Thursday, Friday, and Saturday games…

Overall: 68-14 (83%)
Vs. Spread: 19-19 (50%)

Okay, so I’ve been raped by the spread here lately. Also, apologies for lagging behind – the Christmas holidays have brought a friend’s wedding, a trip to Los Angeles, and a ton of shopping. After the holdays pass, things will return to normal.

Thursday Games

10-0 Ole Miss (69) vs. 2-6 DePaul (63): The Rebels remain undefeated with a narrow victory over the Demons, carried by Dwayne Curtis’ 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting along with seven rebounds and 7-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe. Kenny Williams grabbed his third double-double of the season with his 10 points and impressive 16 rebounds. Overall, the Rebels just barely shot with more accuracy to pull the game out at home, along with a great 82.4% mark from the free throw line as a team.
Stat of the Game: The Rebels’ 70 shots attempted versus DePaul’s 57

6-2 Georgia (58) vs. 5-5 East Tennessee State (76): And the Bulldogs’ lack of a solid, reliable inside game has finally caught up to them. No player scored more than 10 points, with the lone Bulldog scoring in double figures being freshman Jeremy Price, despite shooting just 3-of-7 from the field. Conversely, three Buccaneers scored at least 14. Of note, Georgia put up 28 threes and hit only 8 of them, good for only 28.6%. And that – my friends – is why Dennis Felton will lose his job this season. When you’re not hitting threes…don’t shoot them.
Stat of the Game: Georgia’s Center Dave Bliss shooting 100% but only taking 3 shots

Friday Games

10-0 Ole Miss (84) vs. 4-5 La Salle (77): This game was won purely and solely by coaching. The teams were competitive in nearly every way, but the Rebels simply executed better down the stretch. Proving their depth and balance, Ole Miss ‘ two most outstanding players differed than the day before, as Polynice put up 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting and freshman Chris Warren scored in double digits for the eleventh time in eleven games with 19 points. Curtis and Huertas each scored 14.
Stat of the Game: Rebels’ putting up 12 more shots than the Explorers

7-5 Mississippi State (95) @ 2-7 Texas A&M Corpus Christi (70): The Bulldogs are seemingly finding their touch that they were expected to have before their 5-5 start, shooting a combined 54.5% in the last two games. Charles Rhodes fell one point shy of his career tie by scoring 26 points and registered his second-straight double-double (and fourth of the season) with 10 rebounds. Sophomore Barry Stewart regained his touch, shooting 6-of-8 from the field for 19 points. Freshman Phil Turner also shot well, shooting 4-of-5 and 3-of-3 from behind the arc for 13 points.
Stat of the Game: Mississippi State’s +16 rebound advantage

6-3 Georgia (69) vs. 7-4 Tulane (70): In an incredibly low-scoring event, the Bulldogs’ rebounding fell a point shy to the Green Wave’s impressive shooting. Despite being offered 13 more free throws, Georgia couldn’t take the advantage to the bank in the closing moments. Jeremy Price was by far the most outstanding Bulldog of the outing, scoring 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting and six rebounds, while Billy Humphrey managed 14 as the Georgia guards continue to struggle.
Stat of the Game: Tulane’s 56.2% field goal percentage

Saturday Games

8-3 Alabama (81) vs. 7-4 Missouri State (73): Richard Hendrix absolutely dominated the Bears single-handedly in this game between two decent teams, as Hendrix scored a a season-high 30 points on 13-of-15 shooting along with nine rebounds. Gee, Hendrix’s co-team leader, recorded 18 on 6-of-11 shooting, and Riley/Torrance combined for 23 points. Conversely, no Bear scored more than 13 points. That speaks to both the top-heavyness of Alabama and the balance of Missouri State.
Stat of the Game: Hendrix/Gee/Riley combined for 34 attempts, remainder of team combining for 18

9-3 Arkansas (67) vs. 5-5 Appalachian State (74): More embarassment for the SEC. The Razorbacks’ talent level, and four players scoring more than 10 points, wasn’t enough to overcome a previously 4-5 Appy State team. The Mountaineers shot an absolutely blazing 66.6% from the field despite attempting 18 less shots, and most surprisingly heavily outrebounded the ‘Backs. Charles Thomas led the Razorbacks with 15 points off of 6-of-10 shooting, but no other Razorback would shoot better than 40% from the field.
Stat of the Game: ASU’s 31-22 rebound advantage

7-2 Auburn (67) vs. Alabama A&M 3-6 (56): Believe it or not, this game was surprisingly close for Auburn fans, considering the A&M Bulldogs have yet to defeat a Division 1-A team. A&M shot terribly, but managed to attempt 12 more shots (a sign of Lebo’s extremely poor coaching) and outrebounded the Tigers by two. Barber carried the team, scoring 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and Barrett managed 12. A very bad sign would be Quantez Robertson, Auburn’s undersized point guard, leading the team with 9 rebounds.
Stat of the Game: AAM’s 8:15 assist-to-turnover ratio

