The 2018 SEC tournament is almost halfway over, with the largest margin of victory on Thursday being a five-point win for Arkansas over South Carolina in the nightcap.
The two morning games were decided on the last possession, with Collin Sexton and Alabama hitting a buzzer-beating layup to defeat Texas A&M and potentially play themselves back into the NCAA tournament, as well as Kassius Robertson missing a potential-game-winning three from the corner that allowed Georgia to pull off the upset over Missouri.
As the top four seeds gear up for their first action at the tournament, let’s take a look at the biggest storylines for Friday’s matchups at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
How will Alabama regroup to face rival Auburn?
The Crimson Tide have the most entertaining victory of the tournament thus far thanks to Sexton’s floater at the buzzer against the Aggies.
The thing about conference tournaments is that if you win, you have to come back the next day and typically play an even better opponent. That can be a draining experience for a team like Alabama, who had such an emotional win the day before.
The next issue on the table for Alabama is that this particular opponent is co-regular season champion Auburn, who the Tide split with during the regular season series. There is a lot at stake for both teams in this game, with Auburn playing for seeding in the NCAA Tournament, while Alabama is playing to feel a bit more certain about locking up an at-large bid.
It will be interesting to see what sort of energy both teams come out with at the beginning of the game, with Alabama just having played a game 24 hours prior and Auburn having not played in nearly a week.
Keep an eye on the early energy for both teams, as it will set the pace for the entire game.
Will Georgia continue its Cinderella run as the only double-digit seed remaining?
The Bulldogs made good on the trend of at least one double-digit seed making it to the quarterfinal round by scoring the 62-60 win over Missouri on Thursday.
This was another thrilling contest in this tournament, and the Bulldogs were able to advance behind the strong play of AP SEC Player of the Year Yante Maten, who posted his 15th double-double of the season.
The challenges just get harder for the Bulldogs, however, as Big Blue Nation and Kentucky come into St. Louis with one thing on their minds: win yet another SEC Tournament championship.
Georgia is certainly David to Kentucky’s Goliath, but with Maten playing as well as he has and the supporting cast of Turtle Jackson, Nicolas Claxton, Derek Ogbeide, Rayshaun Hammonds, and Juwan Parker stepping up big in recent games, the Bulldogs can hang with anyone left in the field.
But for that to happen, Georgia will have to sustain the high level of play its had the past two days to be able to win what’ll likely feel like another true road game.
Can Mississippi State shed its reputation and defeat a top SEC team?
A lot has been made about Mississippi State’s weak non-conference strength of schedule this season, and that SOS ranking is one of the major factors that is keeping the Bulldogs out of the tournament picture for now.
However, Mississippi State will have plenty of opportunities to play its way back into the tournament discussion if it can pick up wins over Tennessee and either Florida or Arkansas to get to the SEC final on Sunday.
Looking ahead to those games on Saturday and Sunday is not the business Mississippi State wants to be in right now. Instead, it must turn its attention to the Vols, who embarrassed the Bulldogs at the Hump last week in handing the home team a 76-54 defeat.
If the Ben Howland’s team can reverse its fortunes in the SEC Tournament and reel off a big win over Tennessee, they’ll have chance to take a step closer towards getting on the right side of the bubble.
Can Florida continue its hot streak into the SEC Tournament and beyond?
The Gators have been rolling over the last week in scoring double-digit victories over Alabama and Kentucky.
Those are not easy feats, and that makes Florida one of the hottest teams in the SEC coming into this tournament, as well as one of the favorites to win it.
Chris Chiozza and company will prepare to take on Arkansas in the nightcap, which is never an easy game for any opponent due to the Razorbacks’ big three of Daryl Macon, Jaylen Barford, and Daniel Gafford.
Florida won the only regular season meeting between the two teams, but that was all the way back in mid-January. Both teams are playing more consistent these days, and that bodes well for each team’s ability to have a successful postseason run.
This one should be one of the more entertaining games of the day, as both teams like to push the tempo and find open shots in transition.
If you like points, this will certainly be the game for you.