Missouri gains first win over Kentucky
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri has shown upward mobility under first-year coach Cuonzo Martin, and the latest sign came Saturday — the Tigers' first victory over Kentucky.
Behind 16 points each from Jordan Barnett and Kassius Robertson, the Tigers finally cleared that Big Blue hurdle with a 6960 victory against the No. 21 Wildcats.
Missouri (15-8, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) had been 0-10 vs. Kentucky (176, 6-4) since the teams first played in 1960.
"It's definitely a really good win, but that's maybe how I look at it — it's just another win," Barnett said. "We're going to keep competing and hopefully put together a string of wins. I'm not treating this one any different just because of the name on the front of the jersey."
Kentucky won at least a share of the SEC regular-season basketball title the last three years, while Missouri finished last each time.
Martin said he didn't realize Missouri had never beaten Kentucky until he was asked about it after the game.
"It's good for our guys, because there have been some tough years," Martin said.
The Wildcats didn't look like a typical Kentucky team. They shot just 31.3 percent from the field and finished with only nine assists.
"The biggest thing is we refuse to pass the ball," coach John Calipari said. "I don't have any answer for that."
Kentucky, which started five freshmen, had only one player reach double figures. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 15 points but made only 5 of 16 shots.
Missouri got nice contributions from its freshmen big men, Jontay Porter and Jeremiah Tilmon. Porter finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Tilmon added nine points and two blocks.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Alabama coach Avery Johnson had a "conversation" at halftime with his team, a "great talk" about reducing turnovers and making better decisions.
His message was loud and clear. It was well-received, too.
Collin Sexton scored 17 points, Donta Hall notched his fourth double-double of the season, and Alabama rallied from a 10-point deficit to thump No. 23 Florida.
Sexton added eight rebounds and six assists for the Crimson Tide (15-8, 6-4 Southeastern Conference), which dominated the second half and improved to 2-4 on the road.
"We basically looked like we had never practiced before in our lives offensively in the first half, throwing the ball all over the gym, too many turnovers," Johnson said, noting his team's 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
Johnson ripped into his players in the locker room, and they responded in resounding fashion. The Tide scored the first eight points of the second half and later used a 15-2 run to open up a double-digit lead.
Alabama dominated Florida (15-8, 6-4) in the paint, on the glass and up and down the floor. The Tide outscored the Gators 4117 in the second half, finishing with a 43-25 rebounding advantage and outscoring them 4626 in the paint and 29-1 off the bench. AUBURN, Ala. — Bryce Brown scored 25 points and Mustapha Heron had 23 to lead hot-shooting No. 11 Auburn to a win over Vanderbilt.
The two high-scoring guards alternated taking over for the Tigers (21-2, 9-1 Southeastern Conference) in the second half.
It was almost as if they were trying to one-up each other against the last-place Commodores (8-15, 2-8). Heron scored 13 straight Auburn points, including three 3-pointers. Then Brown topped that with a 15-point run that also included a trio of 3s, one of which he turned into a four-point play.
Auburn made a season-high 17 3-pointers on 26 attempts to snap a 13-game losing streak against Vanderbilt.
Jared Harper scored 14 points and had 14 assists for Auburn, making three 3-pointers in the first nine minutes. Chuma Okeke hit a pair of 3s and had 12 points.
Jeff Roberson had the hot hand for the Commodores, pouring in 30 points and making 5 of 9 from beyond the arc. Riley LaChance scored 13.
Auburn raced to a 22-point lead in the first half after making 7 of 11 3-pointers. The Commodores got back into it with their own outside shooting. Roberson and LaChance punctuated a quick 11-0 run with back-to-back 3s, and Vandy cut it all the way to down to seven.
Then Okeke scooped up a loose ball and hit a 3 with 2 seconds left to give Auburn a 45-35 halftime lead.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee coach Rick Barnes usually finds some reason to criticize his team's performance even after lopsided wins. Not this time.
Grant Williams and Lamonte' Turner scored 17 points each to lead five Tennessee players in double figures Saturday night as the 18th-ranked Volunteers trounced Ole Miss for their fifth straight victory.
In the second half, Tennessee scored 59 points while shooting 71.4 percent overall (20 of 28) and from 3-point range (10 of 14).
