Kentucky's Jodie Meeks was named the SEC Player of the Week after he scored 46 points in leading the Wildcats to a 93-69 win over Appalachian State on Dec. 20. His 46 points are the second-most in the nation this year and the most by an SEC player since Shaquille O'Neal had 53 against Arkansas in 1990. It is the most points by a UK player since Dan Issel notched 47 at Alabama in 1970. The junior from Norcross, Ga., was 14-of-21 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. He made nine of his 14 three-point attempts to tie a school record for three-pointers made.
Meeks' Season Stats
PPG RPG APG BPG SPG 24.1 3.1 1.7 0.2 1.7
SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK Courtney Fortson, Arkansas G * 5-11 * 180 * Fr. * Montgomery, Ala.
Arkansas' Courtney Fortson earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors after he averaged 16.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists while shooting 50 percent (11-22) from the floor andwas named to the Jim Thorpe Classic All-Tournament team. He had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the win over Austin Peay, and made 7-of-9 free throws. Against Stephen F. Austin, he scored the first six points of the game and Arkansas never trailed as he finished with 13 points, five rebounds and seven assists.
Fortson's Season Stats
PPG RPG APG BPG SPG 15.7 5.6 6.7 0.1 0.7
SEC STANDINGS
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
December 22 (Monday) UT-Chattanooga at Alabama [CSS] 6:00 p.m. CT Alabama State at Auburn 7:00 p.m. CT 27-Mississippi State vs. Nicholls State 7:00 p.m. CT Furman at Vanderbilt [CSS] 8:00 p.m. CT Georgia Southern at Florida [FSN-FL] 7:00 p.m. ET Tennessee State at Kentucky [FSNS/BBSN] 7:00 p.m. ET McNeese State at LSU [CST] 7:00 p.m. ET Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Georgia 7:30 p.m. ET Florida A&M at Ole Miss 7:00 p.m. CT
December 23 (Tuesday) Presbyterian College at South Carolina [SS] 7:00 p.m. ET
December 27 (Saturday) Washington State at LSU [ESPN2] 1:00 p.m. CT Florida Atlantic at Kentucky [FSNS] 3:00 p.m. ET Northwestern State at Arkansas [ESPN2] 5:00 p.m. CT
December 28 (Sunday) North Carolina A&T at Georgia [CSS] 2:30 p.m. ET Yale at Alabama 6:00 p.m. CT 24-Florida vs. Winthrop [FSN-FL] 6:30 p.m. ET
December 29 (Monday) Alabama A&M at Auburn [CSS] 7:00 p.m. CT Central Michigan at Kentucky [FSNS] 7:00 p.m. ET Louisiana-Lafayette at Tennessee 7:30 p.m. ET
December 30 (Tuesday) Stetson at Florida [FSN-FL] 1:00 p.m. ET Oklahoma at Arkansas [RSP] 7:00 p.m. CT Quincy University at Alabama 7:00 p.m. CT Clemson at South Carolina [FSN] 7:00 p.m. ET San Diego at Mississippi State [FSN] 8:00 p.m. CT 25-Ole Miss vs. Southern Miss [CSS] 7:00 p.m. CT
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 Sports Television; MTN: The Mtn. - MountainWest 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.
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
December 15 (Monday) at Ole Miss 85, Alabama State 81 [CSS]
December 16 (Tuesday) 18-Vanderbilt 71, vs. South Florida 52 [ESPN2] 18-Tennessee 80, vs. Marquette 68 [ESPN] at South Carolina 90, North Carolina Central 43 [SS]
December 17 (Wednesday) at Alabama 75, Tennessee State 66 [CSS] 19-at Arkansas 89, Austin Peay 80 [RSP] at Auburn 75, Tuskegee 32 at LSU 68, Nicholls State 56 [CST]
December 18 (Thursday) 20-Cincinnati 75, vs. Mississippi State 63 [ESPN2] 20-Louisville 77, vs. Ole Miss 68 [ESPN]
December 20 (Saturday) at Tennessee 79,Belmont 77 [SS] 22-vs. Texas A&M 72, LSU 61 at Georgia 74, Wofford 73 ot [CSS] Auburn 58, at Virginia 56 [FSN] 23-Florida 89, vs. Central Florida 61 [FSN-FL] at Vanderbilt 83, Tennessee Tech 63 [CSS] 19-at Arkansas 67, Stephen F. Austin 51 [RSP] 21-Kentucky 93, vs. Appalachian State 69 [FSNS] at South Carolina 80, The Citadel 66 [SS]
SEC Coaches Reaching Milestones
Four Southeastern Conference coaches are on the verge of or have reached significant milestones this season.
