SEC Basketball: 2017-18 season week three review
In week three of SEC basketball, Georgia beat a top-25 team while suffering from food poisoning and Alabama almost won despite playing 3-on-5 for 10 minutes.
SEC basketball turned heads in the third week of the season with conventional wins over three top-25 teams and a once-in-a-century style loss by Alabama. Let’s take a look at the major headlines from the week in the conference for college hoops.
Alabama plays 3-on-5
To open the second half of the Alabama Crimson Tide’s game with Minnesota, Alabama’s super freshman guard, Collin Sexton swapped trash talk with Minnesota’s leading scorer Nate Mason. Technical fouls were the result and Mason was ejected from the game.
Moments later, Alabama’s Dazon Ingram and Minnesota’s Dupree McBrayer mixed it up. The Tide’s John Petty then chose to join the fracas. Finally, in a keystone cops version of crack-the-whip, one player after another was dragged off the Alabama bench as the Tide teammates tried to hold each other back. Leaving the bench by rule is fighting and the entire Alabama bench was ejected. With 13:39 to play in the game, Alabama was down to five players.
Good news: You can play with only five players.
Bad news: Ingram soon fouled out and the team was left with just four.
Good news: You can play with only four players.
Bad news: Freshman John Petty then rolled his ankle and left the game.
Good news: You can play with only three players.
For most teams in the country, playing with three would be a guaranteed loss, but Collin Sexton put Alabama on his shoulders. With the distraction of teammates removed, aside from having players to throw the ball inbounds, Sexton was able to not only shoot Alabama back in the game but darn near win in it. The ironic cherry on the top of this crazy shake is that no one who has actually seen Sexton play was particularly surprised.
He finished with 40 points, including 31 in the second half and 15 in the last 7:31.
“I have never, ever, ever seen anything like that in my life,” Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino would go on to say after his team’s 89–84 win. (Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated did not specify if Coach Pitino was talking about a 3-on-5 college basketball game or Collin Sexton.)
SEC Basketball Scores Big Wins
SEC basketball also earned national attention the old-fashioned way.
Texas A&M thumped tenth ranked Southern California, adding to its impressive early-season resume. The Aggies also beat then No. 9 West Virginia to open the season and remain undefeated.
In the PK80 invitational, Florida beat Stanford and No. 17 Gonzaga before falling to No. 1 Duke by three points. Also playing in the PK80 invitational, Arkansas gave a solid effort, beating Oklahoma and UConn. Senior Arkansas guard Jaylen Barford averaged 21.3 points a game to earn PK80 Victory Bracket All-Tournament team honors.
Tennessee finished its weekend work before Saturday, claiming third place in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. The Volunteers are outpacing expectations, playing well early against No. 4 Villanova and beating NC State.
LSU began a challenging week with a solid win over Michigan. The Tigers then finished with losses to No. 13 Notre Dame and Marquette. Only Vanderbilt posted a failing grade for the week’s efforts. Both No. 20 Seton Hall and Virginia trounced the Commodores.
Bulldogs Battle Food Poisoning
Not to be outdone by Alabama’s 3-on-5 antics, Georgia played the last two games of the Wooden Legacy with the entire team suffering from food poisoning. Georgia lost to San Diego State in the second round but took advantage of the opportunity to beat No. 23 St. Mary’s in the consolation game.
With top scorers Yante Maten and Rayshaun Hammonds struggling, junior point guard Turtle Jackson came to the rescue. Between breaks to be sick behind the bench, Jackson played the best ball of his career, averaging 16 points and 32 minutes per game during the tournament.
Top Freshman Injured
Michael Porter Jr., the top recruit in the nation, had his season end with back surgery this week. Porter was the top freshman recruit in America and projects as the likely first pick in the 2018 NBA draft. Porter’s injury diminishes Missouri’s chances for a turnaround season in 2018.
On the court, Missouri earned a spot in the Advocare Invitational championship game with a quality win over St. John’s. Fans are roasting the Tigers for a second-half meltdown against No. 23 West Virginia in the championship game, but the bigger picture is that expectations have changed for Missouri even with the loss of Porter.
SEC on the Rise
SEC basketball is No. 2 in KenPom.com’s conference rankings. Texas A&M, Kentucky, and Florida all rank in the top ten, and all fourteen SEC teams rank in the top-100 of the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings.
Four SEC teams are ranked in the AP Top-25. Florida is No. 6 while Kentucky is No. 7. Texas A&M is No. 9 and Alabama is No. 24. Arkansas, Georgia, and Tenessee are also receiving votes.
Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week
Florida’s Jalen Hudson was the SEC basketball player of the week. The junior guard averaged 25.3 points and 5.6 rebounds against Stanford, No. 7 Gonzaga, and No.1 Duke.
Alabama’s Sexton was the SEC basketball freshman of the week. The freshman guard averaged 26.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and four assists against UT Arlington, BYU, and in the now famous for the three-on-five game against No. 14 Minnesota. He is the first Alabama player to score 40 in a game since Reggie King had 43 points in the 1978-79 season.
Next: SEC early signing period review
John Calipari Reaches Milestone
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