SEC Basketball: 2017-18 season week two review
The freshmen made news during the last week of SEC basketball, and seniors Yante Maten of Georgia and Player of the Week Egor Koulechov of Florida dominated on the court.
After an undefeated start for SEC basketball in the opening weekend, Auburn picked up the first loss for the conference against an undefeated Temple.
Kentucky then lost a thriller in its marquee matchup with fourth-ranked Kansas. Missouri lost to Utah, and South Carolina lost to Illinois State. Vanderbilt lost twice, to cross-town neighbor Belmont and to Southern Cal.
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas A&M remained undefeated.
While close games against inferior competition are normal in November, the Georgia Bulldogs may be taking the idea too far. The Bulldogs did not pull away from USC Upstate until the last five minutes of the game Tuesday and defended a three-point shot at the buzzer to defeat Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Sunday.
Freshman Watch
The SEC Basketball Freshman of the Week for Week 2 was Alabama’s John Petty. The Tide guard averaged 22 points, five rebounds and two assists in wins over Lipscomb and Alabama A&M. Petty set a school record with 10 Three pointers (10-of-13) against Alabama A&M. The effort also tied Petty for the fourth-most in a single game in SEC history. His 76.9 percent shooting percentage from beyond the arc was the highest in league history of any player who has made at least 10 threes in a game.
Alabama freshman Colin Sexton began his season Tuesday night after serving a one-game NCAA imposed suspension. He now leads the SEC with 23.5 points a game average.
LSU’s freshman Tremont Waters is tied for the SEC lead with 7 assists per game and leads the SEC in steals with 3.
Kentucky Freshman Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is right behind Waters with 2.8 steals a game.
Player of the Week
The SEC Basketball Player of the Week is Florida’s senior guard Egor Koulechov. Koulechov averaged 20.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in wins over Gardner-Webb, North Florida, and New Hampshire.
Against North Florida and New Hampshire, Koulechov recorded a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds; 14 points, 10 rebounds). At the line, he is shooting 92 percent while shooting 45 percent on three-point tries.
Yante Maten Streaking
Georgia’s Yante Maten is living up to his Co-Preseason SEC Player of the Year selection. Maten has registered a double-double in all three games so far this season. He is also 100% from the free throw line in 23 attempts. Maten is second in the SEC in points per game and rebounds per game.
Next: Tennessee Basketball Preview
Five SEC teams are receiving votes in the Associated Press preseason poll. Florida leads the group at No. 7 while Kentucky is 8th, Texas A&M is 16th and Alabama is 25th.