SEC

Turner puts Kentucky at loss

Texas A&M’s Elston Turner (31) scored 40 points to lead the Aggies as they defeated Kentucky 83-71 on Saturday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
Texas A&M’s Elston Turner (31) scored 40 points to lead the Aggies as they defeated Kentucky 83-71 on Saturday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.

— Looking back, Texas A&M’s Elston Turner said preseason runs through 110-degree heat were the foundation of preparing the Aggies for their first pass at playing in the SEC.

The summer heat in eastern Texas couldn’t match Turner’s shooting hand Saturday against Kentucky.

Turner scored 40 points at Rupp Arena, easily topping his previous career high, and the Aggies won their first league road game as SEC members 83-71.

The loss was John Calipari’s first home conference loss since becoming the Wildcats’ head coach before the 2009-10 season. He’s 24-1 at home in SEC games as Kentucky’s coach.

Turner finished 14 of 19 from the floor, including 6 of 10 from three-point range. He said he got a good feel for the Rupp Arena rims during shoot-around, and he wasn’t intimidated by the 24,193 fans in attendance who, at one point in the second half, grew so loud that the referee’s whistle to indicate a timeout was almost inaudible at court level.

Turner’s father, also named Elston Turner, played a handful of games at Rupp Arena as a guard for Mississippi from 1977-1981.

“He said it was loud, and it’s going to be at least 20,000 people there,” Turner said of speaking to his father. “I haven’t talked to him in the past couple of days, but I’m sure he’s calling me right now.”

“It took a 40-point game to beat Kentucky at Kentucky,” Texas A&M Coach Billy Kennedy said. “The run that they have in the SEC, winning all these home games, it’s for a reason. They’re very good, they’re very deep, very talented and very well coached. But for us to score 83 against their defense was incredible, and it took a special performance.”

NO. 11 FLORIDA 74, LSU 52

BATON ROUGE - Will Yeguete had 13 rebounds to lead five Gators with at least seven, and short-handed No. 11 Florida cruised past LSU.

Florida out rebounded LSU 53-34 but Tigers big man Johnny O’Bryant III is still recovering from a leg injury and only played 14 minutes.

Kenny Boynton scored 20 points and Patric Young had 14 for the Gators (12-2, 2-0 SEC). Yeguete had 10 points.

Hickey led the Tigers with 15 points.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 72, GEORGIA 61

ATHENS, Ga. - Jalen Steele scored a career-high 21 points, Craig Sword added 14 and Mississippi State won its third consecutive game.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 16 points for Georgia, but the fourth-leading scorer in the SEC went 0 for 6 from the field in the second half.

Steele’s consecutive three-pointers gave Mississippi State (7-7, 1-1 SEC) an 11-point lead, its biggest of the game, with 5:02 remaining.

Charles Mann added 14 points for Georgia (6-9, 0-2).

AUBURN 74, SOUTH CAROLINA 71

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Frankie Sullivan scored 17 points and Rob Chubb added 16 points and 10 rebounds as Auburn beat South Carolina.

The Tigers (8-7, 2-0 SEC) survived 27 lead changes to win their second SEC game of the season.

Auburn took the lead for good after Sullivan’s two free throws with 2:41 to go to put the Tigers up 73-71. Chubb missed 1 of 2 free throws with 35.2 seconds left, giving South Carolina (10-5, 0-2) one last chance.

Brian Richardson missed a three-pointer with 10 seconds left and Bruce Ellington forced up another three-pointer that didn’t have a chance against a double team as the Gamecocks started SEC play 0-2 for a second year in a row.

Ellington led the Gamecocks with 18 points.

ALABAMA 68, TENNESSEE 65

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Trevor Lacey and Trevor Releford each scored 15 points to lift Alabama over Tennessee.

Releford scored all of his points in the second half and made two free throws with eight seconds left for the Crimson Tide (9-6, 1-1 SEC), which had lost three of four games. Then Trae Golden missed a potential tying three-pointer at the buzzer to send the Volunteers (8-6, 0-2) to their third consecutive loss.

Levi Randolph scored 12 for the Tide. Andrew Steele had 11 points and four steals and helped spark a 10-0 run late run for Alabama.

Jordan McRae scored 21 points for Tennessee.

MISSISSIPPI 64, NO. 10 MISSOURI 49

OXFORD, Miss. - Murphy Holloway scored 22 points, Jarvis Summers added 12 and Mississippi cruised past No. 10 Missouri.

Ole Miss (13-2, 2-0 SEC) led the entire game, jumping out to an early 9-0 lead. Holloway was nearly unstoppable inside, making 8 of 12 shots from the field and 6 of 10 free throws.

Missouri (12-3, 1-1) was without leading scorer Laurence Bowers, who is out with a sprained MCL in his right knee. The Tigers were led by 13 points from Jabari Brown.

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Arkansas 56, Vanderbilt 33 Alabama 68, Tennessee 65 Auburn 74, South Carolina 71 Mississippi State 72, Georgia 61 Texas A&M 83, Kentucky 71 Florida 74, LSU 52 Mississippi 64, Missouri 49

Sports, Pages 27 on 01/13/2013

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