Varnado's Season Stats
PPG RPG APG BPG SPG 10.3 13.0 0.8 7.8 0.3
SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK Storm Warren, LSU F • 6-7 • 220 • Fr. • Monroe, La.
Warren's Season Stats
PPG RPG APG BPG SPG 7.0 7.0 1.0 2.0 0.7
SEC STANDINGS
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
November 24 (Monday) 8-Florida vs. Syracuse [ESPN2] 6:30 p.m. CT Longwood University at Kentucky [FSNS/BBSN] 7:00 p.m. ET Middle Tennessee at Vanderbilt [CSS] 7:00 p.m. CT 10-Alabama vs. Oregon [ESPN2] 7:00 p.m. HT 9-Santa Clara at Georgia 8:00 p.m. ET
November 25 (Tuesday) 10-Alabama vs. UNC or Chaminade [ESPN/ESPN2] 4:30 p.m. HT 5-Bethune Cookman at Auburn 7:00 p.m. CT Mississippi State at St. Bonaventure 7:00 p.m. ET Gardner-Webb at South Carolina [SS] 7:00 p.m. ET 8-Florida vs. Washington or Kansas TBA 9-Mississippi Valley at Georgia 8:00 p.m. ET
November 26 (Wednesday) Central Florida at Ole Miss 7:00 p.m. CT 2-Central Arkansas at Vanderbilt 7:00 p.m. CT Arkansas at South Alabama [CSS] 8:00 p.m. CT 10-Alabama vs. TBA TBA
November 27 (Thursday) 12-Tennessee vs. Siena [ESPN2] Noon ET
November 28 (Friday) 13-Auburn vs. Dayton 5:00 p.m. CT 6-Centenary at LSU 7:00 p.m. CT 15-Kentucky vs. Kansas State [ESPNU] 9:00 p.m. PT South Carolina at College of Charleston [CSS] 7:00 p.m. ET 12-Tennessee vs. Wichita State or Georgetown TBA 14-Mississippi State vs. Washington State TBA
November 29 (Saturday) Morgan State at Ole Miss 1:00 p.m. CT Florida A&M at Arkansas 2:00 p.m. CT 13-Auburn vs. Northern Iowa 4:30 p.m. CT 16-Vanderbilt vs. Drake 6:30 p.m MT 15-Kentucky vs. West Virginia or Iowa [BBSN or ESPN2] TBA 14-Mississippi State vs. Pittsburgh or Texas Tech TBA
November 30 (Sunday) 17-Florida vs. Missouri-Kansas City [SUN] 1:00 p.m. ET 6-Troy at LSU 6:00 p.m. CT 12-Tennessee vs. TBA TBA 16-Vanderbilt vs. New Mexico or VCU TBA
ALL TIMES LOCAL *SEC Game; [ ] TV Game; #Tape Delayed; FSN includes FSN South, FSN Southwest and SUN Sports; RSP - Razorback Sports Properties; BBSN: Big Blue Sports Network; CSS: Comcast Sports Southeast; CST: Cox SportsTelevision; MTN: The Mtn. - Mountain West Sports Network; FSN: Fox Sports Net; FSNS: FSN South; FSN Fla.:FSN Florida; Raycom: Raycom Sports; SS: SportSouth; SUN: Sun Sports; CBSCS: CBS College Sports.
SEC HIGHLIGHTS
SEC NOTES
Five Named To Preseason Wooden Watch List
Five Southeastern Conference student-athletes were among the 2008-09 preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year trophy were announced Nov. 7. The list was composed of 50 student athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious honor.
Florida's Nick Calathes, South Carolina's Devan Downey, Vanderbilt's A.J. Ogilvy, Kentucky's Patrick Patterson and Tennessee's Tyler Smith were each named to the preseason squad.
In mid-January, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 30 list, followed in March by the National Ballot, consisting of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round during the NCAA Tournament.
The 33rd annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award to Rick Barnes from The University of Texas, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club in April, 2009.
Century Celebrations
Three SEC schools are celebrating a century of basketball on their campuses this season. LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee will each hold special events during the season to celebrate the milestone.
