It was a great time for hoops lovers across the nation last week. Two National Championship contenders in the SEC went down on a wild Tuesday night. The undefeated #1 Tennessee Volunteers (14-1) were swamped in Gainesville by the #8 Florida Gators (14-1) in a 73-43 beatdown while the #6 Kentucky Wildcats (12-3) continued their inconsistent campaign with an 82-69 loss to the unranked Georgia Bulldogs (13-2). Despite these underperformances, another SEC heavyweight triumphed as #2 Auburn won a decisive battle against SEC newcomers Texas (11-4), 87-82. The other top 15 teams, #3 Iowa State, #4 Duke, #7 Marquette, and #15 Mississippi State rolled against unranked opponents.
#1 (14-1) Tennessee: 43 @ #8 (14-1) Florida: 73
Florida dominated Tennessee in all facets of the game with a blowout victory, holding the star Senior transfer Chaz Lanier to just 10 points on 3-16 shooting, limiting the Volunteers to just 21% from the field and 4/29 from deep range. Senior Guard Alijah Martin and Junior Denzel Aberdeen led the Gators in scoring with 18 and 16 points.
What’s next: Tennessee will look to respond on the offensive side of the ball before their 32-day stretch with 9 top-20 opponents and a chance for revenge against the Gators. Florida looks to carry their momentum and defensive prowess to an SEC first-place finish.
#6 (12-3) Kentucky: 69 @ (13-2) Georgia: 82
Georgia stifled an impressive Kentucky offense that was averaging over 90 points a game, restricting them to just 69 points despite Lamont Butlers’s 20-point performance. Georgia exploded for 47 points in the first half, never looking back as they secured their first victory over a top 10 conference opponent since 2011 when they beat #10 Kentucky 77-70.
Takeaways: Freshman forward Asa Newell scored 17 points, 12 coming in the second half as he continues his impressive campaign. Kentucky suffers a third loss after losing to Clemson and Ohio State earlier in the season.
Wednesday was another great day to be a basketball fan as multiple games came down to the wire. The most prolific scorer in the nation, Villanova’s star Forward Eric Dixon turned in a legendary second half to lead Villanova (11-5) over the defending national champions, #9 UConn (12-4) by the slim margin of 68-66 and Zhuric Phillips exploded with 34 points and a game-winning dagger to lead #10 Texas A&M (13-2) to a 80-78 win over #17 Oklahoma (13-2). #5 Alabama, #23 Ole Miss, #11 Kansas, #13 Illinois, and #18 Gonzaga all took care of business against subpar competition.
#9 (12-4) UConn: 66 @ (11-5) Villanova: 68
The four Pennsylvania native Senior stars Eric Dixon, Wooga Poplar, Jhamar Brickus, and Jordan Longino combined for 60 points in an upset victory over the struggling Huskies. Alex Karaban missed four potential game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final 25 seconds, including 2 free throws with just 3.1 seconds left. Despite getting outshot, outpassed, and outrebounded the Villanova Wildcats defeated Hurley’s UConn thanks to outscoring UConn 12-2 from the charity stripe. Eric Dixon asserts his claim as a Wooden Award contender with a clutch performance, while the Sophomore Solo Ball established himself as a leader, scoring over 15 in his last three games.
#10 (13-2) Texas A&M: 80 @ #17 (13-2) Oklahoma: 78
Despite being down 18 points and having just a 3.9% chance to win at one point, the Aggies completed the comeback of the year with a late three-pointer from Guard Zhuric Philips. Brycen Goodine’s 34 points were not enough to lead the Sooners to their first SEC win of the season.
The Aggies also received scoring help from Soloman Washington and Pharrel Payne.