Around the SEC: Men’s basketball weekly recap

Week of Feb. 12-19

Florida continues to roll

The No. 15 Florida Gators tallied their eighth straight win this past week after convincing wins over Auburn and Mississippi State. The Gators can throw up big offensive numbers occasionally, and their 114-95 road win over Auburn was an example of that. Florida’s leading scorer, Canyon Bailey, racked up 30 points and a couple of rebounds against the Tigers. The team also got help from guards KeVaughn Allen and Kasey Hill, who combined for 28 points and 13 assists. This marked 10 straight wins for the Gators against Auburn.

Next, head coach Mike White and Florida traveled to Starkville to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The script could not be more flipped offensively for the Gators, who struggled shooting the ball all game despite pulling out a 57-53 win. In this game, Florida shot just under 39 percent from the field. However, the Gators still got valuable contributions from Allen, guard Chris Chiozza and forward Kevvarius Hayes who combined for over half the team’s points. This, the eighth straight win for Florida, made it the longest win streak in White’s two years as head coach.

Arkansas gets their mojo back

After going 1-2 in the last three weeks with losses to Missouri and Vanderbilt, Arkansas won both of their games this week, including a big upset. In the first game of the week, the Razorbacks traveled to Columbia to take on No. 21 South Carolina. The visitors had a big offensive day with guard Jaylen Barford leading the way with 23 points and five rebounds. Barford also got help from the team’s scoring leader on the season, guard Dusty Hannah, who had 20 points in the upset. The Razorbacks shot 53 percent from the field and 50 percent on 3-pointers.

Next for Arkansas was a home game against the Ole Miss Rebels, where the Razorbacks once again had a big day on offense in the 98-80 win. Barford had another solid game with 15 points, but Arkansas was led in scoring this game by guard Derek Macon, who had a career-high 30 points on 10-13 shooting. The Razorbacks led by as much as 25 points against the Rebels, who had won four of their last five games.

Kentucky gets back on track

Coming into the month, the No. 13 Kentucky Wildcats had lost three of their last four games to Tennessee, Kansas and Florida. However, since then, the Wildcats are on a four-game winning streak. Kentucky began the week with a home game against a Tennessee team that upset them 82-80 at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. This time, the script was flipped in Rupp Arena as the Wildcats throttled the Vols 83-58. In the win, guard Malik Monk once again put on a show as he tallied 20 points and eight rebounds. Monk also got help from Derek Willis and De’Aaron Fox, who combined for 29 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Kentucky then took their show on the road to Athens and won a close 82-77 game against the Georgia Bulldogs. This time, Monk and Fox lead the Wildcats with 16 points each, and the team got 22 combined points from guard Isiah Briscoe and forward “Bam” Adebayo. Kentucky got the win despite shooting worse from the field and turning the ball over more than the Bulldogs, in part thanks to out-rebounding Georgia 41 to 26. Fox made six free throws in the final 45 seconds of the game to help the Wildcats seal the win.