LSU began playing intercollegiate basketball on Jan. 30, 1909 and will celebrate the anniversary of the event on Jon. 30-31 when the school hosts a two day celebration that will be highlighted by a reunion, the announcement of an all-century team and the current team hosting Arkansas Jan. 31.
Ole Miss is celebrating its program's origination on Jan. 28, 1909 and will host a reunion of some of the top players in school history against Georgia Feb. 21.
Tennessee will celebrate the 100th anniversary of basketball on its campus the weekend of Feb. 13-14 when the Vols host South Carolina with a reunion of former players and the announcement of an all-century team.
38 Former SEC Players On NBA Opening Day Rosters
The Southeastern Conference maintains its strong presence in the NBA for the 2008-2009 season as 38 former players were on 22 of the 30 NBA team's rosters to open the season. Ten of the 12 SEC schools have former standouts holding roster spots at the beginning of the league's 63rd season.
Florida and Kentucky top the list with nine former players each on the rosters of 14 different NBA squads. Golden State has four former SECers on its team while Atlanta has three SEC alums and Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York each have two former conference players on their rosters.
Bolstering the list of former SEC players, LSU has six former players in the league. The former Tigers have accumulated 30 years of NBA experience, led by Shaquille O'Neal who is in his 16th season and is currently playing for Miami. Alabama is next in line with four former SEC players in the NBA. The former Crimson Tide players have accumulated 24 years of NBA experience, led by Antonio McDyess (Detroit--12th season). Arkansas has three players while Georgia and South Carolina have two and Auburn, Mississippi State and Tennessee each have one.
Pat Riley (Kentucky) and Ernie Grunfeld (Tennessee) highlight the front office list as team presidents for the Miami Heat and Washington Wizards, respectively. The NBA also lists 11 coaches who attended college at a current SEC institution, including Los Angeles Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy (South Carolina).
Throughout the history of men's college basketball, the Southeastern Conference has captured 10 NCAA Championships and four NIT titles putting the SEC as one of the nation's top basketball conferences.
The SEC enjoyed another outstanding season in 2007-08 with six teams receiving NCAA Tournament invitations and two more playing in the National Invitation Tournament. At least half of the SEC's member institutions advanced to the postseason for the 30th consecutive year.
SECond TO NONE
The SEC became the first conference to win the Division I National Championship in Football (Florida), Men's Basketball (Florida) and Women's Basketball (Tennessee) in the same school year. The Southeastern Conference won all three during the 2006-07 academic year.
Only the SEC and the Big East have ever won both the men's and women's basketball titles in one season. SEC won both three times in 1996, 1998 and 2007. The Big East has won both twice in 2003 and 2004.
The SEC swept both the NIT and NCAA Tournaments in 2006 with Florida knocking off UCLA, 73-57, to earn its first NCAA championship and South Carolina defeating Michigan, 76-64, to earn its second straight NIT title.
The Southeastern Conference became the first conference since the Big East in 2003 to win both titles in a season. Only four conferences have won both the NIT and NCAA title, including the ACC (1992) and Big Ten (1979).
RECORD ATTENDANCE
The SEC posted its second-largest attendance last season totaling 2,561,545 fans for games featuring SEC teams in 2007-08. It marked the second consecutive year more than 2.5 million fans witnessed SEC basketball. A record 2,562,073 fans saw SEC basketball in 2006-07.
SEC FIRST IN NCAA TOURNEY RECORD AND WINS
With a 4-6 record in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, the SEC ranks first among all conferences in record in the “Big Dance” over the last three seasons. The Southeastern Conference has amassed a 28-15 mark during the last three NCAA Tournaments.
Conference NCAA Record (2006-Present) SEC 28-15 (.651) Big 12 22-13 (.629) Pac-10 26-16 (.619) Big East 29-22 (.569) ACC 19-15 (.559) Big Ten 17-16 (.515)
Six Teams Dancing
The SEC was second in number of bids for the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The league received six bids for the eighth time in the last 10 years. The SEC has received at least five bids for 12th straight years.