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.
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
SEC VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
Here's the SEC's non-conference record since the league expanded to 12 teams in 1991-92.
Year Record 2008-09 89-31 (.742) 2007-08 137-50 (.741) 2006-07 146-46 (.760) 2005-06 133-42 (.760) 2004-05 120-46 (.723) 2003-04 120-31 (.795) 2002-03 114-39 (.745) 2001-02 133-41 (.764) 2000-01 131-38 (.775) 1999-00 132-43 (.754) 1998-99 121-42 (.742) 1997-98 125-35 (.781) 1996-97 107-50 (.682) 1995-96 119-39 (.753) 1994-95 103-41 (.715) 1993-94 102-47 (.685) 1992-93 102-43 (.703) 1991-92 123-58 (.680)
NATIONAL POLLS
Associated Press (December 22)
Other SEC teams receiving votes: Florida 8.
USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll (December 22)
Other SEC teams receiving votes: Florida 4; LSU 3.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE OVERALL: 6-3 (4-2 H, 0-0 A, 2-1 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Mark Gottfried 204-127 in 11th year at Alabama 272-151 in 14th year as a head coach
Alabama defeated Tennessee State 75-66 at Coleman Coliseum Wednesday night ... The Tide did most of its damage around the basket scoring 42 points in the paint ... The Crimson Tide shot 48 percent from the field while holding the Tigers to 37 percent shooting for the game, the seventh time this season that Alabama has held an opponent under 40 percent shooting ... The Tide held a narrow edge on the glass, out-rebounding Tennessee State 43-40 ... Alabama converted 16 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points ... Alonzo Gee led the Tide in scoring for the fifth-straight game with 24 points to go with six rebounds ... Ronald Steele added 13 points, 12 of which came on four shots from behind the arc. Steele also led Alabama with six assists ... Yamene Coleman gave Alabama huge production off the bench, posting his first career double-double with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Coleman also swatted away three shots for a game-high three blocks ... Alabama plays the fifth of eight consecutive home games against Chattanooga on Monday, Dec. 22 at 6:00 p.m. CT.
ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS OVERALL: 8-1 (7-0 H, 1-1 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: John Pelphrey 31-13 in 2nd year at Arkansas 111-80 in 7th year as a head coach
Arkansas improved to 8-1 on the season with a 67-51 victory over Stephen F. Austin Saturday night in Fayetteville ... Arkansas has now started 8-1 three straight years ... The Razorbacks have won 40 consecutive non-conference home games ... The win over SFA gave Arkansas the championship of the Jim Thorpe Classic ... Michael Washington has recorded three straight double-doubles, the longest streak for a Razorback since Derek Hood ended the 1999 season with six ... He had 17 points and 13 rebounds against Stephen F. Austin and was named the MVP of the Jim Thorpe Classic while Stefan Welsh and Courtney Fortson were named to the all-tournament team ... Fortson averaged 16.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists while shooting 50 percent (11-22) ... Welsh came off the bench in both games, but averaged 12.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 50 percent on threes (5-10) and 87.5 percent at the line (7-8) ... Arkansas' next game is Dec. 27 at home against Northwestern State. The game is at 5:05 p.m. and is being televised by ESPN2 ... The Razorbacks have won their first game following Christmas 19 consecutive seasons.