"Probably obviously the best half of the year we've played," Barnes said. "When the ball's going in, it makes everything look good."
The blowout enabled Tennessee (17-5, 7-3 SEC) to move into sole possession of second place in the Southeastern Conference. The Vols began the day in a three-way tie for second with No. 21 Kentucky and No. 23 Florida, which both lost Saturday.
Tennessee forward Admiral Schofield said the Vols won't get distracted by their rise in stature. Schofield said the Vols haven't forgotten how the SEC media projected them to finish 13th in the 14-team conference.
"We were picked 13th to start the season, so we're always in the locker room thinking how can we get out of that 13th position," said Schofield, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Tennessee has won eight of its last nine games while Ole Miss (11-12, 4-6) has dropped five of its last six. With eight games remaining in the regular season, Tennessee already has exceeded its 201617 win total. The Vols finished 16-16 last year.
Tennessee showed its enormous potential in a brilliant second-half performance. The Vols outscored Ole Miss 59-36 after halftime. They had 27 assists and only six turnovers for the game, including a 17-1 ratio in the second half.
"Today obviously was an avalanche," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. "Unfortunately, we were under it."
Kyle Alexander scored 14 points and Jordan Bowden added 10 for Tennessee. Bruce Stevens scored 16 points and Terence Davis added 13 for Ole Miss.
Ole Miss shuffled its lineup for this game, with 7-footer Dominik Olejniczak making his first start since Jan. 16 and forward Justas Furmanavicius starting for the first time since Dec. 31
The changes didn't make much of a difference, as Ole Miss missed 10 of its first 11 shots and scored just three points in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the game.
After trailing 35-25 at halftime, Ole Miss cut Tennessee's lead to 35-32 by scoring the first seven points of the second half. Tennessee answered with a 9-0 run and stayed comfortably ahead the rest of the way.
BATON ROUGE, La. — Tremont Waters had 27 points and a season-high 11 assists as LSU defeated Arkansas in a Southeastern Conference game.
The Tigers (13-9, 4-6) never trailed after Daryl Edwards' 3-pointer put them ahead 1312 less than eight minutes into the game. The Razorbacks' deficit was less than six points on just two occasions after halftime.
Waters, who had scored fewer than nine points in five of LSU's last seven games, was 7 of 14 from the field with four 3-pointers. The 27 points were the most for Waters against an SEC opponent this season. Waters also made a season-high nine foul shots in ten attempts.
"We came out sharing the ball a lot," Waters said. "I felt like the offense was going to come, so we had to focus on defense a lot more. Hitting the 3s gave us momentum. We are a shooting team. We just have to come out and know that we can make those and not second guess ourselves."
Four other Tigers players scored in double figures led by Aaron Epps with 16 points. Skylar Mays had 15 points, while Edwards had 14 and Brandon Sampson had 13. LSU made a seasonhigh 15 shots from behind the 3-point line.
"We were saving up our makes for that game," LSU coach Will Wade said. "Anytime you shoot it well like that you should win. We shot it well from 3. We shot it well from the free-throw line. Tremont played well. There's not a whole lot else you can say. It was a good win and we needed it."
Daryl Macon was the top scorer for Arkansas (15-8, 4-6) with 22 points. Jaylen Barford added 15 points. Both Anton Beard and Trey Thompson had 11 points, while Daniel Gafford had 10.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M is back to playing the way it did in earning a high ranking prior to league action, and that should earn the attention of the rest of the Southeastern Conference.
"They've got their team back together," South Carolina coach Frank Martin said of the suddenly-surging Aggies. "There's a reason why they were top five in the country."
A&M junior guard Admon Gilder scored 15 points and the Aggies dominated South Carolina from the start, winning in Reed Arena. The Aggies (15-8, 4-6 Southeastern Conference) led 49-27 at half, in shooting 63 percent (17 of 27) from the field in the first 20 minutes. The Gamecocks (13-10, 4-6) shot 21.1 percent (8 of 38) in the same span, as A&M blasted to the 22-point lead. A&M finished 29 of 55 from the field, good for 53 percent.
A&M has won its last two games against Arkansas and South Carolina by a combined 37 points. Justin Minaya scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Gamecocks.
A&M sophomore forward Robert Williams collected a season-high five blocks, to go with 11 points, and the Aggies' 11 total blocks were one shy of the team record.