The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bama tops Mississippi St. to clinch conference title
Jaden Shackleford scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, and No. 6 Alabama beat Mississippi State 64-59 on Saturday night to clinch its first SEC regular-season championship since 2002.
The Crimson Tide (19-6, 14-2) led by double digits for much of the game before the Bulldogs (1312, 7-9) closed to 56-53 on Iverson Molinar’s layup with 4:17 left. Mississippi State had a chance to draw even closer over the next three minutes, but Alabama came up with a couple big stops and James Rojas drained a 3 from the right corner to make it 59-53 with 43 seconds left.
D.J. Stewart Jr. made four free throws for MSU in the final minute, but Alabama went 5 for 6 at the line down the stretch, including two successful attempts for John Petty Jr. with 11.9 left.
(At) Auburn 77, No. 25 Tennessee 72: Allen Flanigan scored a season-high 23 points and had seven rebounds to lead Auburn to a victory over No. 25 Tennessee.
The host Tigers (12-13, 6-10 SEC) snapped a three-game losing streak even without freshman point guard Sharife Cooper, out for the second straight game with a left ankle injury.
Five players scored in double figures against the Volunteers (167, 9-7), a one-time Top-10 team that did make a late charge led by freshmen Keon Johnson and Jared Springer.
It wasn’t enough. Devan Cambridge matched his season high with 15 points and Jamal Johnson scored 14 for the Tigers. Jaylin Williams added 13 and JT Thor 10.
Johnson led the Vols with 23 points and Springer scored 20 while going 3 for 4 on 3-pointers. Springer added six assists and five rebounds.
Yves Pons finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Victor Bailey Jr., who had scored 68 points over the previous three games, was held to nine before fouling out.
(At) No. 20 Arkansas 83, LSU 75: Justin Smith had 19 points and 10 rebounds, helping No. 20 Arkansas beat Cameron Thomas and LSU.
The Razorbacks (19-5, 11-4) had four players score in double figures in their sixth straight win. Moses Moody had 18 points on 3-for-14 shooting, and reserve J.D. Notae also scored 18.
Arkansas grabbed control with a 16-2 run in the second half. Jalen Tate made two foul shots, Davonte Davis scored and Moody capped the surge with a layup, making it 72-55 with 7:04 left.
LSU (14-8, 9-6), one of the highest scoring teams in Division I, went without a field goal for more than five minutes during the key stretch.
Thomas, the No. 4 scorer in the nation, scored 25 points, shooting 11 of 19 from the field. His teammates combined to shoot 33% (19 of 57) from the field.
Florida 71, (at) Kentucky 67: Tre Mann scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half, and Florida pulled out a victory over Kentucky, winning its third straight game and avenging a blowout loss to the Wildcats.
Florida (13-6, 9-5), which lost to Kentucky 76-58 on Jan. 9, picked up just the fifth season split in the series’ history, the last coming in 1998. The win was just the 11th for Florida at Lexington versus 52 losses.
Colin Castleton scored 14 points, Appleby added 11 and Anthony Duruji 10 for Florida.
(At) Vanderbilt 75, Ole Miss 70: Trey Thomas scored 14 points, Clevon Brown made two free throws with 10.4 seconds left for a two-possession lead, and shorthanded Vanderbilt beat Mississippi to snap a three-game losing streak.
Vanderbilt (7-13, 3-11 SEC) was without its top two leading scorers in Scotty Pippen Jr. and Dylan Disu, who combine for 35.5 points per game. Despite that, The Commodores’ bench outscored Ole Miss (13-10, 8-8) 39-4 to help avoid losing another close SEC game.