SEC Champion Tennessee made its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008. Kentucky made its 17th straight NCAA tourney. Arkansas and Vanderbilt are made their third and second straight appearances, respectively. Mississippi State rejoined the field for the first time since 2005. Georgia earned the automatic bid to join the field for the first time since 2002
To follow is a breakdown of conferences with more than one bid and their records, ranked by winning pct.:
'08 Record No. of Bids Big 12 12-5 (.706) 6 Big East 11-8 (.579) 8 Pac 10 8-6 (.571) 6 ACC 6-4 (.600) 4 C-USA 5-1 (.833) 1 Big Ten 5-4 (.556) 4 SEC 4-6 (.400) 6 Southern 3-1 (.750) 1 Atlantic 10 3-3 (.500) 3 Sun Belt 2-2 (.500) 2 Mountain West 1-2 (.333) 2 West Coast 1-3 (.250) 3
EVERYBODY DANCE
Every team in the SEC has made at least one NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six editions of the “Big Dance,” which shows the balance in the league over the past few seasons.
Here's a quick look at those appearances since the 2002 event.
Team NCAA Appearances from 2002-2008 Alabama 2002, 03, 04, 05, 06 Arkansas 2006, 07, 08 Auburn 2003 Florida 2002, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07 Georgia 2002, 08 Kentucky 2002, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08 LSU 2003, 05, 06 Ole Miss 2002 Mississippi State 2002, 03, 04, 05, 08 South Carolina 2004 Tennessee 2006, 07, 08 Vanderbilt 2004, 07, 08
Here's a look at the other major basketball conferences and their teams who have not been to the NCAA Tournament over that span:
ACC 11 of 12 Florida State Big 12 11 of 12 Nebraska Big East 14 of 16 Rutgers, South Florida Big Ten 8 of 11 Michigan, Northwestern, Penn State Pac-10 9 of 10 Oregon State
HOW SWEET IT IS
The 2007-08 season marked the 19th straight year the SEC had at least one team advance to the Sweet 16 when Tennessee advanced to the Sweet 16.
The SEC record for most Sweet 16 appearances in an NCAA Tournament is four. In 1986, Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky and LSU advanced past the first two rounds. In 1996, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi State all advanced to the regional semifinals.
Last season, Florida, Tennessee and Vanderbilt advanced to the Sweet 16. It was the first time since 1996 that 60 percent or more (three of the five NCAA teams) of the SEC teams that earned NCAA berths advanced to the second weekend. In 1996, all four NCAA teams advanced to the Sweet 16.
In 2004, Alabama and Vanderbilt became the 10th and 11th SEC teams since 1996 to advance to the Sweet 16. The SEC leads the nation with 11 of its 12 members reaching the Sweet 16 since 1996.
SEC (91.7 pct, 11 of 12) Big Ten (81.8 pct, 9 of 11) Pac 10 (80.0 pct, 8 of 10) Big East (75.0 pct, 12 of 16) ACC (75.0 pct, 9 of 12) Big 12 (66.7 pct, 8 of 12)
SEC AMONG FINAL FOUR LEADERS
In the last 16 NCAA Tournaments (1993-2008), the SEC's 12 Final Four appearances are the second most by any conference.
With Florida and LSU advancing to the Final Four in the 2006 season, the SEC has had a total of five different teams to make the national semifinals, behind only the Big Ten's seven over the 16-year span.
Florida's 2007 Final Four showing gave the SEC its 22nd all-time appearances (27th including five appearances by Arkansas prior to joining the SEC).
Atlantic Coast (14) - Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Maryland SEC (12) - Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi St. Big Ten (11) - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin Big 12* (8) - Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Pacific-10 (8) - Arizona, Stanford, UCLA Big East^ (7) - Connecticut, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Syracuse
*Including teams part of the Big 8; ^Including teams part of C-USA before joining the Big East
FIRST ROUND SUCCESS
The SEC was 3-3 in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament to extend its 10-year first-round record to 40-18.
In 1999, the SEC dispelled the first-round jinx that had loomed over the league in the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Tournaments as all six league teams earned opening round wins. The perfect 6-0 record set the standard as the SEC became the first conference to have six teams win their first-round games in the same season.
SEC IN STRENGTH OF SCHEDULES
All 12 SEC teams posted schedules among the Top 100 in the country in 2008, according to CollegeRPI.com, entering the postseason.
