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Welcome to the half week that was in the SEC! It's Sunday, so you've got a fever that only recaps of SEC games can cure. With it being the Sunday in February where they hand out Oscars, I thought I would hand some out as well. Let's give it up for our winners, may you speak until the music comes on, or you speak through it.
To the games!
Ole Miss (71) - Mississippi State (65)
Stefan Moody is COLD BLOODED! This game was tight from the get go, and State kept it close, even leading late, but then Stefan Moody happened. You recall how when Mizzou's offense on football got rolling back in the Chase Daniel days how they'd run the same pass to Maclin over and over and over again until it was stopped? Well that's what Ole Miss did to State. On three consecutive possessions, they ran the same iso play to Moody who made three treys from almost the exact same spot consecutively. It was crazy and awesome. State didn't have enough in the end come back from that knock down, but held tough against one of the better teams in the conference.
The Oscar goes to...Stefan Moody for Best Actor in a game where he crushed another team by himself.
Meanwhile, Rick Ray wins the Oscar for best dressed, the man was a velvet fog of wonder!
Red Cup Rebellion loves Stefan Moody, obviously.
Bumping on a career-high 29 points, Moody flushed an-also-career-high eight treys, topping his previous best of six against Western Kentucky. Said Andy Kennedy following the game, "He's a monster athlete." Stefan, my man, you should run for office.
For Whom the Cowbell Tolls has moved onto Baseball Season, so here's a great baseball movie quote:
"You guys...you lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Lollygaggers!"
Texas A&M (62) - South Carolina (52)
Danuel House, much like Stefan Moody referenced above, just buried South Carolina under a torrent of threes. He went 7 for 11 from downtown and led the Aggies to their 10th league win and 20th overall. Clearly everyone was mistaken when Mizzou and A&M were added to the conference, A&M is the basketball school and Mizzou is the football school. South Carolina for their part kept it close, but with two players on suspension, it was going to be tough.
The Oscar goes to...Billy Kennedy for Best Director! What he's done with A&M's defense is quite startling in how good it is.
House is the difference according to Good Bull Hunting
This kid has completely been the difference for Aggie Basketball this season. House started off the game absolutely on fire. His first half stat line was 5 out of 6 from the field, all three pointers, and 17 points. 17 points on 6 shots from the field. That's incredible. Believe it or not, Frank Martin's strategy to leave our best scorer open throughout the first half didn't exactly work out for him.
It's tough to overcome slow starts says Garnet and Black
The Gamecock offense was putrid in the first half and it carried over to the beginning of the second. In the first 25 minutes of the game, South Carolina scored 24 points. Tyrone Johnson, Sindarius Thornwell, Brian Steele, and Duane Notice combined to shoot 4-of-24 from the field during that time period. As dull as that period was, the remaining 15 minutes of ballgame was pretty entertaining.
LSU (70) - Florida (63)
So, LSU bounced back from a tough loss and swept the Gators for the first time in 2009 and it is now clear to me that the name on the front of their opponent's jersey and the sexiness of it will determine the effort. Prove me wrong Tigers, but that's what we're all seeing! God help LSU if they get a high seed in the dance and have to face a college from the Missouri Valley 'cause they're screwed. Pray for a 10, 11 or 12 LSU, pray for this! Anyway, the Tigers got a big games from Martin and Mickey and led two big runs to shut down the Gators in game.
The Oscar goes to...Jarell Martin for Best Visual Effects, I mean just look at the vine below. That's crazy and makes the effects in Interstellar look like garbage.
And the Valley Shook leaves you with this:
Alligator Army sees the inexperience of youth rearing it's head...again
Jarell Martin was LSU's best player on this Saturday, is a future NBA rotation player, and scored 28 points and had 13 rebounds against Florida.
Jacob Kurtz was Florida's best player on this Saturday, is a manager-turned-walk-on who has no professional basketball aspirations, and scored nine points and had eight rebounds for the Gators.
That's sort of the story of LSU's 70-63 win over the Gators in a nutshell.
Vanderbilt (76) - Mizzou (53)
Mizzou got rolled ROLLED by Vanderbilt yesterday. They had no answer for anything Vandy did. Double team Jones, he'll kick out to an open three point shooter, don't double team him and he'll score all over your face. In the battle of two inexperienced teams, Vandy was miles better. Though, their uniforms were a disaster, an absolute and total disaster! Also, their court is dumb.
The Oscar goes to...Vanderbilt for Best Costume Design. Those uniforms they wore were costumes, clearly someone should be go to jail for the sight they perpetrated on the rest of us.
Anchor of Gold was happy to see some of the end of bunch guys get some run
That big lead gave Vandy the chance to unleash some fan favorites from the deep end of the bench. Nathan Watkins, Philip McGloin, and Carter Josephs all earned playing time as the clock wound down on the Commodore win. Unfortunately neither Watkins or McGloin - the team's resident walk-ons - was able to find the bottom of the net.
Bill C at Rock M Nation feels that Mizzou was due for a beating.
Honestly, Mizzou was probably due a game like this, a "Oh no, here we go again" special where the other team comes out smoking hot, and Mizzou's down seven points before it can even get the pieces of its gameplan established. Mizzou started out 1-for-7 from the floor, Vandy started out 4-for-5, and that was pretty much that. When you've lost this many games in a row, with this young a team, one would assume games like this are inevitable. You're just trying to minimize the total. The total for Mizzou is now two -- this game and the Ole Miss game. (The game in Lexington, too, I guess, but ... that was Kentucky. That doesn't count.)
Arkansas (65) - Mississippi State (61)
Arkansas is winning on the road, the ROAD people!!! Anyway, the Hogs did their best to lose at times, but when it mattered they held the Bulldogs for 8 minutes without a score and that pretty much killed any chance State had at the home upset. It was the usual suspects for Arkansas with Qualls and Madden taking care of the scoring and pressing the D.
