Tennessee 58 – Vanderbilt 57. Video Highlights

1.  Tennessee squandered an 14-point first-half lead, once again missed multiple free throws in the closing minute, yet still managed to survive a pair of closing-seconds shots by Vanderbilt.

2.  Walk-on point guard Brandon Lopez — filling in for an injured Trae Golden — helped rescue UT.

3.  He has 34 points and 29 rebounds in his last two games and the Volunteers will go only as far Jarnell Stokes can carry them.

4.  Sophomore point guard Kedren Johnson once chose Vandy over Tennessee and last night his big second half almost led the Dores past the Vols.

5.  Kevin Stallings said VU’s plan for a final shot “worked out perfectly with the exception of the ball going in the basket.” 

Kentucky 87 – Ole Miss 74. Video Highlights

1.  With a so-so record and a heading into the home of the nation’s #16 team, Kentucky picked a perfect night to play its best game.

2.  Freshman Nerlens Noel’s school-record 12 blocked shots led the Cats to a signature win that will surely help their NCAA Tournament stock.

3.  The Rebels’ Murphy Holloway played against UK’s all-everything Anthony Davis last year.  But his take on Noel: “Best shot blocker I’ve played against.  Just look at the stats, man.  Twelve!”

4.  Morgan Freeman and Shepard Smith showed up to see an Ole Miss team off to its best start ever… but instead they saw a hot-shooting Kentucky team hand them their first conference loss.

5.  UM’s nine-game win streak was snapped, Marshall Henderson was cold from the floor (yet still scored 21), but the worse news might be a pair of injuries by the Rebs’ top two reserves.

Bonus:  John Calipari tried to help Andy Kennedy’s rush to get a new arena.  “He’s 17-2.  Would you please build the guy a new building?  That locker room we’re in, I’m looking for squirrels.”

SEC Football

1.  Someone’s put together a pretty slick infographic for Alabama’s BCS title game win over Notre Dame.

2.  This writer believes kids have a right to do some waffling when it comes to their commitments.  (Agreed… so long as it’s not just done for attention in this made-for-ESPN age.)

3.  New AD Eric Hyman is reviewing Kevin Sumlin’s first year at Texas A&M and it could mean some more greenbacks for the coach.

4.  Kliff Kingsbury is taking Aggie linebackers coach Matt Wallerstedt with him to Texas Tech as the Red Raiders’ new defensive coordinator.

5.  New assistant Steve Stripling will be Tennessee’s sixth defensive line in as many years.

6.  Here they are – the most memorable moments of the 2012 SEC football season.

SEC Basketball

7.  The SEC has named its Players of the Week.

8.  There were a number of ugly records set during Arkansas’ 56-33 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday.

9.  Once more depth is an issue for the LSU basketball program…

10.  But the Tigers “aren’t concerned” about their recent shooting woes.

11.  Mississippi State “got a monkey off (their) backs” with a road win on Saturday.

12.  Ole Miss is a different team with a different chemistry this year.

13.  Tennessee freshman Armani Moore is angling for more playing time.

14.  Vanderbilt could be without leading scorer Kedren Johnson tomorrow against Ole Miss due to a partial dislocation of his shoulder.

Extras

15.  Four NFL teams have made a run at Jon Gruden.  (Has any coach ever aided his resume more without actually coaching?)

16.  Expect “shameful” coaches’ salaries to keep right on rising.  (Got to keep on rising.)

17.  The Sporting News ranked four SEC stories among the 10 worst for the 2012 college football season.  (Question: How can a kid being paralyzed on the field rank as less horrible than the Bobby Petrino scandal?  Ridiculous.)

18.  The Big Ten might just rename its Legends and Leaders divisions.  (Two years too late.)

SEC Football

1. Former Kentucky basketball Joe Hall on Bobby Petrino: “He was not out chasing jobs and would not have left Louisville if he had not been approached about jobs.” And what about the Atlanta Falcons? “He was not going to walk out. But they changed the locks on the door so he could not get back to the locker room. There was a lot more to that story.”

2. “The key to having a long and successful coaching career is taking the right jobs at the right time and right now Kentucky’s got an athletic director you want to work together with.”

3. Tennessee had the ball and two timeouts in the final minute of regulation against Missouri Saturday.  Why didn’t they use them?

4. Derek Dooley: ”I just had confidence we could go beat ‘em in overtime.”

5. Auburn coach Gene Chizik talks to A.D. Jay Jacobs on a “daily basis” – not so university President Jay Gogue: ”I don’t typically have a lot of contact with Dr. Gogue until the end of the season, anyway.”

6. Columnist: Common sense tells me “Gene Chizik is done here.”

7. Jeff Schultz: “While Georgia is ascending, Alabama is sputtering (relatively speaking).”

8. Look ahead to next week - time running out on bowl hopes for Arkansas, Ole Miss and Tennessee.

9. Aggies produce a victory t-shirt

10. Matt Hayes on Johnny Manziel: “Where is the national championship race headed, and can a freshman really win the Heisman Trophy?”

11. Andy Staples on the significance of the A&M victory: “It probably ended the SEC’s BCS title streak at six seasons.”

12. Manziel and South Carolina’s D.J. Swearinger Walter Camp National Players of the Week.

13. Jerry Palm bowl projections.

SEC/College News

14. Grade changing investigation at a Memphis high school remains open.

15. Does Tommy Tuberville deserve a suspension? Slaps a graduate assistant’s headset and cap off after a fourth-down penalty. Tuberville: “I was trying to get him off the field.”

SEC Basketball

16. Missouri 83 – SIU-Edwardsville 69.  Laurence Bowers leads the Tigers with 20 points.

17. Vanderbilt 80 – Nicholls State 65. Career-high 25 points for Kedren Johnson.

18. Frank Martin era at South Carolina gets underway today.

19. Florida gets a second chance at a season opener.

20. 1-0 Alabama hosts West Alabama today.

21. Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes may be 6’8″ and 255 pounds, but he’s quite adept at passing the ball.

Extra

22. Jon Gruden a possibility…in Philadelphia?

Vanderbilt head men’s basketball coach Kevin Stallings announced Wednesday the signing of Kedren Johnson, Shelby Moats, and Dai-Jon Parker to National Letters of Intent. All three will be eligible to play for the Commodores beginning in the fall of 2011-12.
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