SEC Talk

Patrick Beverley could be the best in the SEC.

The weekend saw a number of SEC teams begin their non-conference games and for the most part the results went as expected. The big names like number seven Tennessee and number 19 Arkansas both saw action and both won. Florida played two games, one on Friday and Sunday and won both easily. The biggest news not game related was that Kentucky was dropped from the latest AP Poll which was expected after their embarrassing loss to Gardner-Webb earlier on.

Despite winning 80-63 over Temple, Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl was disappointed in the execution by his players. The Vols have some very lofty expectations for the season and Pearl realizes that his players cannot take games off. 60 points is too much to give up against a team like Temple. Granted, Tennessee was one of the worst teams defensively last year in the SEC, Pearl knows that in order to get to a final four or win a national championship, his team must defend the basket and not just force turnovers. As for Chris Lofton, his shot hasn’t looked good so far, but Pearl thinks it’s just a temporary slump which he should snap out of soon.

Arkansas wins it’s game of the year but not before getting a scare from Wofford. Reminiscent of the Kentucky/Gardner-Webb fiasco, Wofford actually led 10-2 halfway through the first half before Arkansas found it’s shooting rhythm to cut the lead and run away with the game winning 67-45. Arkansas was led by Patrick Beverley who looks to challenge Chris Lofton for SEC Player of the Year honors. Beverley was the leading scorer on the night with 15 points.

Don’t look now, but the Florida Gators look like the sleeper team of the SEC, if that is even possible as the defending 2-time national champions. Florida looked good, really good in their first 2 games. Granted, the opponents were North Dakota St. and Tennessee Tech, but the rookies are playing great. Nick Calathes, Chandler Parsons and Alex Tyus are looking like potential NBA players. The offense is different than in year’s past, much more perimeter shots and dribble drives, but these kids can play. I’m sticking with my prediction that Florida will be an NCAA team and possibly could go deep.

Here are some more scores from last week,

Temple 63
(7) Tennessee 80

S. Carolina St. 67
South Carolina 92

Troy 72
(41) Alabama 84

North Dakota St. 65
(35) Florida 75

Auburn 62
Tulane 77

Jacksonville St. 65
Georgia 107

Tennesse, Arkansas, Florida, Patrick Beverley