The 14-team SEC entered Saturday with a three-way tie-up on the leader board, and two of the three facing off against each other. Something had to give.
To start the day, LSU held off Alabama 74-69 in Tuscaloosa to go to 14-2. Skylar Mays scored 20 points to lead the Tigers. After missing two games with an undisclosed illness, point guard Tremont Waters scored five points and made four steals in 24 minutes. The big boost for the Tigers continues to come from Javonte Smart, who again started in place of Waters, and scored 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the floor.
Alabama fell to 8-8 in league play and 17-12 overall. Squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, the Tide has Auburn at home on Tuesday night before finishing the regular season at Arkansas.
Then came Tennessee’s impressive 71-52 win over visiting Kentucky. That knocked UK out of the triple Tie-up.
So the Vols are now tied with LSU atop the league standings.
There are two regular-season games remaining, but if play ended today, LSU would be the No. 1 seed for the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament by virtue of its 82-80 overtime win over Tennessee on Feb. 23. Kentucky would be the No. 3 seed. Then comes five teams at 9-7.
The conference tourney takes place March 13-17 in Nashville and the NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday is March 17.
SEC men’s basketball standings
Tennessee 14-2 (25-3)LSU 14-2 (24-5)Kentucky 13-3 (24-5)Miss State 9-7 (21-8)Auburn 9-7 (20-9)Ole Miss 9-7 (19-10)Florida 9-7 (17-12)South Carolina 9-7 (14-15)Alabama 8-8 (17-12)Arkansas 6-10 (15-14)Texas A&M 6-10 (13-15)Missouri 4-12 (13-15)Georgia 2-14 (11-18)Vanderbilt 0-16 (9-20)
Remaining SEC regular season schedule
Tuesday, March 5
7:00 - South Carolina at Texas A&M (SEC)9:00 - Kentucky at Ole Miss (ESPN)9:00 - Mississippi State at Tennessee (SEC)9:00 - Auburn at Alabama (ESPNU)
Wednesday, March 6
6:30 - Missouri at Georgia (SEC)7:00 - LSU at Florida (ESPN2)8:30 - Arkansas at Vanderbilt (SEC)
Saturday, March 9
12:00 - Tennessee at Auburn (ESPN3)1:00 - Georgia at South Carolina (SEC)2:00 - Florida at Kentucky (CBS)2:00 - Texas A&M at Mississippi State (ESPN2)3:30 - Ole Miss at Missouri (SEC)6:00 - Alabama at Arkansas (SEC)8:30 - Vanderbilt at LSU (SEC)