LSU's Marcus Thornton was named the SEC Player of the Week after averaging 30.5 points per game on 55.5 percent (20-of-36) shooting from the field and 53.3 percent (8-of-15) shooting from three-point range. Thornton led the Tigers with 31 points against Mississippi State and followed that with a 30-point outing against nationally-ranked Xavier. He became the first LSU player to have back-to-back 30-point games since Ronnie Henderson in 1995. He has reached the 30-point mark four times this season and seven times in his two-year career at LSU. Scored 17 points, a stretch that included scoring three straight treys, during a 3:40 period in the second half against Mississippi State to help the Tigers take control of the game.
Thornton's Season Stats
PPG RPG APG BPG SPG 18.9 4.8 2.1 0.4 1.6
SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK JaMychal Green Alabama F • 6-9 • 220 • Fr. • Montgomery, Ala.
Alabama's JaMychal Green was named SEC Freshman of the Week after he averaged 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in games against Ole Miss and Kentucky. He led the Crimson Tide in scoring on the week, including a team-high 15 points against Kentucky. Defensively, he held the opposition's starting forwards to just 11.0 points in the two games. On the season, Green leads all SEC freshmen with 6.8 rebounds while also averaging 9.2 points per game.
Green's Season Stats
PPG RPG APG BPG SPG 9.2 6.8 0.5 1.5 1.1
SEC STANDINGS
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
January 27 (Tuesday) *Kentucky at Ole Miss [ESPN] 6:00 p.m. CT Texas-Pan American at Auburn 7:00 p.m. CT
January 28 (Wednesday) *Georgia at Florida [Raycom] 8:00 p.m. ET *LSU at Tennessee [Raycom] 8:00 p.m. ET *Vanderbilt at South Carolina 7:00 p.m. ET
January 29 (Thursday) *Alabama at Arkansas [ESPN/ESPN2] 8:00 p.m. CT
January 31 (Saturday) *Ole Miss at Mississippi State [Raycom] Noon CT *Vanderbilt at Auburn 1:00 p.m. CT *South Carolina at Kentucky [Raycom] 3:00 p.m. ET *Arkansas at LSU [FSN] 4:00 p.m. CT *Georgia at Alabama [FSN] 6:00 p.m. CT *Florida at Tennessee [ESPN] 9:00 p.m. ET
February 3 (Tuesday) *Mississippi State at Kentucky [Raycom] 7:00 p.m. ET *South Carolina at Florida [ESPN] 9:00 p.m. ET
February 4 (Wednesday) *Tennessee at Arkansas [Raycom] 7:00 p.m. CT *Auburn at Ole Miss 7:00 p.m. CT *LSU at Georgia 7:30 p.m. ET
February 5 (Thursday) *Alabama at Vanderbilt [ESPN/ESPN2] 6:00 p.m. CT
February 7 (Saturday) *Tennessee at Auburn [Raycom] Noon CT *Ole Miss at Vanderbilt [CBS] Noon CT *Arkansas at Mississippi State [Raycom] 2:00 p.m. CT *Georgia at South Carolina [FSN] 5:00 p.m. ET
February 8 (Sunday) *Alabama at LSU [Raycom] Noon CT
ALL TIMES LOCAL *SEC Game; [ ] TV Game; #Tape Delayed; FSN includes FSN South, FSN Southwest and SUN Sports; CST: Cox Sports Television; FSN: Fox Sports Net; FSNS: FSN South; Raycom: Raycom Sports; SSUN: Sun Sports.
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
January 20 (Tuesday) *Tennessee 76, at Vanderbilt 63 [ESPN]
January 21 (Wednesday) *at Alabama 76, Ole Miss 73 *at LSU 81, Mississippi State 57 *at South Carolina 70, Florida 69 [Raycom] *at Kentucky 73, Auburn 64 [Raycom]
January 24 (Saturday) *Auburn 73, at Arkansas 51 [Raycom] *Kentucky 61, at Alabama 51 [Raycom] Memphis 54, at Tennessee 52 [CBS] *Mississippi State 67, at Georgia 61 [ESPN2] Xavier 80, at LSU 70 [ESPN2] *at South Carolina 82, Ole Miss 71 [FSN]
January 25 (Sunday) *Florida 94, at Vanderbilt 69 [CBS]
AROUND THE SEC
SEC Coaches Reaching Milestones
Four Southeastern Conference coaches are on the verge of or have reached significant milestones this season.