AUBURN TIGERS OVERALL: 6-4 (5-1 H, 1-1 A, 0-2 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Jeff Lebo 63-67 in 4th year at Auburn 178-130 in 11th year as a head coach
Tay Waller and DeWayne Reed made back-to-back 3-pointers in the final two minutes and Reed blocked a game-winning 3-point attempt to give Auburn a 58-56 victory at Virginia before a raucous crowd of 11,070 at John Paul Jones Arena Saturday ... Virginia scored 12 straight points to turn a 50-42 deficit with 9:15 remaining into a 54-50 lead with 4:45 left ... The two teams then traded baskets with Virginia going up 56-52 with 4:02 left on a Sammy Zeglinski jumper, which turned out to be Virginia's final points of the game ... Korvotney Barber led the Tigers with team-bests of 14 points and a season-high 13 rebounds ... Reed added 12 points and four assists for Auburn while Lucas Hargrove had 10 rebounds and four points and Rasheem Barrett 10 points and four rebounds, both of them coming off the bench ... Tay Waller chipped in eight points ... Auburn returns to action as it plays host to Alabama State Monday at 7 pm Central in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum as the Tigers close out a stretch of three games in six days with their final game before the holiday break.
FLORIDA GATORS OVERALL: 8-2 (5-0 H, 0-1 A, 3-1 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Billy Donovan 293-117 in 13th year at Florida 328-137 in 15th year as a head coach
Florida improved to 8-2 with an impressive 89-61 win over UCF on Saturday night ... It was Florida's 13th consecutive neutral site win in the state of Florida, as the Gators improved to 6-0 all-time in Jacksonville ... Alex Tyus had 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, while Nick Calathes had 16 points and 11 assists to lead the charge ... Kenny Kadji had his best outing as a Gator with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Erving Walker had 14 first-half points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer that gave UF a 19-point halftime lead ... The game continued a torrid pace for Tyus who is averaging 16.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and hitting 64.9 percent from the floor over his last seven games ... The Gators dished out 22 assists and just nine turnovers on the game ... Florida has an assist-to-turnover ratio of +1.5 on the year ... UF dominated the offensive glass to the tune of 16, including seven offensive boards from Tyus ... The Gators have been in double-digits in offensive rebounds in nine of 10 games thus far ... The Gators have a quick turnaround and return home to play Georgia Southern on Monday at the O'Connell Center.
GEORGIA BULLDOGS OVERALL: 7-3 (6-0 H, 0-1 A, 1-2 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Dennis Felton 82-83 in 6th year at Georgia 182-137 in 11th year as a head coach
Zac Swansey's 25-foot three-pointer at the horn gave the Bulldogs a come-from-behind 74-73 overtime victory over the Wofford Terriers Saturday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum ... Swansey scored 11 points in the game, with six of those coming in the final 15 seconds of overtime ... Down 71-68, his trey from the right wing tied the game with 14.7 seconds remaining in overtime, but Wofford's Brad Loesing took the ensuing possession from end-to-end for a layup with 5.8 seconds left ... An errant inbounds pass from Georgia gave the Terriers (4-4) the ball back and Georgia was forced to foul with 4.2 seconds remaining ... However, Wofford's Tim Johnson missed both free throws to give the Bulldogs one final chance ... Off the rebound, Swansey raced up the court and pulled up from 25-feet, where his 3-point try swished through the net to give Georgia the victory ... It is the third one-point victory for Georgia this season and second in as many games ... Georgia's next game will be Monday when the Bulldogs host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7:30 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum.
