Published Jan 7, 2025
Around the SEC: Jan. 4
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Kyle McAreavy  •  Mizzou Today
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With SEC play beginning Saturday, let’s get back to our look around the SEC so we all know what happened outside of the Missouri matchup at Auburn.

All rankings were updated Monday night.

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No. 6 Kentucky 106, No. 8 Florida 100

As the first game that would show winning on the road in the SEC is going to be nearly impossible this year, Kentucky took down previously-unbeaten Florida in Lexington.

The Wildcats were led by a very balanced scoring attack with 23 points off the bench from Koby Brea, 19 from Lamont Butler, 16 from Otega Oweh, 15 from Amari Williams and 14 each from Jaxson Robinson and Andrew Carr.

Williams led the team with eight rebounds, while dishing out five assists. Butler had eight assists and Carr added five.

Florida was led by 33 points from Walter Clayton and 26 from Alijah Martin, while Thomas Haugh added 11 and Rueben Chinyelu had 10.

Clayton added five assists, while Alex Condon had 10 rebounds and Chinyelu added eight.

Kentucky shot 37-of-64 (57.81 percent) from the field, 14-of-29 (48.28 percent) from3 and 18-of-24 (75 percent) at the free-throw line.

Florida shot 33-of-60 (55 percent) overall, 12-of-33 (36.36 percent) from deep and 22-of-35 (62.86 percent) from the charity stripe.

Next up, Kentucky (12-2, 1-0) will play at Georgia (12-2, 0-1) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Florida (13-1, 0-1) will host No. 1 Tennessee (14-0, 1-0) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

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No. 23 Ole Miss 63, Georgia 51

In a much lower-scoring affair, Ole Miss used a 37-point second half to pull away as the Rebels held Georgia to only 23 points after the break.

Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield both scored 15 points to lead Ole Miss, while Malik Dia grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and Dre Davis blocked five shots.

Asa Newell was the lone Bulldog in double figures with a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Ole Miss shot 21-of-51 (41.18 percent) from the field, 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) from 3 and 15-of-21 (71.43 percent) at the free-throw line.

Georgia shot 17-of-58 (29.31 percent) overall, 2-of-18 (11.11 percent) from 3 and 15-of-17 (88.24 percent) from the line.

Ole Miss (12-2, 1-0) will hit the road to play Arkansas (11-3, 0-1) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Georgia (12-2, 0-1) will host No. 6 Kentucky (12-2, 1-0) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

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No. 1 Tennessee 76, Arkansas 52

Top-ranked Tennessee showed why it’s one of the best teams in the country as it ran away from then-No. 23 Arkansas at home.

Chaz Lanier scored 29 points to lead Tennessee, while Igor Milicic scored 13 points and brought down 18 rebounds, while dishing out five assists. Zakai Seigler led the Volunteers with seven assists to go with 12 points, five rebounds and three steals, while Felix Okpara added 10 points.

D.J. Wagner had 17 points to lead Arkansas, while Boogie Fland had 12 points, three assists, three steals and three rebounds. Adou Thiero and Jonas Aidoo had five rebounds each for Arkansas.

Former Tiger Trevon Brazile had two points, two rebounds, one block and four fouls in just more than 13 minutes played off the bench.

Tennessee shot 27-of-69 (39.13 percent) from the field, 10-of-26 (38.46 percent) from 3 and 12-of-15 (80 percent) at the free-throw line.

Arkansas shot 20-of-53 (37.74 percent) overall, 6-of-29 (20.69 percent) from 3 and 6-of-13 (46.15 percent) at the line.

Tennessee (14-0, 1-0) will hit the road to face No. 8 Florida (13-1, 0-1) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Arkansas (11-3, 0-1) will host No. 23 Ole Miss (12-2, 1-0) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

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No. 14 Mississippi State 85, South Carolina 50

Mississippi State took a 43-18 lead into halftime, then held on for the biggest win of SEC opener day.

Josh Hubbard led the Bulldogs with 21 points, while Claudell Harris had 17 points and nine rebounds. KeShawn Murphy added 12 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three assists off the bench, while Riley Kugel had 12 points off the bench.

Zachary Davis led South Carolina with 22 points off the bench and was the lone Gamecock in double figures. Collin Murray-Boyles brought down 10 rebounds and Jamarii Thomas had six assists.

Mississippi State shot 35-of-62 (56.45 percent) from the field, 8-of-25 (32 percent) from the 3-point line and 7-of-9 (77.78 percent) from the free-throw line.

South Carolina shot 16-of-55 (29.09 percent) from the field, 2-of-19 (10.53 percent) from beyond the arc and 16-of-23 (69.57 percent) from the free-throw line.

