Brick city: Several SEC basketball teams lose in horrible Wednesday performances
By Adam Spencer
Published:
The SEC may have done a ton of great work landing top recruits during the first day of the football Early Signing Period on Wednesday, but it was a much tougher day on the basketball court.
Four SEC squads lost, with those losses coming to various levels of competition. The teams that went down on Wednesday were Tennessee (at Cincinnati), Vanderbilt (in Phoenix against Loyola-Chicago), Kentucky (in Las Vegas against Utah) and LSU (at home vs. ETSU).
Tennessee and LSU played earliest in the night, with the Vols going down early against the Bearcats before rallying to make it a game. However, late in the second half, the Bearcats pulled away for a convincing 78-66 win.
LSU, meanwhile, got absolutely trounced at home by East Tennessee State. The Bucs won 74-63, but they led by as many as 20 at one point in the second half. That was an ugly loss for Will Wade’s squad. However, you have to give ETSU credit. They’re a strong mid-major team and coach Steve Forbes is doing great work.
Then, it was Vandy’s turn to get schooled out West. Loyola-Chicago only has one key player left from that magical Final Four run in 2018, but the Ramblers managed to do enough to take down the Commodores 78-70.
Finishing out the night was Kentucky, which couldn’t hit a 3-pointer to save its life (finishing 2-for-17 from beyond the arc) in a 69-66 loss to the Utes in Vegas.
What a brutal night for SEC hoops. Undefeated Auburn hosts NC State on Thursday night, so we’ll see if the Tigers can snap the SEC’s bad luck streak.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