KENTUCKY WILDCATS OVERALL: 8-3 (5-2 H, 0-1 A, 3-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Billy Gillispie 26-17 in 2nd year at Kentucky 126-74 in 7th year as a head coach
Jodie Meeks recorded career highs in points (46), field goals (14), three-point field goals (9), three-point field goals attempted (14) and tied a season high in steals (4) leading Kentucky to a 93-69 win over Appalachian State in Louisville ... Meeks' 46 points were the most ever scored by a Wildcat in Freedom Hall, which spans 73 games and over 30 years and the sixth most scored in a game by a Wildcat ... It was the most points by a Wildcat since Dan Issel notched 47 at Alabama in 1970 ... Not only did the junior from Norcross, Ga. smash his previous scoring mark, but he also tied the school record for three-pointers with nine, held by Tony Delk ... Delk accomplished the feat against TCU on Jan. 20, 1996 ... UK scored the first 10 points of the game holding the Mountaineers scoreless until the 14:47 mark ... With 53 points before halftime, UK has now scored over 50 points in the first half on three occasions this season ... Kentucky turned the ball over just three times in the first half against the Mountaineers setting a season-low for the first half.
LSU TIGERS OVERALL: 8-1 (8-0 H, 0-0 A, 0-1 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Trent Johnson 8-1 in 1st year at LSU 167-122 in 10th year as a head coach
LSU lost its first game of the season in Houston at the H-Town Holiday Shootout to Texas A&M, 72-61 as Marcus Thornton led LSU with 23 points and Tasmin Mitchell had 16 ... The Tigers trailed most of the game but fought back to within two with three-minutes remaining before A&M finished the game ... LSU plays McNeese State on Monday night at 7 p.m. at the Maravich Center ... The Tigers enter the game with a 71-game winning streak against Louisiana schools in the Maravich Center that dates back to Dec. 8, 1988 and LSU has an overall 11-game winning streak in the Maravich Center dating back to the final three home games of a year ago ... LSU concludes the week with a 1 p.m. Saturday game against Mississippi State on ESPN2 ... The game Monday night marks the start of a four-game homestand for LSU with the Tigers also playing Louisiana-Lafayette at 1:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve and a 7 p.m. game on Jan. 3 against Southeastern Louisiana ... Texas A&M became the first team to out rebound LSU this season, but the Tigers still have a 13.3 rebound advantage over the opponents.
OLE MISS REBELS OVERALL: 7-4 (5-1 H, 1-1 A, 1-2 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Andy Kennedy 52-28 in 3rd year at Ole Miss 73-41 in 4th year as a head coach
Ole Miss returns to Oxford to host Florida A&M on Monday before having several days off during Christmas week ... The Rebels will then head to Biloxi, Miss., to face Southern Miss in a neutral-site contest Dec. 30 ... A trip to Cincinnati on Thursday resulted in a 77-68 loss to No. 9 Louisville in the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational ... Down by as many as 18 in the first half, Warren helped Ole Miss claw back in the game and tied the score at 67 with a three-point basket with 5:29 remaining ... He was injured on a layup attempt on the Rebels' final offensive possession of the game ... It was revealed on Friday that Warren had suffered a torn ACL, making him the Rebels' third player lost to a season-ending knee injury ... The Orlando native currently ranks as the SEC's fourth-leading scorer at 19.6 ppg ... With the loss of Warren, Ole Miss is down to nine healthy scholarship players, including four guards ... One of those guards, junior David Huertas, ranks second in the SEC with 20.9 ppg and has scored 20 or more in 8 of 11 games.
MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS OVERALL: 7-4 (6-1 H, 1-0 A, 0-3 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Rick Stansbury 215-119 in 11th year at Mississippi State 215-119 in 11th year as a head coach
In 'home' games away from Humphrey Coliseum under Rick Stansbury, Mississippi State is 10-0 ... With 49 assists, guard Dee Bost is just one shy of moving into the school's freshman Top 10 record books ... Stansbury-coached teams are 63-14 (.818) in the month of December ... When leading at halftime this season, the Bulldogs are 7-0 ... When trailing at the half, they are 0-4 ... Junior forward Jarvis Varnado has scored 20-plus points in three of the last four games, including the 24 he poured in against Cincinnati, a career high ... MSU is 5-1 when holding opponents to 65 points or less this year ... Television games haven't been too kind to the Bulldogs so far in 2008-09 ... In three nationally-aired outings, MState is 0-3 ... Cincinnati's 44.6 percent accuracy from the floor was the best by an MSU opponent this year ... While Varnado leads the nation with 66 blocked shots, his teammates have accounted for another 56 ... With 10 more blocks, Varnado will be the fifth player in SEC history to join the 300 Club for a career. He has at least one block in 73 of the 80 games he's played ... Sophomore guard Ravern Johnson has already made more treys (27) than he attempted (24) all of last year.
