Around SEC Basketball: November 20-24

Written By Tucker Harlin

Credit: University of Tennessee Athletics

By Tucker Harlin

We have entered one of two times each basketball season where the games are nonstop. Feast Week features a variety of tournaments with uncommon opponents going squaring off in every game, a nice break from buy and conference games.

I’m skipping all of the SEC action from Monday and Tuesday. Outside of LSU surviving against Charleston Southern, everything that happened on those two days was a blowout of a mid-major.

#25 ILLINOIS 87 vs #8 ALABAMA 100- C.M Newton Classic

Alabama bounced back as only it could Wednesday — by hitting the century mark in a game filled with breakneck offensive speed. However, something was out of the ordinary for the Crimson Tide in Birmingham.

Mark Sears, the preseason SEC player of the year, didn’t score a point the entire night. When Nate Oats asked if he wanted to reenter during the second half, Sears told him the team looked better without him on the floor.

Sears may have struggled, but as the score indicates, the Tide outpaced the Illini with its offense all night. Key returnee Grant Nelson led the the Tide with 23 points, 19 of which came in the first half.

Guards Latrell Wrightsell Jr and Aden Holloway were reliable options from distance while freshman Labaron Philon did much of his work with easy baskets in transition.

SYRACUSE 66 vs TEXAS 70- UKG Legends Classic

Texas had a handle on Syracuse for about 26 minutes of game time, but the Orange stormed back to take the lead with about four minutes to play.

The Longhorns may have just left the Big 12, but they had to work through one last Eddie Lampkin experience. The veteran big man cut Syracuse’s deficit to single digits early in the second half.

Coveted freshman Tre Johnson ultimately saved the day for Texas.

Despite weathering a 4/18 night from the field, Johnson did the work at the free throw line to push the Horns across the finish line.

VANDERBILT 73 vs NEVADA 71- Charleston Classic

The Commodores fought back from an early deficit and led for much of the way against what appeared to be the toughest team in the Charleston Classic Thursday.

The self proclaimed team full of point guards was led by a strong effort by A.J. Hoggard with 18 points. Jason Edwards and M.J. Collins were the three-point offense for Vandy in this game, scoring five of the six makes.

Defensively, the Commodores turned the Wolf Pack over 16 times. Mark Byington’s bunch is a spirited one.

VIRGINIA 42 vs #11 TENNESSEE 64- Baha Mar

Contrary to what a certain CBS journalist wants to tell you, Virginia basketball most definitely isn’t a thing of beauty.

As expected, Virginia’s stagnant offense wasn’t any match for Tennessee’s defense. The Vols stuck Jahmai Mashack on Isaac McKneely and dominated the Cavaliers.

Tennessee’s offense had to grind through a difficult first half against one of the toughest defenses in the country. But as soon as the Vols cracked the code, they ran away from the Cavaliers.

Chaz Lanier spearheaded the offensive effort, scoring 26 for the Vols. His emergence in the second half was reminiscent of a certain some in the NBA that played for the Vols last year.

Blanking on his name.

LSU 63 vs PITTSBURGH 74- Greenbrier

The Bayou Bengals fought their way to a one-point edge at half, but they couldn’t sustain the momentum in the final frame.

Jaland Lowe carved up the Tigers for 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Cam Corhen attacked LSU inside, scoring 14 points on 7/10 underneath.

SETON HALL 60 vs VANDERBILT 76- Charleston Classic

Mark Byington’s crew took advantage of a mismatch in tempo, powering through an early deficit and leading by wide margins for much of its win over Seton Hall in the Charleston Classic semifinals.

The biggest offensive producer for the Commodores was Tyler Nickel, who finished 6/13 from three with 24 for the game.

Additionally, the team full of point guards turned over a struggling Pirates offense 16 times.

#11 TENNESSEE 77 vs #13 BAYLOR 62- Baha Mar

You only had to watch the first half of Tennessee’s triumphant victory over Baylor to understand why it was so dominant.

Defensively, the Vols weren’t wavering inside, making every shot a difficult one for Norchad Omier and the other Bears who dared to enter the paint.