7-3 Georgia (67) vs. 3-7 Hawaii (59): The Georgia guards are trying to turn it around, as Sundiata Gaines led the Bulldogs with 15 points. Price and Swansey each scored 12, and Woodbury notched 11. The teams were surprisingly evenly-matched throughout the game, but Felton finally managed to get the big men to rebound and the guards to score. Of note, Georgia posted a miserable 7:20 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Stat of the Game: UGA’s 45.1% field goal percentage

5-5 Kentucky (69) vs. 4-8 Tennessee Tech (47): The Wildcats broke a four-game losing streak and improved to .500 by soundly defeating the Golden Eagles with hot shooting and dominating the rebounding column. Patrick Patterson scored in double figures for the eighth-straight game, leading the ‘Cats with 24 points and 15 rebounds (yes, this kid is a freshman) on 11-of-14 shooting. Ramel Bradley did what he does best – shoot free throws – hitting 7-of-8 from the stripe. Only one Golden Eagle scored as many as 12 points.
Stat of the Game: Kentucky’s 53.1% field goal shooting against TTSU’s 26.4%

7-4 LSU (67) vs. 6-5 Oregon State (61): The Beavers physically dominated the Tigers, but couldn’t follow up in free throws, hitting only 50% of them, but outrebounding them by 10. Guess who led the Tigers in scoring? Thornton. Despite shooting only 6-of-17 from the field, Thornton brought down 20 points. Anthony Randolph, the impressive freshman, fell just a rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points.
Stat of the Game: LSU’s 77.3% from free throw percentage vs. OSU’s 50%

11-0 Ole Miss (85) vs. 10-1 Clemson (82): The Rebels sure are playing well. The Tigers of Clemson went into the game undefeated, and Ole Miss won by three to remain undefeated. Good free throw shooting is a trademark of teams that close out games, and the Rebels shot an impressive 81.8% from the charity stripe versus Clemson’s 68.4%. Both Curtis and Warren chipped in 19 points – Warren shooting significantly better – and both Polynice and Huertas scored 14 points. The Rebels managed to overcome Clemson’s impressive 42.9% shooting from behind the arc, as well.
Stat of the Game: Polynice and Curtis combining for 17 rebounds

11-2 Florida (49) @ 8-3 Ohio State (62): The Gators finally met a team that could shut them down, and the Buckeyes did so in great fashion. The Gators were held to only 33.3% shooting, including 17.4% from behind the arc, were outrebounded, and were held to an assist-to-turnover ratio of less than 1. Calathes was obviously targetted, as he shot 1-of-9, and the team as a whole shot only 53.8% from the charity stripe.
Stat of the Game: Florida’s 4-of-23 mark from behind the arc

6-5 South Carolina (85) vs. 4-6 Charleston (82): Another game that shouldn’t have been as close as it was. Both teams played an almost identical game, shooting the exact same percentage from the field and nearly the same amount of rebounds. Per the usual, the close game came down to free throw shooting, as USC shot 85.7% and UC shot 55.6%. Five USC players scored in double figures, with Frederick shooting 8-of-15 for 21 points to lead the Gamecocks. Downey scored 18 on 7-of-17 shooting and and 7 assists to only 2 turnovers.
Stat of the Game: USC’s 30% free throw shooting advantage

11-0 Vanderbilt (83) vs. 3-7 Tennessee State (74): The Commodores dominated this game except for their 21 turnovers compared to only 14 assists, which provided the Tigers with 10 more chances at the goal. Shan Foster again led Vanderbilt shooting 7-of-10 from the field and led the team with 12 rebounds, along with 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Foster would probably be my pick for the SEC Player of the Year.
Stat of the Game: Vanderbilt’s +12 rebound advantage

11-1 Tennessee (82) @ 8-3 Xavier (75): This was the Volunteers’ most quality win of the year thus far, and they did so by forcing turnovers and stepping into passing lanes without regard to rebounding. An interesting concept, to say the least. Lofton’s first-team All-SEC hopes are pretty much gone at this point, much less all-America or National Player of the Year, as he again shot poorly…this time 3-of-12 and 1-of-5 from behind the arc…for only nine points. The newly-available J.P. Prince had his breakout game of the year, scoring 11 more points than any other team member (23) on 9-of-14 shooting. The Vols were, however, outrebounded 37-25.
Stat of the Game: Tennessee’s 63 shot attempts vs. Xavier’s 50