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS OVERALL: 8-1 (7-0 H, 1-1 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Darrin Horn 8-1 in 1st year at South Carolina 119-48 in 6th year as a head coach
South Carolina defeated NC Central (90-43) and The Citadel (80-66) in its first two contests back from an extended 11-day break due to final exams... South Carolina held NC Central to just 43 points, the lowest total by a Gamecock opponent this season ... Six Gamecocks (Downey, 17; Fredrick, 14; Holmes, 14; Archie, 13, Raley-Ross, 12, Baniulis, 10) tallied double-digit points against The Citadel, the second time that six have posted double digits this season for Carolina ... Junior point guard Devan Downey led the Gamecocks in scoring in both games, collecting 23 points, matching a season high with six assists and tying his career high with seven steals vs. NC Central ... Downey tallied 17 points and three steals in Carolina's win vs. The Citadel ... Sophomore forward Mike Holmes tallied his third double-double of the season, collecting 14 points and 11 rebounds, a team high, against The Citadel ... South Carolina hosts Presbyterian College on Tuesday prior to the holiday break and resumes play after the holiday against archrival Clemson on Dec. 30.
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS OVERALL: 8-2 (4-0 H, 1-1 A, 3-1 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Bruce Pearl 85-26 in 4th year at Tennessee 402-110 in 17th year as a head coach
Tennessee went 2-0 last week with a neutral-site win over a top-25 Marquette team and home triumph over a veteran-laden Belmont squad ... Through the games of Dec. 20, the Volunteers continue to lead the SEC in scoring (84.1 ppg) and assists (18.30 apg) while ranking second in rebounding (42.3 rpg) and third in rebounding margin (+9.7) ... Wayne Chism enjoyed a big week for the Vols, as he averaged a double-double (16.0 ppg, 11.5 rpg) in UT's pair of victories ... Chism's career day against Marquette saw him score a career high 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting with 11 rebounds while also going 8-for-11 at the free-throw line (also a career-best) ... Tyler Smith continues to lead the team with 17.6 ppg ... Smith and Bobby Maze (9.7 ppg, 4.7 apg) are the only two Vols to have started all 10 games this season ... Nine different Vols have drawn starting assignments this season, and six different starting fives have been utilized ... The Vols' bench averages 32.5 ppg, which is nearly 40 percent of the team's average scoring output ... J.P. Prince—Tennessee's second-leading scorer (11.3 ppg)—has missed UT's last three games with an injured left ankle ... Tennessee's home win streak—the third-longest active streak in the nation—is at 36 games ... The Vols are off until they host Louisiana (4-6, 1-1 SBC) on Dec. 29.
VANDERBILT COMMODORES OVERALL: 8-3 (5-2 H, 0-1 A, 3-0 N) SEC: 0-0 (0-0 H, 0-0 A)
Head Coach: Kevin Stallings 178-119 in 10th year at Vanderbilt 301-182 in 16th year as a head coach
Vanderbilt won its third straight after an 83-63 victory over Tennessee Tech on Dec. 20 ... The Commodores held their opponent to below 35 percent from the field for the fourth straight game and for the sixth time in 2008-09 ... Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings won his 300th game against South Florida on December 16 ... The Commodores now have four players averaging double-figures this season – Ogilvy, Jeffery Taylor (13.4), Jermaine Beal (11.2), and Brad Tinsley (10.7) ... Jermaine Beal scored a career-high 20 points against USF – Vanderbilt is now 23-2 all-time when Beal scores in double-figures in his three-year career.