As for the offense, just watch Chaz Lanier’s highlights from the first half:

The Bears put the clamps on Lanier in the second half and found success in the lane on offense, but the Vols’ strategy of pushing the ball into the paint was enough to close out a dominant run in the Baha Mar Hoops Championship.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 84 @ SMU 79

The Bulldogs fought through a first half in which they trailed to find their way to a road victory in Dallas.

Mississippi State marksman Josh Hubbard scored 14 points, but that was on a 4/18 shooting performance from the field. This is where the bench was important.

The Bulldogs scored 54 of their 84 points off the bench.

Veteran forward Keshawn Murphy led the charge with 16 points. When Murphy fouled out, transfer guards R.J. Melendez and Riley Kugel made important free throws and field goals in the closing minutes.

TEXAS 67 vs ST JOE’S 58- UKG Legends Classic

The first place game of the UKG Legends Classic was neck and neck till about the final four minutes.

Veteran Kadin Shedrick and stud freshman Tre Johnson made the most important contributions in that stretch. Shedrick finished the night 5/8 from inside the arc while Johnson led all scorers with 17 points.

Kansas State transfer Arthur Kaluma and Indiana State transfer Julian Larry both provided makes at the free throw line in the closing minutes, icing the tournament title for Texas.

GEORGIA 69 vs #15 MARQUETTE 80- Bahamas

The Bulldogs dropped their first loss of the season in paradise, but they leave knowing they competed hard against a ranked team early in the year.

Georgia ran its offense through its guards. Outside, Blue Cain and Dakota Leffew were a combined 8/18 from distance while Tyrin Lawrence finished 7/9 in the interior.

Marquette is one of a handful of programs across the country that doesn’t feature a transfer in its starting lineup. That isn’t a knock on the portal, but chemistry is something a lot of these transfer-heavy teams tend to lack at the beginning of the year.

Forwards Ben Gold and David Joplin combined for a 10/20 night at the three-point line. Joplin alone scored 29 points for the Golden Eagles, leading all scorers by 12.

#22 ST. JOHN’S 63 vs GEORGIA 66- Bahamas

The second of Georgia’s two battles in Nassau was competitive the whole way through, but it ended with a bounce back victory over a ranked opponent.

Stud freshman Asa Newell was much more involved in this game, scoring 18 points on an 8/13 performance from the field. Not all went well for the Bulldogs as Newell, Blue Cain, and R.J. Godfrey all fouled out. Additionally, Georgia turned in a sloppy 24 turnovers and got out with the win.

The defense flexed its muscles by smothering the fatigued Johnnies at the three-point line, allowing them to convert just two of 19 attempts.

Veteran guard Silas Demary Jr. was ultimately the one to put the Red Storm away. Demary hit clutch shots at the free throw line and turned St. John’s over to finish it off.

LSU 109 vs UCF 102 (3OT)- Greenbrier

The third place game in the Greenbrier Tip-Off provided some fireworks.

UCF led by as much as 20 in the first half, but the Tigers overcame the deficit with a little bit of help from everyone to send the game to overtime at 70.

The Tigers got out to a four-point lead with 29 seconds to go in the first overtime, but Jordan Ivy-Curry hit a three to cut their lead to one. Keyshawn Hall made a pair of free throws to send it to second overtime with the Tigers and Knights sitting at 82 apiece.

Three point buckets were exchanged in the opening minutes of the second overtime. Two layups made by Keyshawn Hall put the game in the next overtime at 93.

Freshman Vyctorius Miller, Kansas State transfer Cam Carter, and UT Martin transfer Jordan Sears put on a dunk contest to pull away and take third place in the Greenbrier Tip-Off.

DRAKE 81 vs VANDERBILT 70- Charleston Classic

The Commodores fought valiantly in the finale of the Charleston Classic, but they ultimately came up short against a physical Drake team in the first place game.

The 26 points scored by Jason Edwards was the only double-digit scoring performance from a Commodore all night. Vandy was a brutal 4/21 from three and let the Bulldogs out rebound it 37-20.

Drake big man Cam Manyawu protected the rim well with his 11 boards and three blocks, all of which were crucial to Drake’s growing lead in the second half.

The loss stings for Mark Byington and Vanderbilt, but early season losses tend to help teams grow more than they hurt.

Tucker Harlin
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