SEC COMMUNITY SERVICE TEAM
Mississippi State junior Barry Stewart will be featured as the SEC Community Service Team Player of the Week on this week's Raycom Sports telecasts.
The Shelbyville, Tenn., native visits to schools and libraries and where he reads to kids. The 6-foot-3 guard is also involved in various food drives throughout the year to assist the local community.
In a continuing effort to recognize the accomplishments of student-athletes beyond the field of competition, the SEC has again teamed with Raycom Sports to highlight an SEC Community Service Team for men's basketball for the 2008-09 season.
A player will be highlighted on the Raycom broadcasts each week beginning in January as the SEC Community Service Team “Player of the Week” for his accomplishments in the community and in the classroom. This marks the 11th year for the SEC Community Service Team for men's basketball as well as for women's basketball and at-large teams for men's and women's sports. The SEC began this concept with a football Community Service Team in 1994.
SEC Community Service Team Player of the Week
Jan. 10-11 Jodie Meeks, Kentucky Jan. 14-18 Walter Hodge, Florida Jan. 21-24 Quantez Robertson, Auburn Jan. 28-31 Barry Stewart, Mississippi State
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 2008-09 Georgia 2002-03 Kentucky 2006-07 LSU 2006-07 Ole Miss 2007-08 Mississippi State 2004-05 South Carolina 2003-04 Tennessee 2008-09 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 2008-09 127-44 (.743) 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 (January 26, 2009)
Other SEC teams receiving votes: Florida 65.
USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll (January 26, 2009)
Other SEC teams receiving votes: Florida (17-3) 59; Kentucky (16-4) 50.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE OVERALL: 12-7 (10-3 H, 0-3 A, 2-1 N) SEC: 2-3 (2-1 H, 0-2 A)
Head Coach: Mark Gottfried 210-131 in 11th year at Alabama 278-155 in 14th year as a head coach
Alabama dropped its first game at home in SEC, falling to Kentucky 61-51 at Coleman Coliseum Saturday afternoon ... The game was back-and-forth throughout with nine lead changes, but the Wildcats gained control down the stretch by converting 12-14 free throws in the final five minutes ... Both teams struggled to find its range offensively as Alabama shot 29 percent (17-58) from the field, its lowest percentage of the season, while Kentucky made 39 percent (19-49) of its field goal attempts ... JaMychal Green led the Crimson Tide with a solid all-around game that included 15 points, 5 rebounds, two blocks and a steal ... Green was the only Alabama player to score in double figures ... Alonzo Gee finished the game with eight points snapping his streak of 16 consecutive games in double figures ... The last time Gee scored fewer than 10 points was Nov. 19 against Florida A&M ... Senario Hillman chipped in nine points and made 2-3 from beyond the three-point arc ... Alabama travels to Arkansas to battle the Razorbacks on Thursday, January 29.
ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS OVERALL: 12-5 (10-2 H, 1-3 A, 1-0 N) SEC: 0-4 (0-2 H, 0-2 A)
Head Coach: John Pelphrey 35-17 in 2nd year at Arkansas 115-84 in 7th year as a head coach
The Razorbacks dropped to 0-4 in SEC play for the first time with a 51-73 loss to Auburn Saturday afternoon at Bud Walton Arena ... Michael Washington was limited to eight points against Auburn, but had 12 rebounds and is still averaging a double-double for the season with averages of 16.8 points and 10.4 rebounds ... The Razorbacks played Auburn without senior Marcus Monk and freshman Brandon Moore ... With Monk and Moore not available, freshman Andre Clark received extra minutes against Auburn ... He played 16 minutes, and contributed two points, six rebounds and two blocked shots ... The six rebounds are a season high and the two blocked shots match his previous best ... Courtney Fortson had 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists against Auburn ... Fortson is the only member of the SEC named to a mid-season national all-freshman team selected by CollegeHoops.net ... Marcus Britt has 20 assists with just seven turnovers for the season ... Michael Sanchez had eight points against the Tigers for his best total in six games when he had 12 in the win over No. 4 Oklahoma.
