SEC Tournament Report: Alabama pushing for a bid

Alabama guard Collin Sexton leads a fast break in the second half of an NCAA college basketball quarterfinal game against Auburn at the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday, March 9, 2018, in St. Louis. (Chris Lee/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Alabama guard Collin Sexton leads a fast break in the second half of an NCAA college basketball quarterfinal game against Auburn at the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday, March 9, 2018, in St. Louis. (Chris Lee/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

ST. LOUIS -- If there was any doubt whether Alabama would get an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, the Crimson Tide might have removed it by beating Auburn 81-63 Friday in Scottrade Center to advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals.

Alabama (19-14) may not have an impressive overall record, but the Tide are 2-1 against SEC co-champion Auburn. The Tide also beat SEC co-champion Tennessee by 28 points and have victories against other projected NCAA Tournament teams in Rhode Island, Texas A&M (2-1) and Florida (1-1).

"All you can do is allow what you do on the floor to speak for itself," Alabama Coach Avery Johnson said. "I say that all the time. Talk is cheap.

"But we are an NCAA Tournament team, if you want to know my opinion. There shouldn't be any doubt about that."

The Tide had lost five consecutive games -- including 76-73 at home to Arkansas -- before beating Texas A&M and Auburn in the SEC Tournament.

"We knew when we came into this tournament we had to win some games, and we wanted to because we have a lot to prove," Alabama freshman guard Collin Sexton said. "I feel like everybody counted us out.

"Coach told us, 'Just go out there and play. Whatever the outcome is, just play and give it your all while you're out there.' "

Will Fox be back?

Georgia soon could be searching for a new coach along with Ole Miss.

Mark Fox fell to 163-133 in nine seasons at the Bulldogs' coach after Kentucky beat Georgia 62-49 on Friday.

Fox has led Georgia to two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2011 and 2015. Both times the Bulldogs were seeded 10th and lost first-round games to Washington 68-65 in 2011 and to Michigan State 70-63 in 2015.

The Bulldogs (18-15) won't make a third NCAA Tournament trip under Fox this season, increasing speculation the Georgia administration might decide it's time to make a change.

Kentucky Coach John Calipari defended Fox after Friday's game.

"I know how good a coach he is," Calipari said. "I know what he's doing with young kids. He's doing it the right way. He's a great guy."

Calipari said part of him actually was pulling for Georgia so the Bulldogs would have a shot to win the SEC Tournament and the conference's automatic NCAA bid.

"I told [Fox] prior to the game, 'I'd love for you to beat us and get two more and go play in that [NCAA] Tournament and squelch all the crap,' " Calipari said. "It's nuts in our profession."

Fox said he'll be meeting with Georgia Athletic Director Greg McGarity soon to discuss the program.

"There's a lot of stuff going on out there, stuff that's not going on at Georgia," Calipari said in a reference to an FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball. "They're in good hands. That has to mean something."

No bad words

Alabama outscored Auburn 50-22 in the second half to erase a 41-31 lead by Auburn.

So what did Tide Coach Avery Johnson say during his halftime speech?

"I didn't raise my voice," Johnson said. "I used understandable English. No bad words.

"We just talked about how we needed to improve in the second half, and we did it."

Next tournament

Auburn's 18-point loss to Alabama was its most-lopsided of the season, but the Tigers (25-7) know they'll be in the NCAA Tournament and likely seeded third or fourth because of their impressive regular-season showing.

"I just want them to get excited about the fact that we're going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003," Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said of his players. "Losing today doesn't take any of the shine off of what this team accomplished.

"We just weren't able to build on it by winning three games and winning our next championship."

Sexton on fire

Through two games in St. Louis, Alabama freshman guard Collin Sexton is the leading candidate to take the SEC Tournament's MVP award.

Sexton had 27 points -- including a game-winning basket at the buzzer -- along with 5 assist and 3 rebounds in the Crimson Tide's 71-70 victory over Texas A&M on Thursday, and 31 points and 7 rebounds in their 81-63 victory over Auburn. He's hit 19 of 37 shots, including 9 of 14 three-pointers, and 11 of 12 free throws.

Winning at the line

South Carolina needs to work on its free-throw defense against the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

The Razorbacks hit 83.8 percent (46 of 55) free throws against the Gamecocks in two games this season. In Arkansas' other 30 games prior to playing Florida on Friday night, the Razorbacks hit 66.5 percent (440 of 662) of their free throws.

Arkansas hit a season-high 88.5 percent of its free throws (23 of 26) in a 69-64 victory over South Carolina on Thursday night.

The Razorbacks were so hot at the line that during a halftime contest an Arkansas fan -- whom the SEC was able to identify only by his first name of "John" -- hit a free throw while blindfolded.

Arkansas hit 14 of 15 free throws in the first half, including eight in a row to end the half with a 36-28 lead.

Razorbacks senior guards Daryl Macon and Anton Beard combined to shoot 2 of 15 from the field, but they were 15 of 16 on free throws.

According to Hogstats.com, a website devoted to Arkansas statistics, Macon set an SEC Tournament record for the Razorbacks for making the most free throws without a miss with his 8-of-8 performance.

The previous record, according to Hogstats.com, was seven made free throws by five Razorbacks: Jannero Pargo (Kentucky in 2001); Gary Ervin (Vanderbilt 2008); Charles Thomas (Tennessee 2008); Rotnei Clarke (Tennessee 2001); and Dusty Hannahs (Florida 2016).

"We made free throws," Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said. "We've been shooting not very good this year, but when it counted, we were pretty good tonight. That's the big key."

Location, location

With the Razorbacks' victory over South Carolina, they have won at least one game in seven of the eight locations the SEC Tournament has been held during their 27 seasons in the conference. In addition to being 1-0 in St. Louis before Friday night's game, Arkansas is 14-10 in Atlanta; 6-7 in Nashville, Tenn.; 1-1 in Birmingham, Ala.; 1-1 in Lexington, Ky.; 1-2 in Memphis; 1-3 in New Orleans; and 0-1 in Tampa, Fla.

Arkansas will get another shot to win in Tampa when the SEC Tournament is played there in 2022. The event will return to Nashville from 2019-2021 and 2023-2025.

Streaking Kentucky

Kentucky's victory over Georgia extended its SEC Tournament winning streak to 10 games. The Wildcats have advanced to the semifinals for the fifth consecutive year and 44th time overall as they try to win their 31st title.

Sports on 03/10/2018

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