HOME SWEET HOME
Southeastern Conference teams had a 157-46 (.773) record at home this past season.
POLL WORTHY
The SEC is the only conference in the nation to have all of its teams ranked at least one week in the Associated Press top 25 (excluding preseason polls) since 1999-00. Simply stated, every SEC team has been a top-25 team nationally at one point in the last nine seasons.
A look at SEC teams in the AP top 25 show the league's diversity since the 2000 season. Every team has been in the top 25.
Alabama 2006-07 Arkansas 2007-08 Auburn 1999-00 Florida 2007-08 Georgia 2002-03 Kentucky 2006-07 LSU 2006-07 Ole Miss 2007-08 Mississippi State 2004-05 South Carolina 2003-04 Tennessee 2007-08 Vanderbilt 2007-08
Here's a look at the other major basketball conferences and their teams who have not achieved an AP top 25 ranking over that span:
ACC 11 of 12 Florida State Big East 14 of 16 Rutgers, South Florida Big Ten 9 of 11 Northwestern, Penn State Big 12 10 of 12 Colorado, Nebraska Pac-10 9 of 10 Oregon State
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Since the 1980-81 season, each of the 12 SEC schools has captured either an SEC divisional, overall or tournament title and 11 different schools have won or shared the SEC Championship since the league's inception in 1933.
The wealth was truly shared in 2003 as the Alabama and Georgia joined the ranks of SEC Divisional Champions. All 12 schools have won or shared a divisional title.
During the last 18 seasons, six schools captured their inaugural SEC title. Florida began the string by winning the school's first-ever basketball crown in 1989. Georgia followed in 1990. Arkansas won the 1992 title in its first season in the SEC and South Carolina earned the top spot in 1997.
SEC Titles Since 1980-81
Divisional Overall Tournament Titles Titles Titles Alabama 2 2 5 Arkansas 4 2 1 Auburn 1 1 1 Florida 5 4 3 Georgia 1 1 2 Kentucky 11 11* 12* LSU 3 5 0 Ole Miss 4 0 1 Mississippi State 6 2 2 South Carolina 1 1 0 Tennessee 4 3 0 Vanderbilt 1 1 0
*1988 titles vacated
ROAD WARRIORS
With a 4-8 mark the last week of conference play, road teams' collective conference record finished at 32-64 (.333).
Breaking down the record shows the road teams had a 16-28 record in weekday SEC games and a 16-36 record in weekend league games.
In 2007, SEC road teams did not fare well with a 24-72 record. The breakdown was 8-36 in weekday night conference games and 16-36 in weekend conference tilts.
NATIONAL POLLS
Associated Press (November 24)
Other SEC teams receiving votes: LSU 23; Vanderbilt 6; Alabama 3.
USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll (November 24)
Other SEC teams receiving votes: None.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE OVERALL: 1-1 (1-1 H, 0-0 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Mark Gottfried 199-125 in 11th year at Alabama 267-149 in 14th year as a head coach
Alabama opened the game with an 18-0 run and never looked back on its way to an 89-48 win over Florida A&M Wednesday night at Coleman Coliseum ... Ronald Steele scored eight of his game-high 15 points in the first five minutes while leading the run ... JaMychal Green added 12 points and eight rebounds giving him consecutive double figure scoring games to open his career at Alabama ... Anthony Brock came off the bench to score 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting that included three three-pointers ... Mikhail Torrance added 11 points and freshman Andrew Steele threw in 10 ... Tide out-rebounded Florida A&M 49-34 ... Alabama made 9-of-16 three-pointers while Florida A&M finished 0-of-20 from behind the arc ... Florida A&M missed their first 11 attempts from the field while Alabama built their early lead ... Alabama hits the road for the first time this season when the Tide travels to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational ... UA will face Oregon in the first round at 11 p.m. CT Monday, Nov. 24.
ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS OVERALL: 2-1 (2-0 H, 0-1 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: John Pelphrey 25-13 in 2nd year at Arkansas 105-80 in 7th year as a head coach
Michael Sanchez had 12 rebounds against California-Davis and and 11 at Missouri State last week after opening the season with 12 against Southeastern Louisiana ... He is the first Razorback to open a season with three straight double-figure rebounding games since All-SEC pick Derek Hood in 1997 ... Arkansas had a 36-29 rebounding advantage at Missouri State and has outrebounded all three opponents this season ... The Razorbacks have a +8.7 rebounding margin with Michael Sanchez (11.7), Michael Washington (9.3) and Montrell McDonald (6.3) leading the way ... Freshman point guard Courtney Fortson is the only Razorback to score in double figures in all three games this year ... He had 18 points against Southeastern Louisiana, 16 against UC-Davis and 10 at Missouri State ... The game at South Alabama on Wednesday is the first of 14 this year Arkansas plays against teams reaching either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT last season ... The win over California-Davis on Thursday was the 200th for Arkansas in Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas is now 200-44 in 16 years in the building for a winning percentage of .820.
AUBURN TIGERS OVERALL: 2-1 (2-1 H, 0-0 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Jeff Lebo 59-65 in 4th year at Auburn 174-128 in 11th year as a head coach
Auburn came back from a 15-point halftime deficit to double up George Washington in the second half for an 83-71 victory in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum Saturday ... Tay Waller scored 19 points and Frankie Sullivan had 17 points on 4-of-7 three-pointers to lead the Tigers ... It was a tale of two halves as the Tigers trailed 44-29 at intermission after the Colonials shot 57 percent from the field and 59 percent (10-of-17) from 3-point range ... In the second half, Auburn limited George Washington to only 33 percent shooting from the field and 22 percent (2-of-9) from 3-point range ... Auburn outscored George Washington 54-27 in the second half mostly by turning a 51-41 deficit into a 54-53 Tiger lead ... Auburn drained 14-of-17 foul shots in the final 4:15 as the Colonials started fouling intentionally with three minutes to play ... Lucas Hargrove added 13 points and six rebounds for Auburn, Korvotney Barber had 11 points and six boards and DeWayne Reed nine points, four assists, three rebounds and only one turnover, his first this season ... Auburn returns to action as it plays host to Bethune-Cookman in the Chicago Invitational second round Tuesday at 7 pm Central in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.
FLORIDA GATORS OVERALL: 3-0 (3-0 H, 0-0 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Billy Donovan 288-115 in 13th year at Florida 323-135 in 15th year as a head coach
Despite a sub-par offensive night, the University of Florida improved to 3-0 for the seventh straight year, dropping Southern Utah, 64-50 ... Nick Calathes led the charge for the Gators with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists ... Despite not playing well offensively, the Gators continued to impress defensively, forcing 21 turnovers and coming up with a season-high 14 steals ... The Gators are forcing 23.0 turnovers per game thus far, are coming up with 12.7 steals per game and have yet to allow a team to hit more field goals than they've forced turnovers... Dan Werner hit a three-pointer with :22 seconds remaining that extended UF's streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 545 games ... The Gators had gone 0-15 from beyond the arc before Werner's shot ... Florida takes to the road for the first time next week, heading to Kansas City to face Syracuse on Monday night, followed by a match-up with either defending national champion Kansas or Washington ... Four of the previous six national championships will be represented in Kansas City.
GEORGIA BULLDOGS OVERALL: 3-1 (2-0 H, 0-0 A, 1-1 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Dennis Felton 78-81 in 6th year at Georgia 178-135 in 11th year as a head coach
Georgia plays host to one of three brackets of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off this Monday and Tuesday ... The Bulldogs will face West Coast Conference foe Santa Clara on Monday and SWAC member Mississippi Valley State the next night ... The other two consolation brackets of this tournament are being played this week at Davidson, N.C., and Jamaica, N.Y. (St. John's) ... The Bulldogs played their first two games in the Tip-Off at West Lafayette, Ind., where they lost a first-round matchup to Loyola-Chicago last Monday and defeated Eastern Michigan the next afternoon ... Georgia arrives at tonight's game with a 3-1 overall record ... Most recently, the Bulldogs edged Presbyterian in a 55-47 contest last Friday night in Athens ... It is believed that Monday's first game between Arizona and Mississippi Valley State is the first neutral-court game played at Stegeman Coliseum since March 20, 1971. That's when UGA hosted the '71 NCAA Mideast Regional, won by Western Kentucky.
