The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wildcats’ win caps bad regular season
Kentucky ends with its first losing record in SEC since 1989.
Davion Mintz and Brandon Boston Jr. both set career bests with six 3-pointers apiece, and Kentucky beat South Carolina 92-64 on Saturday in a regular-season finale.
Mintz finished with 20 points and seven assists, with five of his 3s coming in the opening five minutes of the second half, including three straight to boost the Wildcats (9-15, 8-9 SEC) to a 19-point lead, 55-36. Boston scored 21 points. Olivier Sarr added 15 points and Isaiah Jackson 13 points with 10 rebounds for his second career double-double.
Kentucky, which finished with its first losing record in the SEC since 1989, will open conference tournament play Thursday. It’s the first time Kentucky hasn’t had a double-bye since the tournament expanded in 2013. The Wild- cats would need an amaz- ing run in the conference and NCAA tournaments to avoid their first overall losing record since going 3-13 in 1926-27.
The 28-point win was the largest margin of victory for the Wildcats since a 36-point triumph over Morehead State in their season opener.
Keyshawn Bryant scored 16 points and Jayyn McCreary 14 points for the Gamecocks (6-14, 4-12), who haven’t won at Rupp Arena since 2009.
(At) No. 12 Arkansas 87, Texas A&M 80: Moses Moody scored 28 points, Jalen Tate added 22, and No. 12 Arkansas beat Texas A&M to match the program’s longest SEC winning streak at 11 games.
The Razorbacks also won 11 straight SEC games in 199394 en route to a national championship.
Arkansas (21-5, 13-4) trailed by two until Moody sank a 3-pointer with 56 seconds left, prompting Texas A&M to take a timeout. Davone Davis stole the ensuing inbound pass, threw it up the court to Justin Smith, and Smith threw down an emphatic, two-handed dunk.
Quenton Jackson (23 points), Emmanuel Miller (23) and Savion Flagg (16) combined for 60 points for Texas A&M (8-9, 2-8).
Arkansas was locked into its No. 2-seed for the SEC Tournament before Saturday’s result. The Razorbacks’ first game of the postseason will be Friday against the winner of the Georgia-Missouri game.
(At) Auburn 78, Mississippi State 71: Allen Flanigan scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half, and Auburn pulled away late to beat Mississippi State and give Bruce Pearl his 600th coaching victory in the Tigers’ season finale.
With no seniors and just two upperclassmen on the roster, Auburn didn’t stage a Senior Day, and the Tigers (13-14, 7-11) announced in November that they were self-imposing a postseason ban as a result of a long-running NCAA investigation. But they found reason to celebrate after the win over the Bulldogs as Pearl did a little dance at center court, surrounded by his players.
Pearl is the 63rd coach in Division I history and the 21st active coach to reach 600 wins. Pearl’s record over 26 years of coaching is 600237. This is his seventh season at Auburn.
Tolu Smith finished with 20 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (14-13, 8-10).
LSU 86, (at) Missouri 80: Trendon Watford scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half, and his short jumper with just over a minute left broke a final tie as LSU battled past Missouri.
Cameron Thomas scored 29 points, making 10 of 12 at the line, to lead LSU (16-8, 11-6). Javonte Smart added 13 points, and Darius Days had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Dru Smith led Mizzou with 17 points. He was just 1 of 3 shooting in the second half but made 7 of 7 at the line. Xavier Pinson scored 11 of his 14 points after half- time, including a pair of free throws that pulled Missouri to within 80-78.
LSU earned the No. 3 seed and a double-bye into the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament. It’s LSU’s third double-bye in as many years.