AUBURN TIGERS OVERALL: 12-7 (10-2 H, 2-3 A, 0-2 N) SEC: 2-3 (1-1 H, 1-2 A)
Head Coach: Jeff Lebo 69-71 in 4th year at Auburn 184-134 in 11th year as a head coach
Auburn begins a stretch of two straight home games and playing five of its next six games in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum ... After Tuesday's game against Texas-Pan American, Auburn plays host to Vanderbilt Saturday and plays at Ole Miss Feb. 4 ... The Tigers then play three straight SEC home games against Tennessee Feb. 7, Arkansas Feb. 11 and Mississippi State Feb. 14 ... The Tigers are 10-2 at home this season ... Auburn ranks fourth nationally and leads the SEC averaging 10.1 steals per game ... Four Tigers rank fourth through ninth in the SEC rankings led by DeWayne Reed in fourth with 2.0 steals per game, Quantez Robertson in fifth with 1.7, Tay Waller in eighth with 1.7 and Frankie Sullivan in ninth with 1.5 steals per game ... DeWayne Reed is averaging 18.7 points in Auburn's last seven games while shooting 45 percent (45-of-87) from the field. ... He had career-high tying 22 points at Kentucky, 16 points, six rebounds and six assists at Arkansas, 19 points vs. Alabama and 21 points at South Carolina.
FLORIDA GATORS OVERALL: 17-3 (11-0 H, 2-2 A, 4-1 N) SEC: 4-1 (2-0 H, 2-1 A)
Head Coach: Billy Donovan 302-118 in 13th year at Florida 337-138 in 15th year as a head coach
Florida won for the 11th time in 12 games, defeating Vanderbilt, 94-69 at Memorial Gymnasium ... The win was UF's largest win ever at Vanderbilt and its largest road win since defeating Auburn by 25 in 2007 ... UF was sizzling from downtown, hitting a school-record 12 first-half three-pointers ... The Gators finished 15-of-25 from three-point range on the night ... Against a Vanderbilt team that was holding opponents to 59.8 points per game on the year, the Gators posted 56 points in the first half ... Chandler Parsons came up with a career-high 27 points, hitting 10-of-11 shots overall and 7-of-8 three-point attempts ... Over his last two games, Parsons is averaging 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and is hitting 88.2 percent from the floor (15-of-17) and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from beyond the arc ... Erving Walker was spectacular, scoring a career-high 17 points and dishing out six assists with just one turnover ... Nick Calathes had 15 points, knocking down a 25-foot three-pointer to send UF to the locker room with a 19-point lead ... Walter Hodge added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting ... The Gators return home on Wednesday against Georgia looking to open 5-1 in league play for the second straight year ... UF has won 13 straight home games dating back to last year and is 11-0 this year ... Florida is 62-6 at the O'Dome over the last four years.
GEORGIA BULLDOGS OVERALL: 9-10 (8-5 H, 0-3 A, 1-2 N) SEC: 0-4 (0-3 H, 0-1 A)
Head Coach: Dennis Felton 84-90 in 6th year at Georgia 184-144 in 11th year as a head coach
After falling behind by as many as 19 points in the first half, Georgia used a fierce second-half rally to close to within four late, but the visiting Mississippi State Bulldogs were able to secure a 67-61 win over the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday night at Stegeman Coliseum in front of 8,326 fans and an ESPN2 audience ... Ricky McPhee scored 15 points in the game, all coming by way of the three-pointer, to bring Georgia back into the game ... Dustin Ware added 14 and Jeremy Price chipped in 10 off the bench for the host Bulldogs ... Georgia stumbled at the start, falling behind 15-2 in the early going ... Mississippi State's Ravern Johnson scored 21 first-half points on 8-of-12 shooting in leading Mississippi State to a 30-11 lead late in the first half ... Georgia committed 16 turnovers in the first half, which led to 18 MSU points as the visitors held a 36-24 lead after the first 20 minutes ... Georgia will next face Florida at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Gainesville, Fla.
