John Clay's Sidelines

(AP photo)

SEC links for Friday:

- Tennessee holds off South Carolina 73-69, reports Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel. The Vols are now 8-7 in the SEC, with Kentucky coming to Knoxville on Sunday.

- Road games aren’t the problem for Tennessee, points out Mike Strange of the News-Sentinel. Tennessee finished 5-3 in SEC play on the road. The Vols are 3-4 at home.

- Tobias Harris scored a career-high 25 points in the Tennessee win, reports Patrick Brown of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. ”Tobias finished around the basket,” said UT coach Bruce Pearl afterward. “Tobias rebounded the ball in traffic. He was the only guy in there that had any kind of size – any kind of physical presence. That’s one of his best games. I played him at a lot of center. And as a freshman he’s a winner.”

- Shell-shocked Gamecocks can’t dig out of hole, writes Travis Haney of the Charleston Post and Courier. Sam Muldrow did score a career-high 24 points on his Senior Night for South Carolina.

- Auburn lost more than $600,000 on its BCS championship game appearance, reports Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News. That’s the dirty little secret about bowl games. For the teams, the game itself is not a money-making proposition.

- John Bond says the Cam Newton tape is a fake, reports Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News. I’m not sure I care much about this, or know who to believe.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Tennessee tunes up for UK with win in Columbia’

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Paul Finebaum of the Mobile Press-Register on Jeff Lebo’s shaky future at Auburn.
• Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News can’t make a case for bringing back Lebo.
• Doug Segrest of the News previews the SEC Tournament.
• Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun says Florida has some work to do.
• But some SEC coaches think Gators are a lock for NCAAs, reports David Jones of Florida Today.
• Seth Emerson of The State looks at what might have been for South Carolina basketball.
• Scotty Hopson is developing into Tennessee’s stopper, reports Mike Griffith in the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times Free Press says Tennessee is facing a revenge factor.
• David Brandt of the Clarion-Ledger reports that Ole Miss is trying to focus on the task at hand, not the NCAAs.
• Bubblicious Bulldogs need another SEC tourney like last year, writes Kyle Veazey in the Clarion-Ledger.
• Gary Laney of The Advocate reports LSU basketball now dealing with off-the-court issues.
• Austin Ward of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports on new Tennessee quarterback Matt Simms.
• Tim Tucker of the AJC reports that a Georgia quarterback candidate has been arrested.

Here’s video of Auburn coach Jeff Lebo talking to the media after his team’s 72-67 loss to Kentucky.

I posted this morning that this could be an interesting day, and it has been.

Billy Gillispie was on the SEC teleconference this morning, featuring the seven coaches that are in participating in post-season play. Billy G. called UNLV “a very difficult matchup,” and that he has no idea what sort of atmosphere there would be at Memorial Coliseum. “I’ll just look forward to it when the time comes at 9:30,” he said.

A lot of the discussion was about the SEC receiving only three bids, and the top-seeded conference team, LSU, getting just an 8th seed.

“When I saw Tennessee come up as a No. 9, I was shocked by that,” said Auburn coach Jeff Lebo, who added that when the seeds started showing up he knew his Tigers had little chance of making the field.

“The obvious perception was that our league was down,” said Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl. “And going by the committee seedings, the reality is that the league was down.”

Pearl said he thought it was a real shame that Auburn did not make the field.

“I think the teams are a lot better than what they’ve gotten,” said Gillispie. “We got three times this year, and I think next year it’ll be back to where it has been, maybe even more.”

Gillispie and UK players are to meet with the media at 5 p.m. to preview the UNLV game.

SEC links for Friday:

• The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports on SEC reprimanding Lane Kiffin for calling Urban Meyer a cheater.
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel calls Lane Kiffin a “big buffoon.”
• Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun reports on the Kiffin-Meyer recruiting controversy.
• The Sun also has the scathing statement from UF athletics boss Jeremy Foley.
• Sun columnist Pat Dooley writes that Kiffin is too new to stir up trouble in tough SEC.
• Memphis Commercial-Appeal columnist Geoff Calkins on Kiffin’s joke of the day.
• In the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Dan Fleser reports on Pat Summitt’s 1,000th win.
• News-Sentinel columnist John Adams on Summitt’s new contract.
• David Climer of the Tennessean writes that Summitt’s smile is worth 1,000 wins.
• Maurice Patton of the Tennessean reports on Vandy’s win over Alabama.
• In the Mobile Press-Register, Evan Woodbery reports that Auburn coach Jeff Lebo is too busy to worry about job security.
• Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger reports on Dan Mullen’s new coordinators at Mississippi State.

Photo by Mark Cornelison.

Ten notes from Kentucky’s 73-64 win over Auburn:

• Perry Stevenson recorded his first double-double since the the season-opener against VMI. Stevenson scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in that game. He had 13 and 12 tonight.

• Patrick Patterson’s 18 rebounds are a career-high.

• Darius Miller played a season-low five minutes. His previous low was seven against Florida Atlantic.

• Jodie Meeks has made 18 of 31 three-pointers in his last three games. He scored 31 points, the sixth game this year he’s topped the 30-point mark.

• UK averaged 1.025 points per possession. Auburn averaged 0.879.

• Kentucky outrebounded Auburn 42-22. That’s the largest rebound margin against an SEC foe since UK outrebounded Vanderbilt by 22 (45-23) on Jan. 12, 2008.

• Kentucky made 26 of 32 free throws for 81.3 percent. In games in which the Cats took 30-or-more free throws, that’s the best the Cats have done since making 26 of 30 for 86.7 percent in first-round NCAA Tournament win over UAB on March 17, 2006.

• Kentucky committed 22 turnovers, the seventh time this year the Cats have committed 20-or-more. UK is 4-3 in those seven games.

• Kentucky has held all four of its SEC opponents under 40 percent from the field. Vandy shot 31.6. Tennessee shot 37.9. Georgia shot 31.1. Auburn shot 38.8.

• Auburn coach Jeff Lebo: “There is no doubt that defensively Kentucky is a very good team. Their intensity in the second half certainly got us out of sync. They pressured us very hard and they have some great size in the perimeter and they ahve some great shot-blocking ability and that really hurt us.”

Surfing the net for UK news:

• Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette writes that Rajon Rondo has gone to the head of the Celtics class, and gets some comments from Rajon on Jodie Meeks’ 54-point performance.
• The H-L’s Jerry Tipton writes that Kentucky and Auburn tell two different stories at the free throw line.
• Mark Story gives out his mid-season awards.
• A Sea of Blue looks at Kentucky’s fast starts and how it affects the rest of the game.
• The Cat Scratches blog gives a UK basketball practice report.
• Tom Leach says the coaches poll shows a lack of respect for the SEC.
• At the Danville Advocate-Messenger, Larry Vaught writes that Auburn could use a junk defense on Jodie Meeks.
• Vaught also writes that Kentucky’s defense impresses Auburn coach Jeff Lebo.
• And Larry also has a notes package that includes Auburn’s Korvotney Barber saying he almost came to UK.
• Brian Eldridge of Kentucky Sports Report says UK football has a commitment from former Iowa State commitment Ryan Mosby.
• In the Kentucky Kernel, Alex Risen writes that the vacation is over for UK men’s tennis.
• The Arizona Daily Star examines ex-UK coach Tubby Smith as a possibility for the open Arizona job.