SEC basketball’s preseason picture already has a few teams making noise, and the early scrimmage and exhibition action has done little to settle the bigger questions. Kentucky opened with a win, Alabama keeps looking like an offensive machine, LSU’s thin rotation held up, Florida stumbled in overtime, and Tennessee’s defense has some work to do.
Kentucky’s first test was a 69-49 win over Little Rock, a projected OVC contender, and the biggest takeaway was a sharper defensive edge. The offense, though, was slow to find its rhythm.
Kentucky finished with just 12 assists against 19 turnovers, and sophomore center Malachi Moreno didn’t have much of an impact. The backcourt pairing of Alex Wilkins and Zoom Diallo is going to matter a lot if the Wildcats are going to exceed expectations, and the next matchup should say more about where that group stands.
Alabama, even without suspended star guard Aden Holloway, rolled through wins over Furman and Ole Miss while averaging around 100 points per game. One of the reasons is Cole Cloer, the former top-100 prospect who redshirted at NC State before transferring to Alabama.
He scored at least 12 points in both games and dropped 18 against Ole Miss, drilling four three-pointers in that one. Cloer has already shown he can be a dangerous shooter, and that only adds to what was already expected to be one of the nation’s best offenses.
LSU’s situation is a little different, but the early returns were encouraging. With multiple players still waiting to become eligible, the Tigers used only a six-man rotation against McNeese State and UCF.
Even with five players logging between 35 and 40 minutes across those two games, they still came away with wins. For Coach Will Wade, that’s a solid opening stretch, though the lack of depth is going to be a problem if injuries hit.
Donovan Dent and Michael Ruzic should put up big numbers, but this roster is going to be stretched thin.
Florida, meanwhile, did not get the clean start many expected. The Gators, who have a strong chance to be No. 1 in the preseason AP poll, lost in overtime to Baylor on Sunday.
Denzel Aberdeen’s shooting line stood out most in the defeat: the Kentucky transfer went 3-for-16 from the field and took the most shots on the team. Aberdeen was a key bench piece when Florida won the national title two years ago, and after returning for a bigger role, his first outing was heavy on misses.
Tennessee also opened in disappointing fashion, dropping an 86-70 home game to Xavier. The second half was the problem, with the Vols giving up 59 points after halftime.
Rick Barnes has built teams around elite defense for years, but this roster lost several important defenders in the offseason and added plenty of scoring talent in their place. The early read is that the defense is not where it needs to be yet, though there’s still time for that to change.
In Other News...
Tennessee's Celebration Just Added Another Twist To This Alabama Rivalry
The postgame celebration in Knoxville came with a costly catch. After Tennessees win over Alabama, the Southeastern Conference fined the university $500,000 for violating its access to competition area policy, punishing the fan rush onto the field that followed one of the programs biggest victories in recent memory. The leagues policy is designed to keep spectators out of competition areas for safety, and it only allows exceptions when procedures are approved in advance and clearly communicated.
The money will go to Alabama, adding another layer to a rivalry that already had plenty of juice. Tennessee still has a path to have the fine reduced if it can show it tried to prevent the field storming or that there was only minimal interaction during the scene, but for now the SEC has made clear that the celebration crossed a line it wasnt willing to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Faces A Brutal Truth After Tennessee Exposed This Weakness
Alabamas trip to Tennessee ended with a 26-10 loss that put a familiar SEC test back in sharp focus: the line of scrimmage. ESPN analyst Greg McElroy pointed to the Tides struggles up front and the offensive turnovers as major reasons the game tilted, even as Alabamas defense did enough to keep things from getting away from them early.
Tennessee, meanwhile, leaned on its running game to control the contest and keep pressure on a Tide offense that never found much rhythm. The result dropped Alabama to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in SEC play, with Texas A&M next on the schedule as the Tide try to answer a question that was exposed in a hurry in Knoxville. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee's Alabama Celebration Just Reignited A Debate Vols Fans Know Well
The celebration in Knoxville is already carrying a pricey reminder. Tennessee was fined $500,000 by the Southeastern Conference after fans stormed the field following the football game against Alabama, a scene that quickly turned a big win into a league issue. Under SEC policy, spectators are not supposed to enter the field except in specific circumstances, and the penalty is being passed along to Alabama.
There is still a possible path to a smaller bill if Tennessee can show it made efforts to keep fans off the field, but the visuals from Saturday make that a tough case to sell. Video showed a large number of fans spilling onto the turf, which is exactly the kind of moment the conference has tried to discourage as it keeps revisiting how to handle field-storming celebrations. [Read more 🡒]