Mississippi State 70 – South Carolina 59. Video Highlights

1. Freshman guard Fred Thomas scores a career-high 21 points as Bulldogs win for the third time in four games – will face Tennessee today.  ”We’re playing hard, playing smarter and tougher than the other team.”

2. South Carolina’s Brenton Williams scored a career-high 38 points against South Carolina earlier this month but just six points Wednesday.

Texas A&M 71 – Auburn 62. Video Highlights

3. Despite playing with a broken bone in his pinkie finger, A&M guard Elston Turner scores a game-high 22 points. Aggies will play Missouri tonight.

4. Auburn ends the year losing 16 of its last 17 games, wins just nine games all year. Coach Tony Barbee: ”Now that it’s over, I’ll spend time reflecting on why things went the way they did and try to get better from there. That’s all we can do.”

Day 1 Reaction

5. Jon Solomon: “Auburn and South Carolina have two of the three newest arenas in the SEC, and they both lost Wednesday in the first SEC Tournament play-in games with 14 members.”

6. First night of the tournament draws just under 8,000 fans.

Day 2 Schedule (All Times Eastern)

LSU vs. Georgia (1:00 p.m.)

Mississippi State vs. Tennessee (3:30 p.m.)

Vanderbilt vs. Arkansas (7:30 p.m.)

Texas A&M vs. Missouri (10:00 p.m.)

SEC Basketball

1. Arkansas sees first-round opponent Vanderbilt as “a dangerous team” entering tournament play.

2. Does Kentucky coach John Calipari relish the chance to play in the SEC tournament? “Not really.”

3. The Ole Miss basketball team has had to deal with pain tolerance this season.

4. Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson was honored as the top college basketball player in the state of Mississippi.

5. Texas A&M star Elston Turner is “questionable” to play Wednesday. Auburn is preparing either way.

6. Florida coach Billy Donovan is disappointed in the lack of determination from his players.

7. Could Georgia make an SEC tourney run? It will play Florida if it beats LSU on Thursday.

8. LSU will need to contain Kentavious Caldwell-Pope when the Tigers play Georgia.

9. Tennessee will need fresh legs in order to make a long run into the SEC tournament.

10. Kentucky star freshman Nerlens Noel is set for surgery today to repair his injured knee.

11. Mississippi State’s players have continued to work despite a disappointing season.

SEC Football

12. Here’s a look at Alabama’s defensive line as the Crimson Tide prepares for spring practice.

13. Auburn assistant Scott Fountain is coaching for the first time in four years.

14. Defensive end Austin Flynn has decided to transfer from Arkansas.

15. Razorbacks coach Bret Bielema was picked to have the best first season among new SEC coaches.

16. LSU’s group of running backs will be a “good place to build” the Tigers’ offense.

17. LSU’s Pro Day will be covered by ESPN on March 27.

18. Here are six players to watch as Florida prepares for the start of spring practice.

19. Tennessee projects to have 83 scholarship players when the fall arrives.

20. Georgia is “hungry” to win another SEC championship, something it hasn’t done since 2005.

21. What does Missouri need to do to compete at a high level in the SEC?

Extras

22. Saint Mary’s lost to rival Gonzaga on Monday night. Is Saint Mary’s in bubble trouble?

23. Which bubble teams will step up this week? Pat Forde examines.

24. Notre Dame is set to move on to the ACC, writes Pete Thamel.

Florida 68 – Texas A&M 47 – Video Highlights

Gators led by as much as 30 points in the second half in this first SEC meeting between the two teams.  Florida was up by 17 points when Johnny Manziel and the Aggies football team were honored during halftime. But it didn’t provide any inspiration for the Aggies basketball team that started the second half 1-of-10 from the floor.

Mike Rosario led Florida with 19 points.  Erik Murphy, playing with a broken rib, had 16 points and seven rebounds. Gators are 12-3 and 3-0 in the conference.  Aggies coach Billy Kennnedy: “We lost to a very good team, more physical than us at every position.” Elston Turner, coming off a 40-point performance at Kentucky, scored only four points on 1-for-10 shooting. Texas A&M drops to 12-4 and 2-1 in the SEC.