NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Florida Gators have once again proven that they are potentially the best team in the nation as they used timely scoring and an aggressive defense to take down No. 8 Tennessee, 86-77, in the SEC Tournament Championship at Bridgestone Arena.
Point guard Walter Clayton, Jr., led the Gators with 22 points as he has literally turned into a quarterback from the point. Small forward Will Richard had 17 points as his timely shooting and defense earned him SEC Tournament MVP.
The Gators turned the title into a No. 1 seed in the East as they open in Raleigh against Norfolk State with the UConn-Oklahoma winner waiting in the second round.
“For sure. For us, we’re a hungry group,” said Richard. “We know the main goal. This is definitely a motivator. Cutting down the nets is a great feeling, but we want to do it in the NCAA tournament as well.”
The Gators are in a tough West Region where St. John’s is the No. 2 seed with Texas Tech sitting at No. 3.
The Sooners went wire-to-wire in the pre-conference where at 13-0, they defeated Louisville to win the Battle4Atlantis. Jalon Moore and Jeremiah Fears are a tough matchup on the perimeter. Fears was definitely a tough matchup as the Sooners erased a 13-point deficit in about 1:30 before losing to Kentucky in the SEC quarterfinals.
Auburn as the outright SEC regular-season champion took honors and the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers will host Alabama State or St. Francis on Thursday before a tough second-round assignment vs. the Louisville-Creighton winner.
Coach Pat Kelsey has resurrected the Louisville Cardinals in only his second season as they have won 21 of their last 23 games. Louisville led Duke by five at halftime of the ACC championship game before losing their rhythm and shooting percentage in the 71-62 loss.
The Cardinals in Lexington will be a tough out while Creighton brings a talented center in Ryan Kailbrenner, but shooting guard Jamie Neal may be the toughest matchup for the Blue Jays.
The Tigers can bring Johnni Broome at either team with success. His overall size and ability will be two tough factors in the matchup. He led the Tigers with 23 points and 15 rebounds in their 70-65 loss to Tennessee in the SEC semis.
Auburn’s depth at guard will cause the matchup problems as shooters Chad Baker-Mazara and Denver Jones also figure in Bruce Pearl’s tough defensive scheme.
The Tigers have lost three of their last four as they clinched the regular season title and then lost at Texas A&M and Alabama when point guard Mark Sears made a shot at the buzzer for a 93-91 win at Auburn.
“The first two we dropped, looking forward to the SEC tournament,” said Broome. “It hurts, but we have to learn from it, watch film. We’ll try to get better going into the March Madness.”
The Volunteers continue to use Zakai Zeigler as a deft playmaker similar to Florida’s Clayton.
Ziegler and Chaz Lanier have been Tennessee’s one-two punch in the guard spot. Jordan Gainey has improved his game throughout the season and is now a threat with the ball in his hand or as a three-point shooter.
Gainey led all scorers on Sunday with 24 points as he had his own his seven-point run in the second half that cut the Gators’ lead to 60-55.
“No, I can speak for all of our guys, we don’t really feel pressure in those moments because we put in so much work throughout the year to where we can be prepared for moments like this, prepared for the big stage,” said Gainey.
The Vols are a strong possibility to get deep into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region. They open with Southern Conference champion Wofford and assuming they win, Tennessee will face the UCLA-Utah State winner on Saturday.
The Aggies have been atop the Mountain West with New Mexico, San Diego State and Colorado State and have the shooters and the offensive flow to defeat UCLA.
If Tennessee wins two and then Kentucky wins two, the Vols and Wildcats could face off in the Sweet 16 after the Wildcats edged Tennessee twice in the regular season.
Kentucky needs to pick up the two wins in matchups with Troy and then likely Illinois, who will be facing Texas or Xavier who matchup in the play-in.