And the Oscar goes to...Arkansas for Best Foreign Language film, I mean they're winning on the road and no one understands how without the subtitles.
With the win, Arkansas secures a winning road record in SEC play, which is no small thing. It's unfortunate that the Bulldogs struggled so badly in non conference because their lowly RPI won't do many favors for the Hogs, but the extra road win is something to value.
For Whom the Cowbell Tolls, as noted above, has gone full Baseball, so here's another fun baseball movie quote instead:
Ahh, Jesus, I like him very much, but He no help with curveball.
Are you trying to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?!
Kentucky (110) - Auburn (75)
I mean, what's there to say? Kentucky put up 110 points, in a college game! Some NBA teams can't do that, and I'm not saying they'd beat any NBA team, 'cause they wouldn't. Anyway, Kentucky is good, they beat everyone. But Auburn did put up 75 which is a good number too. So Kentucky did what they do, and that all happened. WILL SOMEONE PLEASE MAKE THEM WORK A LITTLE HARDER? I'M BORED......
And the Oscar goes to...Kentucky for Best Animated Feature Film, because this score can't be real right? I mean this is some Pixar or the other one right? RIGHT?
The Final Four is a real possibility with this team according to A Sea of Blue
This Wildcats team is definitely starting to find the kind of game that will take them to the NCAA Tournament championship, or at least to the Final Four. We are seeing better intensity against inferior foes, better offensive execution and experienced players raising their game to new levels. That's exactly what we should be looking for.
I don't have very much good to say after this disaster so I'll be brief. I'll start by saying I'm disappointed in this season. Auburn has looked promising at moments this year, but by and large, they have been a slightly better version of what they have shown the last 4 years floundering under Tony Barbee*. Here's to next year, some blue chip recruits and a return to relevance.
*Let this be the last time we ever mention this a-hole's name on this blog. From everything I have read and heard about this D-bag, he's not worth another typed character.
Ole Miss (59) - Tennessee (57)
As noted above Stefan Moody is good. He led the Rebs along with Jarvis Summers to a close home win over the Vols. The Vols led at several points during the game but couldn't make a shot as time expired to get the tie and send this thing to overtime. Ole Miss remains tied with A&M for third and number 2 in some fans hearts. In terrible news for the non Vol fans around the world "Third down for what" will remain a thing at UT next year, so for those of you whose team travels to Knoxville next year, you have our sympathies.
And the Oscar goes to...The Tad Pad for Best Supporting Actor, because they kept the lights on, and that is something to be celebrated. The Rebs couldn't have done it without you old building that wants to fall apart.
Red Cup Rebellion is currently very excited about some football recruit and have not put up a game recap to date.
Rocky Top Talk is getting tired of close road losses
At Arkansas, Robert Hubbs rimmed out a tying three with three seconds left. At Georgia, Josh Richardson missed a tying three after an offensive rebound in the final seconds. And tonight, Richardson hit every inch of the rim on a tying two at the buzzer, but the ball just wouldn't drop. Unbelievably, if those three shots drop, the Vols go to overtime thrice with a chance to be 7-0 on the road in the SEC.
Georgia (66) - Alabama (65) OT
If you're a Bama fan, you're sick and tired of this. Another loss by one point and an inability to get a shot off at the end of the game. This was game was bad from the jump and really a mess. I fear this seals Anthony Grant's fate, but for Bama fans I assume this is a long time coming.
And the Oscar goes to...Georgia for Best Short Film for what they did in Overtime to get the win. Really, this game was hideous, it deserves nothing!
Dawg Sports gets extremely eloquent in delivering a recap on an ugly game
This wasn't the first ugly basketball game that the Georgia Bulldoigs have had a shameful part in this season. But tonight's contest against the Alabama Crimson Tide was special, even for SEC basketball. From the midpoint of the first half to the latter half of the second, it was the Gigli of college basketball. The day old egg salad sandwich of college basketball games. If it had been a bowl of Halloween candy, it would have been those crappy stale peanut butter things that come wrapped in black and orange wax paper.
Roll Bama Roll has seen this script before
This was actually a pretty entertaining game to watch, and the Tide's offense seemed to be clicking through most of the second half. The ending was unfortunate, and likely did a lot of damage to any playoff hopes still left for the Tide. Yet again, Coach Anthony Grant and the Crimson Tide managed to lose a game on the last possession. Its happened way too often this season.
SEC Standings
| Team | Wins | Losses | SEC Wins | SEC Losses |
| Kentucky | 27 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Arkansas | 22 | 5 | 11 | 3 |
| Texas A&M | 19 | 7 | 10 | 4 |
| Ole Miss | 19 | 8 | 10 | 4 |
| LSU | 19 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| Georgia | 17 | 9 | 8 | 6 |
| Alabama | 16 | 11 | 6 | 8 |
| Tennessee | 14 | 12 | 6 | 8 |
| Florida | 13 | 14 | 6 | 8 |
| Vanderbilt | 15 | 12 | 5 | 9 |
| Mississippi State | 12 | 15 | 5 | 9 |
| South Carolina | 13 | 13 | 4 | 10 |
| Auburn | 12 | 15 | 4 | 10 |
| Mizzou | 7 | 20 | 1 | 13 |
And there you have it, the half week that was in the SEC. Some teams have moved on, others are just getting started to get hyped. The SEC is playing some good and terrible basketball, and you should be watching it because the conference has a chance to do something interesting this March, for the first time in a long time.
March is coming my friends, March is coming. Belegcam will be back on Thursday to recap what happens this coming week and I'll be back next Sunday after probably the best SEC game of the season between Arky and Kentucky. Until then!