Vignettes from Nashville after Day 1 (hopefully not last) of SEC Tournament
By Joe Cox
Published:
Well, that was quite an opening day of the SEC Tournament. Not so much on the court, where Arkansas and Georgia dispatched Ole Miss and Vandy to what we all may be experiencing soon enough — the end of the 2020 basketball season.
But off the court, coronavirus ran rampant through the world of sports. First, the NCAA Tournament went fan-free, then the SEC Tournament announced that it would follow suit (shades of the 2008 post-tornado Tournament?). After the NBA suspended its season, it’s very much an open question as to how much college basketball we’ll see anytime soon.
But assuming the games go on as planned Thursday, even in a more-or-less empty Bridgestone Arena (save for the teams, credentialed media, essential personnel and family), there’s some quality match-ups to look forward to. Hopefully.
Looking ahead
Alabama and Tennessee will open the day facing off for the right to play Kentucky on Friday. Both have lost 3 of their past 5 games, and neither has an NCAA Tournament future, aside from winning at least Thursday and Friday games (and probably one more). Still, these two schools never like each other, and this could be a fun one.
Georgia, fresh off an impressive offensive effort from Rayshaun Hammonds, whose 22 points and 11 boards stood out in Wednesday’s opening game, will get Florida. All-world UGA star Anthony Edwards (probably) didn’t play his last college game yet, but since he shot 2-for-13 Wednesday night, he’ll need more than that unless he wants Thursday to be the end of his collegiate experience. Kerry Blackshear is uncertain for the Gators, who could be perilously close to the wrong side of the NCAA cut line if they lose. The good news for UF is that they handled Georgia by 14 last Wednesday.
Thursday’s evening session will lead off with Buzz Williams’s Texas A&M Aggies taking on Missouri. The Aggies finished conference play with impressive wins at Auburn and at home against Arkansas, and should have momentum in this game. They also beat Missouri in both regular-season matchups, but were listed as a mild underdog in the opening Vegas line. Maybe the curse of trying to beat a team 3 times in a season is in play?
The late game will pit Arkansas against South Carolina in an old-fashioned battle of two schools clinging to faint NCAA hopes. Maik Kotsar is very possibly out for the Gamecocks, and Arkansas will likely continuing bombing away from 3-point land with Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe. Sophomore guard Desi Sills added a 5-for-6 game from 3-point land in the Hogs’ win over outmatched Vandy. Even with a win, the victor of this game probably needs an LSU upset on Friday to gain any NCAA mojo. But that’s why they play the games.
Saying goodbye
Hopefully, we’re not saying goodbye to college basketball in 2020. We do know it’s finished for Breein Tyree, who went down courageously with 18 points for the Rebels in their 81-63 defeat. The tough-as-nails 6-2 combo guard finished his Ole Miss career with 1,797 career points, including 207 3-pointers made. That places him 6th all-time in Rebels history in both categories. Bridging a coaching transition, Tyree was always a big play waiting to explode.
Similarly, junior Vandy guard Saben Lee deserves some credit. Enduring a two-year SEC losing streak would have taken the enthusiasm out of a lesser player, but Lee had an all-conference caliber season, even while Vandy crawled to an 11-21 mark. He went out with another fine game, finishing with 30 points and single-handedly keeping the Commodores in the game before their eventual 86-73 loss to Arkansas. No idea whether Lee will jump to the NBA after the season, but Jerry Stackhouse would doubtlessly welcome him back in what reasons to be a growing season in 2020-21for Vandy.
Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.