Many were surprised the Longhorns made it into the tournament, but their double-overtime upset of Texas A&M renewed the idea that Texas has the talent, led by Tre Johnson and Arthur Kaluma, to potentially be a tough out inside the tournament.
Injuries have plagued the Wildcats as Lamont Butler could play, but will not be 100 percent. Losing Jaxson Robinson through 24 games kept Kentucky from being more of an SEC challenger.
Otega Oweh drove the length of the floor in seven seconds and defeated Oklahoma, 85-84, with his driving layup. The Wildcats weathered a situation where they blew a 13-point lead with around 1:30 to play.
Amari Williams can potentially carry Kentucky which lacks the depth and the defensive acumen in possibly facing an Illinois team that will play the up-tempo game as well.
Alabama sits as the No. 2 seed in the East after the Crimson Tide took down the ‘Cats, 99-70, in the quarterfinals, but were humbled by Florida, 104-82, in one semifinal matchup.
Matching up with Mark Sears will be a tall task for the Saint Mary’s-Vanderbilt winner. Sears had immense help from Labaron Philon this weekend as he had 21 points and had an aggressive defensive presence in the win over the Wildcats.
Vanderbilt sits as a solid 10-seed against Saint Mary’s as the Gaels are a half-court team that relies on their three-point game and a major factor on the point in August Marciulionis, the son of NBA great Sarunas Marciulionis.
Mark Byington has done a fantastic job in bringing the Commodores to the forefront as he developed a team that plays well in transition. Jason Edwards will be a tough matchup for the Gaels with his speed and athleticism and his well-developed shooting and creating off the dribble.
Texas A&M will look at Yale with much attention after the Bulldogs defeated Auburn in the first round last season. Of course, a controversial flagrant-2 foul was called on Chad Baker-Mazara early in that game which changed Auburn’s rotation and took away one of its best players.
The Aggies also have an experienced squad with fifth-year guard Wade Taylor as the leading scorer. Texas A&M will up-tempo this game and get to its second round matchup with the Michigan-UC San Diego winner. The Tritons are in their second season of D-1 hoops and won the tough Big West regular season and tournament over talented UC Irvine.
Missouri joins the Aggies as a potential Sweet 16 candidate. The Tigers have to be aware of the shooting of the Drake Bulldogs in their first-round contest. Drake will be overwhelmed athletically with the athleticism of Tamar Bates and Mark Mitchell and a deep Missouri roster.
The Tigers will push away Drake with overall athleticism and physicality and then will look to a second-round matchup with Texas Tech, which faces UNC Wilmington in Wichita.
The bottom of that bracket sees Arkansas play Kansas in the first round in Wichita. The Razorbacks have risen late in the season as John Calipari moved Johnell Davis to the point after Boogie Fland was injured for the regular season.
Fland will be available on Friday, but the next significant loss is Aidoo Theiro, who can’t go in the middle as he was injured.
Defeat Kansas and a matchup between Calipari and Rick Pitino will be on the marquee as the Razorbacks would likely face St. John’s in the Round of 32.
Mississippi State and Ole Miss both get in as the Rebels elicit a tough defense, while the Bulldogs have the offensive weapons to score at will.
The Bulldogs’ opener against Baylor should be an interesting matchup where Josh Hubbard and Baylor guard VJ Edgecomb could be the focal points of what should be an exciting up-tempo contest. A win there and Duke awaits in Raleigh as the Blue Devils, of course, were given a literal home game for their first two outings.
The Rebels face the San Diego State-North Carolina winner where the Aztecs would feature an intense defensive opponent for coach Chris Beard.
The name “North Carolina”’ and all of the “Blue Blood” media-hype seemingly allowed the Tar Heels and its 1-12 Quad-One record to enjoy a play-in spot.
The Rebels’ offense could work through this game with Sean Pedulla and Jalen Murray as a solid back court matchup since the Tar Heels are not exactly a defensive fortress. Ole Miss center Malik Dia will be a challenge should this game come to fruition.
