2002 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament
March 7-10 * Georgia Dome * Atlanta, Ga.

FIRST ROUND
March 7 (Thursday)
Game 1 - [E5] Vanderbilt 62, [W4] LSU 69
Game 2 - [W5] Arkansas 61, [E4] Tennessee 68
Game 3 - [W6] Auburn 63, [E3] Florida 81
Game 4 - [E6] South Carolina 69, [W3] Ole Miss 67

SECOND ROUND
March 8 (Friday)
Game 5 - [W4] LSU 78, [E1] Georgia 76 | Post-Game Press Conference Audio | Game Stats
Game 6 - [E4] Tennessee 72, [W1] Alabama 91 | Post-Game Press Conference Audio | Game Stats
Game 7 - [E3] Florida 52, [W2] Mississippi State 62 | Post-Game Press Conference Audio | Game Stats
Game 8 - [E6] South Carolina 70, [E2] Kentucky 57 | Post-Game Press Conference Audio | Game Stats

[W4] LSU 78, [E1] Georgia 76

ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia had another meltdown in the Southeastern Conference tournament, losing to LSU 78-76 when Ezra Williams missed two free throws with 6.8 seconds left in Friday's quarterfinal.

The Bulldogs (21-9), who came in as the No. 1 seed from the Eastern Division, have lost their first game in the tournament four years in a row. This time, they certainly hurt their seeding for the NCAA tournament.

LSU (18-13) went ahead for good when Torris Bright put back a missed shot with 1:34 remaining.

Georgia got the ball back with 35 seconds left and went for the win, but Williams missed a 3-pointer from the corner. After a wild scramble for the rebound, Bright came up with the ball while sitting on the court. He lofted the ball downcourt and Brad Bridgewater wound up with a dunk.

The Bulldogs weren't through. After Rashad Wright scored on a layin with 8 seconds left, Williams stole the inbounds pass and went up for the tying basket. The ball wouldn't drop, but he was fouled by Antonio Hudson.

Williams, who led Georgia with 27 points, went to the foul line with a chance to send the game to overtime. A 77.5 percent free-throw shooter, he put his hands on his head in disbelief when the first attempt bounced off the back of the rim.

Williams missed again on his second attempt, the ball rolling off the rim into the hands of Ronald Dupree. The LSU player was fouled and went to the other end for a one-and-one with 6.1 seconds to go.

Dupree also missed, but time ran out while the teams battled for a loose ball.

LSU also upset Georgia last year in the SEC tournament, 63-62.

Even though Georgia is the home-state team, they haven't taken advantage of their proximity to the Georgia Dome. The Bulldogs dropped to 1-5 at the tournament's semiregular home.

Georgia was perhaps the SEC's most surprising team during the regular season. Picked to finish in the bottom half of the 12-team league, the Bulldogs went 10-6 and shared the East title with a couple of more touted teams, No. 11 Florida and No. 12 Kentucky.

Georgia earned a first-round bye, while LSU had to play its second game in two days. The Tigers defeated Vanderbilt 69-62 on Thursday.

Hudson had another big game, leading LSU with 23 points. The freshman guard had 24 in the opening round.

The way Georgia started, it seemed the game might be a blowout. The Bulldogs hit five straight shots at one juncture and built a 20-8 lead before the game was eight minutes old.

Then, Georgia got extremely sloppy with the ball, allowing LSU to get back in the game. The Tigers took advantage of 10 turnovers to outscore the Bulldogs 30-15 the rest of the half.

LSU led 38-35 at halftime and started the second half by hitting 10 of 11 shots. Overall, the Tigers shot 54 percent (26-of-48) from the field.

[E4] Tennessee 72, [W1] Alabama 91

ATLANTA (AP) -- Rod Grizzard and Alabama showed just how potent they can be this postseason.

Grizzard scored a career-high 33 points, including 27 in the first half, to carry the eighth-ranked Crimson Tide to a 91-72 victory over Tennessee in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday.

The regular-season champion Tide (25-6) set the tone early by hitting 3-pointers and letting their quick guards drive to the basket. Alabama, chasing its first tournament title since 1987, jumped to a 22-point lead in the first half and pushed it to 71-40 in the second.

The Volunteers (15-16) failed to qualify for the postseason despite a late onslaught from Vincent Yarbrough, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Grizzard scored 20 straight points for Alabama in the first half, finishing 13-of-20 from the floor and 6-of-10 from 3-point range.

The Tide scored 27 points off turnovers and weren't fazed by subpar outings from starters Erwin Dudley and Terrance Meade.

Dudley, the SEC player of the year, had six points and 12 rebounds. Meade was 0-of-10 from the floor for just two points, but he had 10 boards.

Mo Williams and Kenny Walker had 13 points apiece, with all of Walker's coming in the second half. Earnest Shelton added 10 points.

Grizzard also grabbed eight rebounds and sparked a 3-point barrage for the league's worst outside shooting team with six first-half 3s.

That matched the total for the past 13 games for Grizzard, a 24-percent shooter from long range. His previous career bests were 29 points and five 3s.

After nearly 19 minutes, the score was even: Grizzard 27, Tennessee 27. He made 10 of 17 shots in the first half while the Vols were 10 of 27.

Marcus Haislip had 17 points for Tennessee.

This one was over quickly, with Alabama building a 49-29 halftime lead.

