narrative around Vanderbilt’s program changed. Although still a double-digit seed, the Commodores did some damage in their three-day run in Tampa and nearly advanced to Saturday’s semifinals. There’s a quality core there heading into next season and Jerry Stackhouse appeared to earn a lot of due respect during this postseason stretch. Now, with the offseason ahead of them, they need to keep this team together as much as possible.
The biggest part of that equation is Scotty Pippen Jr. Vanderbilt has given him the keys to their program over the last three seasons. Even so, you couldn’t blame the SEC’s leading scorer for considering his options both professionally and from the transfer portal heading into next season. A run like this is exactly what Vandy needed to do to hopefully convince him to stay in Nashville for another season. Still, he’s taken that leap to be a star-level player now and, regardless of whether or not he’d get a shot in the pros, he’d be one of the most sought-after transfers in the country if he were to leave Vanderbilt. Bringing Pippen Jr. back should and will be priority #1 for Stackhouse and his staff.
Kentucky: Keep TyTy Rolling
TyTy Washington did not end his season on a high note with multiple injuries that hindered his play. In his first postseason game, Washington looked the best that he has in a couple of weeks. His 25 points are the second most of his season and his best since January 15th. That came on quality field goal efficiency and a career-high four three-pointers on 4-5 shooting from deep.
Kentucky hung on without him while he healed but they lost another level they could get to with him out of the fold. After almost a week of rest between games, Washington looked healthy and at his best for the first time in a while. A lot of things make the Wildcats dangerous, but a healthy Washington can take them into another gear. It’s come at the right time as UK will head into their second SEC Tournament game against Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.
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