KENTUCKY WILDCATS OVERALL: 1-2 (1-1 H, 0-1 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Billy Gillispie 19-16 in 2nd year at Kentucky 119-73 in 7th year as a head coach
After claiming victory in their first Las Vegas Invitational game against Delaware State, the Wildcats face Longwood in the final tournament game in Lexington ... Paced by Jodie Meeks' 22 points, the Wildcats held the Hornets to 31 percent shooting en route to a 71-42 victory. UK's stingy defense limited Delaware State to 22 percent (5-23) in the second half, allowing just 19 points ... Meeks led all scorers while freshman Darius Miller contributed 13 points and four assists both personal bests ... Following the game against Longwood the Wildcats will head to Vegas to take on Kansas State and either West Virginia or Iowa in the final two rounds of the tournament ... Jodie Meeks' is averaging 26.7 ppg through the first three games of the season, the best three-game start by a Wildcat since Jamal Mashburn in the 1992-93 season ... After shooting only 21 percent on three-pointers in the first two games, UK shot 53 percent against Delaware State, making nine of 17 ... Kentucky ranks third in the SEC in blocked shots with 20.
LSU TIGERS OVERALL: 3-0 (3-0 H, 0-0 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Trent Johnson 3-0 in 1st year at LSU 162-121 in 10th year as a head coach
The Tigers won two games against Alcorn State (77-45) and Northwestern State (91-60) to end the first week of the five-team, four-game round robin two-weekend LSU Invitational as the only undefeated team at 2-0 ... Against Alcorn State no starter played no more than 18 minutes as Tasmin Mitchell led the Tigers with 12 points ... In the game, LSU blocked 16 shots, tying the school record for a single game set on Jan. 2, 1990 in a 124-113 win in Houston against the University of Texas ... Against Northwestern State, the Tigers blew open the game with a 22-0 run ... First-team preseason All-SEC selection Marcus Thornton got his game on track with 25 points, 20 in the first half ... The Tigers blocked 10 shots against the Demons ... In the second weekend of the LSU Invitational, LSU will host Centenary on Friday at 7 p.m. and will conclude the invitational on Sunday with a 6 p.m. home game against Troy ... In three games, LSU is averaging 47 rebounds and has 28 blocks ... Three players -- Bo Spencer (13.0), Marcus Thornton (12.7) and Tasmin Mitchell (12.3) -- are averaging in double figures through the first three games of the season.
OLE MISS REBELS OVERALL: 3-1 (2-0 H, 0-0 A, 1-1 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Andy Kennedy 48-25 in 3rd year at Ole Miss 69-38 in 4th year as a head coach
Ole Miss won one and lost one at the Glenn Wilkes Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla., over the weekend to move to 3-1 on the early season ... The Rebels closed out the tournament with an 82-78 victory over Marshall ... Sophomore point guard Chris Warren led the way with a career-high 28 points, while junior guard David Huertas added 21 ... Warren had back-to-back 20-point efforts in his home state of Florida, while Huertas has scored 20 or more in three of the Rebels' four games this year ... An 83-72 loss to Utah was the Rebels' first regular-season defeat to a non-conference foe since the 2006-07 season ... Ole Miss is still coping with the losses of returning starting guard Eniel Polynice and reserve guard Trevor Gaskins to season-ending knee injuries over the first two weeks of the season ... Warren and Huertas have done their part filling the scoring void, as the duo averages 42.3 points per game, 55 percent of the team's 77.0 average ... The rest of the starting lineup has been mixed and matched between Zach Graham and Terrico White in the backcourt and Terrance Henry, Malcolm White and DeAundre Cranston up front ... Ole Miss returns home this week to face UCF on Wednesday and 2008 NIT squad Morgan State on Saturday.
MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS OVERALL: 4-0 (4-0 H, 0-0 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Rick Stansbury 212-115 in 11th year at Mississippi State 212-115 in 11th year as a head coach
Jarvis Varnado surpassed Erick Dampier's mark of 249 just 5:46 into the game to become Mississippi State's all-time career blocked-shots leader and recorded his second-straight double-double to power the Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-0) past Fairleigh Dickinson (0-3) Saturday evening at Humphrey Coliseum in the Legends Classic's second round by a score of 84-58 ... Varnado fell just two swats shy of his second-career triple-double with 14 points, 16 rebounds, and eight blocks while the Bulldogs batted away 15 as a team ... Phil Turner tied a season high with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting while freshman Twany Beckham notched two steals and four points in his Maroon and White debut ... Barry Stewart added 12 points to the MSU cause, followed by 11 from Ravern Johnson ... MSU has not trailed at all throughout its first four games and now moves to 116-34 in non-conference play under Stansbury and is 40-12 in the month of November under his direction ... Mississippi State will now go on the road for the first time this season to face St. Bonaventure on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. before advancing to the Legends Classic championship round semifinals in Newark, N.J., to play Washington State (3-0) beginning at 4:30 p.m.
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS OVERALL: 3-0 (3-0 H, 0-0 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Darrin Horn 3-0 in 1st year at South Carolina 114-48 in 6th year as a head coach
South Carolina improved to 3-0 for the year with a 75-53 victory over intrastate rival USC Upstate on Saturday ... Senior guard Zam Fredrick led the Gamecocks with a season-high 23 points vs. Upstate ... Fredrick now leads the team with 17.3 points per game ... SEC offensive rebound leader Mike Holmes improved on his mark, collecting seven offensive boards vs. USC Upstate ... Holmes now averages 6.0 offensive rebounds per game ... Junior point guard Devan Downey continues strong play in the Gamecock backcourt; Downey tallied 16 points, six rebounds and four steals vs. USC Upstate ... Downey has tallied at least five assists and two steals in every game this season; he averages 16.3 points per contest ... Junior forward Evka Baniulis contributed 13 points vs. Upstate; he is one (11.0) of four Gamecocks to average double-digit points through the first three games of the year ... South Carolina hosts Gardner-Webb on Tuesday and travels to College of Charleston on Friday.
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS OVERALL: 3-0 (2-0 H, 1-0 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Bruce Pearl 80-24 in 4th year at Tennessee 397-108 in 17th year as a head coach
Tennessee won its first road test of the season, taking a 76-66 victory at Middle Tennessee State ... Tyler Smith led the Vols with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Bobby Maze added 12 points ... J.P. Prince and Scotty Hopson had 10 apiece ... After Middle Tennessee tied the score 38-38 to start the second half, Tennessee responded with a 9-0 run that was capped off by a Cameron Tatum layup that was assisted by a behind-the-back pass from Smith ... Tennessee heads to Orlando, Fla., this week for the Old Spice Classic ... The Vols open the three-game tournament against Siena at noon Thursday and then will meet either Georgetown or Wichita State Friday.
VANDERBILT COMMODORES OVERALL: 1-1 (1-1 H, 0-0 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Kevin Stallings 172-116 in 10th year at Vanderbilt 295-179 in 16th year as a head coach
Vanderbilt dropped its first decision of the season, 63-69, to Big Ten Conference foe Illinois Thursday night in Nashville ...Thursday's loss is the first home loss by Vanderbilt to a non-conference team since November 25, 2006 against Elon (81-70) ... The loss also snaps Vanderbilt home winning streak at 20 games ... The Commodores are now 20-27 all-time against teams from the Big Ten Conference ... Vanderbilt had four players score in doubles figures (Ogilvy (13), Taylor (11), Tinsley (11) and Walker (10) ... Walker's 10 points ties his career-high. Walker netted 10 points last season on January 27th against Florida ... Vanderbilt was 13-21 (62%) from the free-throw line and 4-15 (27%) from beyond the arc, while Illinois 11-11 from the free throw line and 10-19 (53%) from three ... Vanderbilt was 23-53 (43%) from the field while Illinois was 24-65 (37%) from the floor ... Vanderbilt was out rebounded 42-33 in the game, including 28-13 in the second half ... Vanderbilt scored 32 points in the paint compared to Illinois's 18.