KENTUCKY WILDCATS OVERALL: 16-4 (10-2 H, 3-2 A, 3-0 N) SEC: 5-0 (2-0 H, 3-0 A)
Head Coach: Billy Gillispie 34-17 in 2nd year at Kentucky 134-75 in 7th year as a head coach
Jodie Meeks led a Wildcat rally as Kentucky earned a 61-51 victory against Alabama Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa ... Meeks scored 16 of his game-high 27 points in the second half to help the 'Cats overcome a six-point halftime deficit ... Perry Stevenson added 16 points and 12 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double and the sixth of his career ... DeAndre Liggins added 11 points and three assists ... The Wildcats shot 73.1 percent from the free throw line, their lowest percentage since shooting 72.7 percent against Indiana ... The Wildcats turned the ball over 23 times, the most since 23 against Indiana ... UK outrebounded its opponent for the fourth straight game ... Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday, when they travel to Ole Miss for a 7:00 p.m. ET nationally televised game on ESPN.
LSU TIGERS OVERALL: 15-4 (14-1 H, 1-2 A, 0-1 N) SEC: 3-1 (2-0 H, 1-1 A)
Head Coach: Trent Johnson 15-4 in 1st year at LSU 174-125 in 10th year as a head coach
The Tigers split games this past week, winning in SEC play, 81-57, over Mississippi State before falling, 80-70, to nationally-ranked Xavier (Ohio) ... Marcus Thornton had 31 points against Mississippi State and 30 against Xavier, the first LSU player to go back-to-back for 30 or more points since Ronnie Henderson had three straight 30-plus point games in 1995 ... Tasmin Mitchell had 24 in the win over State ... The loss to Xavier was the first loss of the season at the Maravich Center for the Tigers and snapped a 17-game home winning streak dating back to the final three home games of a year ago ... The win streak was the fourth longest in the 38-year history of the Maravich Center ... The paid total Saturday night was 13,839, the second sellout crowd in the building since it was reconfigured to its present seating capacity of 13,215 prior to the 2005-06 season ... LSU plays at Knoxville against Tennessee on Wednesday night and then hosts its centennial basketball game on Saturday against Arkansas (4 p.m. FSN) ... The game will be played 100 years and one day after LSU's first game against intercollegiate sanctioned competition against Dixon Academy on Jan. 30, 1909 ... There will be an alumni game prior to the LSU-Arkansas game at 12:30 p.m.
OLE MISS REBELS OVERALL: 10-9 (8-2 H, 1-4 A, 1-3 N) SEC: 1-4 (1-1 H, 0-3 A)
Head Coach: Andy Kennedy 55-33 in 3rd year at Ole Miss 76-46 in 4th year as a head coach
Ole Miss returns to Tad Smith Coliseum after back-to-back road games and will host Kentucky on Tuesday in a nationally televised contest on ESPN at 6 p.m. CT ... The Rebels are looking to bounce back into the win column after enduring just the second three-game skid in head coach Andy Kennedy's tenure ... Despite a pair of tough road losses, junior guard David Huertas has scored 26 and 27 points in the last two games to increase his season scoring average to 19.5, third-best in the SEC ... Ole Miss has dropped nine straight contests to Kentucky, including last year's 58-54 defeat at Rupp Arena when a fierce second-half Rebel rally came up just short ... Murphy Holloway leads the Rebels with 5.8 rebounds per game and pulled down nine boards at South Carolina.
MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS OVERALL: 14-6 (10-2 H, 3-1 A, 1-3 N) SEC: 4-1 (2-0 H, 2-1 A)
Head Coach: Rick Stansbury 222-121 in 11th year at Mississippi State 222-121 in 11th year as a head coach
If sophomore guard Ravern Johnson continues his pace of 2.45 3-pointers per game, he'll finish with at least 78 for the year, which would be the third-most in a single season at MSU ... The Bulldogs collected their Western Division-best 29th SEC road win in the last 11 years on Saturday at Georgia, two more than LSU in that same span ... Junior guard Barry Stewart moved into sole possession of fourth place in the MSU record books with 165 3-pointers, moving past current MState assistant Marcus Grant (1992-95), who finished his career with 164 ... Stewart needs just 56 more points to become the school's 30th member of the 1,000-point club ... With four blocked shots against Georgia, junior forward Jarvis Varnado moved past Steven Hill (Arkansas) for the fourth-most in SEC history with 321. In third place with 327 is former UGA standout, Lavon Mercer. ... MSU returns home to host in-state rival Ole Miss Saturday afternoon.
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS OVERALL: 14-4 (12-1 H, 2-3 A, 0-0 N) SEC: 3-2 (3-0 H, 0-2 A)
Head Coach: Darrin Horn 14-4 in 1st year at South Carolina 125-52 in 6th year as a head coach
South Carolina collected two wins over SEC competition last week, defeating No. 24 Florida, 70-69, on Wednesday on Zam Fredrick's game-winner at the buzzer, and followed with a solid 82-71 victory over Ole Miss on Saturday ... The win versus Ole Miss improved Carolina's record to 3-2 in SEC play, its first time with a winning record through five league games since starting 4-1 in 2004 ... The back-to-back wins over SEC opponents marked the first time since Jan. of 2007 that the Gamecocks managed consecutive wins over league competition ... Junior guard Devan Downey led the Gamecocks in scoring in both contests, posting 20 in the victory against Florida and following with 22 against Ole Miss ... Fredrick tallied his second last-second game-winner of the season against Florida, connecting on a lay-up with just nano second remaining on the clock ... He also tallied South Carolina's game winner with just five seconds remaining on the clock at then-No. 19 Baylor on Jan. 2 ... South Carolina hosts Vanderbilt on Wednesday before traveling to SEC East Division leader Kentucky on Saturday in Lexington.
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS OVERALL: 12-6 (6-3 H, 3-2 A, 3-1 N) SEC: 3-1 (1-1 H, 2-0 A)
Head Coach: Bruce Pearl 89-30 in 4th year at Tennessee 406-114 in 17th year as a head coach
Wayne Chism scored 15 points and Tyler Smith added 13 with 10 rebounds but Tennessee's second half rally fell short as Memphis won 54-52 in a tight contest Saturday afternoon in Knoxville ... Chism scored Tennessee's final 11 points of the game ... J.P. Prince added 10 points ... Tennessee's bench outscored the Memphis bench 9-5 ... Tennessee's bench has outscored its opponent's bench in 16 of 18 games this season ... With the loss, Tennessee is now 12-2 against non conference, in-state opponents under Bruce Pearl ... The Vols are now 28-2 in non-conference home games under the fourth-year coach ... Memphis' 54 points were the fewest allowed by the Vols in a game the season ... It is also the fewest points allowed since UT's 47-45 win at LSU on Feb. 9, 2008 ... Tennessee is next in action Wednesday night when the Vols host the LSU Tigers in a game that will be televised by Raycom.
VANDERBILT COMMODORES OVERALL: 12-7 (8-4 H, 1-3 A, 3-0 N) SEC: 1-4 (1-2 H, 0-2 A)
Head Coach: Kevin Stallings 182-123 in 10th year at Vanderbilt 305-186 in 16th year as a head coach
The Vanderbilt Commodores dropped a 69-94 decision to Florida Sunday afternoon in Nashville ... Florida finished the game 35-61 (57.4%) from the field while Vanderbilt was 26-60 (43.3%). Florida's 57.4 percent FG percentage is the highest an opponent has had against Vanderbilt this season, (Tennessee .500, 1/20/09) ... VU's last two SEC opponents (Tennessee and Florida) have shot at least 50% from the field against the Commodores ... George Drake led Vanderbilt in scoring for the second consecutive game with 14 points on 6-9 shooting ... Jermaine Beal scored in double figures for the 13th time this season (13) ... Jeffery Taylor finished the game with 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds ... Vanderbilt returns to the court Wednesday when the Commodores travel to Columbia, S.C., to meet the South Carolina Gamecocks.