Grizzard hit a dunk and four straight 3-pointers in a two-minute span of the first half. He added his sixth 3 of the half to start a four-point play with 4:55 left for a 40-19 lead.

Grizzard hadn't scored more than 20 points in the past nine games and was 4-of-30 from 3-point range in his last 12.

Dudley had rare back-to-back bad offensive games. He was coming off his worst game of the season, a five-point, two-rebound performance in an 84-56 loss to Mississippi.

The Tide came into the game last in the league in 3-point percentage but were 10-of-22 in the first half.

[E3] Florida 52, [W2] Mississippi State 62

ATLANTA (AP) -- A few weeks ago, Florida was a possible No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Not anymore.

A late-season slide by the No. 11 Gators carried over to the Southeastern Conference tournament, where a terrible shooting night helped Mississippi State to a 62-52 victory in the quarterfinals Friday.

Timmy Bowers scored 17 points for the Bulldogs (24-7), who advanced to meet LSU in an unlikely semifinal Saturday. The Tigers upset No. 17 Georgia earlier in the day.

Florida, which rose as high as No. 2 in The Associated Press poll, dropped out of the Top 10 for the first time all year after losing three of its last five regular-season games.

The Gators (22-8) beat last-place Auburn in the opening round of the SEC tournament, but they hardly resembled the high-flying team that eclipsed 100 points five times this season.

Florida failed to connect on its first 10 shots, finally getting on the board when Bonell Colas put back a miss nearly four minutes into the game.

It never got much better for the Gators, who shot only 31 percent (20-of-64). The Bulldogs clogged up the lane, daring Florida to beat them from the outside.

The Gators, hampered when center Udonis Haslem got into foul trouble, couldn't respond. They made just five of 20 outside the 3-point arc and caused only 10 turnovers with their pressing, trapping defense.

Florida, which led the SEC in scoring with an average of 81.4 points, barely managed to beat its worst offensive showing of the season, which came in a 68-51 loss to Mississippi _ the game that began the Gators' slump.

Mississippi State demonstrated just how far Florida has fallen. On Feb. 2, the Bulldogs were routed 76-48 in Gainesville.

Bowers hit only three of 12 shots for eight points in that game, but he took over in the second half Friday. The sophomore guard scored all of his points after the break, hitting a couple of 3-pointers. He also grabbed six rebounds.

Mississippi State went ahead for good with a quick 8-0 spurt early in the second half. Marckell Patterson finished off the run with a 3-pointer.

Florida got as close as 40-38 on two free throws by Haslem with 9:30 remaining. But Bowers swished a 3, then scored again on the inside to give the Bulldogs a cushion.

When the buzzer sounded, Derrick Zimmerman taunted the Florida fans with the ``Gator Chomp,'' then waved his arms defiantly to indicate that their SEC tournament was over.

Justin Hamilton led Florida with 13 points, and Brett Nelson, with 10, was his only teammate in double figures.

Zimmerman scored 15 points, and Michal Ignerski added 14 for the Bulldogs.

Haslem got two fouls in the first five minutes and sat out the rest of the half. Then he was called for his third foul, an offensive charge, less than a minute into the second half.

The All-SEC selection had just seven points and four rebounds.

[E6] South Carolina 70, [E2] Kentucky 57

ATLANTA (AP) -- Kentucky's run of dominance in the Southeastern Conference tournament is over.

South Carolina ended a 12-game losing streak to the 12th-ranked Wildcats with a surprising 70-57 victory Friday night in the SEC quarterfinals, playing stifling defense as five players scored in double figures.

Kentucky had won eight of the past 10 league tournaments, including last year's, and lost only twice in its last 28 tournament games.

The Gamecocks (18-13) advanced to the semifinals against No. 8 Alabama by upsetting two teams with 20 wins, including Thursday night's 69-67 victory over Mississippi.

The Wildcats (20-9) shot just 19-of-61 from the floor (31 percent), compared to 50 percent for the Gamecocks. Kentucky missed its first 14 3-pointers and was 1-of-19 before a predominantly blue-and-white clad crowd.

The Wildcats had won the previous two meetings this season, but were consistently outhustled by the Gamecocks in Round 3.

Tony Kitchings had 10 points and 13 rebounds for South Carolina, and Aaron Lucas had 12 points, including five free throws in the final 1:42. Jamel Bradley scored 11 points, and Rolando Howell had 10.

Carlos Powell was 3-for-3 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line for 10 points.

Kentucky's Tayshaun Prince got into early foul trouble but scored 11 of his 12 points in the second half. Freshman Chuck Hayes got his first double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Keith Bogans had 13 points, but he and Prince were a combined 7-of-22 from the floor.

Fans began chanting for Kentucky guard Gerald Fitch to get into the game midway through the second half, but he didn't make an appearance. Fitch served a three-game suspension after he and teammate Erik Daniels were charged with using fake driver's licenses to try to get into a nightclub last month.

Fitch's 3-pointer with 33 seconds left lifted the Wildcats to a 70-67 victory over Florida in the regular-season finale. It wasn't immediately clear why he was benched again, and it might not have changed the outcome anyway.

The Gamecocks got going after managing only one field goal in the first six minutes and led 35-27 at halftime. Down five early, they went on a 17-5 run as Kentucky missed 13 of 15 shots.

Prince, who spent all but five minutes of the half on the bench with two fouls, attempted just one shot.