Mississippi State (13-1, 1-0) will hit the road to face Vanderbilt (13-1, 1-0) at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

South Carolina (10-4, 0-1) will host No. 5 Alabama (12-2, 1-0) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

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Vanderbilt 80, LSU 72

The Commodores took a 34-27 lead into halftime, then held off a 45-point second-half from LSU by scoring 46.

A.J. Joggard scored 17 points and dished out four assists to lead Vanderbilt, while MJ Collins and Jaylen Carey both had 14 points and Tyler Nickel had 11.

Devin McGlockton brought down 10 rebounds, while Carey added eight.

Cam Carter led LSU with 22 points, while Jordan Sears had 17 points and Corey Chest had 12 points and five rebounds.

Vanderbilt shot 28-of-64 (43.75 percent) from the field, 8-of-26 (30.77 percent) from beyond the arc and 16-of-24 (66.67 percent) at the free-throw line.

LSU shot 24-of-48 (50 percent) overall, 5-of-18 (27.78 percent) from 3 and 19-of-23 (82.61 percent) from the line.

Vanderbilt (13-1, 1-0) will host No. 14 Mississippi State (13-1, 1-0) at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

LSU (11-3, 0-1) will play at Missouri (11-3, 0-1) at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

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No. 5 Alabama 107, No. 17 Oklahoma 79

Alabama’s offense exploded for 48 points in the first half and 59 in the second half to take down Oklahoma.

Six players scored in double figures for the Crimson Tide.

Mark Sears led the way at 22 points while he recorded a double-double with 10 assists to go with four rebounds and three steals.

Labaron Philon had 16 points, five assists and four rebounds, Grant Nelson added a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Derrion Reid had 11 points off the bench and Aden Holloway added 10 points off the bench. Clifford Omoruyi also had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Jalon Moore led Oklahoma with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Jeremiah Fears had 16 points and five rebounds to go with three assists, while Sam Godwin had 15 points and five rebounds.

Kobe Elvis added 13 points and a team-high five assists, while Duke Miles had 10 points as every Oklahoma starter scored in double figures.

Alabama shot 38-of-76 (50 percent) from the field, 9-of-29 (31.03 percent) from 3 and 22-of-30 (73.33 percent) from the free-throw line.

Oklahoma shot 32-of-67 (47.76 percent) overall, 5-of-19 (26.32 percent) from deep and 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) from the line.

Alabama (12-2, 1-0) will play at South Carolina (10-4, 0-1) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Oklahoma (13-1, 0-1) will host No. 10 Texas A&M (12-2, 1-0) at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

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No. 10 Texas A&M 80, Texas 60

The rival Texas schools went into halftime tied at 37, but the Aggies nearly doubled up Texas 43-23 in the second half to pull away.

Zurich Phelps scored 18 points, while bringing down seven rebounds and dishing out four assists to lead A&M. Pharrel Payne added 15 points and five rebounds off the bench, while Wade Taylor IV had 13 points, three rebounds and three assists and Manny Obaseki had 10 points off the bench.

Solomon Washington had 10 rebounds to lead the Aggies.

Tramon Mark had 14 points to lead Texas, while Arthur Kaluma had 13 points and seven rebounds, Jordan Pope added 12 points and Tre Johnson scored 11, while Dadin Shedrick brought down 10 rebounds.

Texas A&M shot 27-of-57 (47.37 percent) from the field, 2-of-19 (10.53 percent) from 3 and 24-of-32 (75 percent) at the free-throw line.

Texas shot 18-of-52 (34.62 percent) overall, 7-of-26 (26.03 percent) from deep and 17-of-20 (85 percent) at the line.

Texas was 6-of-14 from 3 going into halftime, but made just 1-of-12 after the break as the Longhorns fell back.

Texas (11-3, 0-1) will host No. 2 Auburn (13-1, 1-0) at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Texas A&M (12-2, 1-0) will go to No. 17 Oklahoma (13-1, 0-1) at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

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SEC Standings
TeamSEC recordSEC win percentageOverall recordOverall win percentage

Tennessee

1-0

1.000

14-0

1.000

Auburn

1-0

1.000

13-1

.929

Mississippi State

1-0

1.000

13-1

.929

Vanderbilt

1-0

1.000

13-1

.929

Alabama

1-0

1.000

12-2

.857

Kentucky

1-0

1.000

12-2

.857

Ole Miss

1-0

1.000

12-2

.857

Texas A&M

1-0

1.000

12-2

.857

Florida

0-1

.000

13-1

.929

Oklahoma

0-1

.000

13-1

.929

Georgia

0-1

.000

12-2

.857

Arkansas

0-1

.000

11-3

.786

LSU

0-1

.000

11-3

.786

Missouri

0-1

.000

11-3

.786

Texas

0-1

.000

11-3

.786

South Carolina

0-1

.000

10-4

.714

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