Distributed by Universal Uclick • For release March 14, 2011

SEC STANDINGS(Through March 13)

EASTErN DIvISIoN SEC All PF PAFlorida 13-3 26-7 71.5 63.1Kentucky 10-6 25-8 76.4 63.8Vanderbilt 9-7 23-10 76.2 67.6Georgia 9-7 21-11 68.8 64.3Tennessee 8-8 19-14 70.6 67.3South Carolina 5-11 14-16 67.6 69.0

WESTErN DIvISIoNAlabama 12-4 21-11 66.7 59.2Mississippi State 9-7 17-14 69.8 70.2Mississippi 7-9 20-13 73.9 68.9Arkansas 7-9 18-13 70.7 66.7Auburn 4-12 11-20 62.4 66.2LSU 3-13 11-21 62.2 66.6

TEAM LEADERSFIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE

Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .462Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .460Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .457Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .451Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .445Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .443Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .436Mississippi State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .434

FIELD-GOAL DEFENSEAlabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .383Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .391Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .396Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .410Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .412Tennessee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .415LSU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .415

FREE-THROW PERCENTAGEMississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .757Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .747Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .723Mississippi State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .723Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .718Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .696Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .695Tennessee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .683

rEBoUNDSSouth Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.1Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.1Tennessee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.0Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.7Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.5Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.9Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.7

ASSISTSGeorgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.7Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.4Tennessee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.1Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.7Mississippi State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.7Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.4Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.2

BLOCKSKentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3South Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8

INDIVIDUAL LEADERSSCorING

John Jenkins, Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . 19.5Chris Warren, Mississippi . . . . . . . . . 19.0Ravern Johnson, Mississippi State . . . 17.6Brandon Knight, Kentucky . . . . . . . . 17.5Scotty Hopson, Tennessee . . . . . . . . 17.4Terrence Jones, Kentucky . . . . . . . . . 16.5Trey Thompkins, Georgia . . . . . . . . . 16.1

rEBoUNDSTerrence Jones, Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . 8.9Josh Harrellson, Kentucky . . . . . . . . . 8.8Chandler Parsons, Florida . . . . . . . . . . 7.8JaMychal Green, Alabama . . . . . . . . . . 7.8Brian Williams, Tennessee . . . . . . . . . 7.7Trey Thompkins, Georgia . . . . . . . . . . 7.5Tobias Harris, Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3Lance Goulbourne, Vanderbilt . . . . . . . 7.3

FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGEJosh Harrellson, Kentucky . . . . . . . . .586Festus Ezeli, Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . . .579Vernon Macklin, Florida . . . . . . . . . . .574Delvon Johnson, Arkansas . . . . . . . . .544Tony Mitchell, Alabama . . . . . . . . . . .523Doron Lamb, Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . .500

FREE-THROW PERCENTAGEChris Warren, Mississippi . . . . . . . . . .933John Jenkins, Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . .891Zach Graham, Mississippi . . . . . . . . . .871Rotnei Clarke, Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . .860Kodi Augustus, Mississippi State . . . . .826Brad Tinsley, Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . . .824Kenny Boynton, Florida . . . . . . . . . . .817

ASSISTSBrad Tinsley, Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5Gerald Robinson, Georgia . . . . . . . . . . 4.2Brandon Knight, Kentucky . . . . . . . . . 4.2Josh Wallace, Auburn . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9Chris Warren, Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . 3.8Dustin Ware, Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5Chandler Parsons, Florida . . . . . . . . . . 3.5

BLOCKSSam Muldrow, South Carolina . . . . . . . 3.4Reginald Buckner, Mississippi . . . . . . . 3.0Delvon Johnson, Arkansas . . . . . . . . . 2.9Festus Ezeli, Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6JaMychal Green, Alabama . . . . . . . . . . 2.2

Whether they were deserving of the opportunity or not, the Georgia Bulldogs find themselves in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008

and just the second time since 2002, facing Pac-10 Tourna-ment champion Washington on Friday in Charlotte, N.C.

Second-year head coach Mark Fox’s team won seven true road games and played an impressive nonconference schedule that included games against NCAA Tournament teams such as Notre Dame, Temple, UAB and Xavier, plus an 83-74 November win over a Colorado team that saw its tournament bubble burst on Sunday. Georgia’s resume was good enough for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, which slighted SEC Western Division cham-pion Alabama despite a pair of wins over the Bulldogs in a six-day span.

Having restored stability to a program that struggled to rebound from the infractions committed during former head coach Jim Harrick’s four-year stint from 1999-2003, a victory over the Huskies would show that Fox has put Georgia back on the road to respectability.

Georgia Bulldogs Seed: No. 10, East Region. Record: 21-11 (9-7 SEC East). Coach: Mark Fox (158-71). Second-round opponent: Washington 23-10 (11-7 Pac-10); Charlotte, N.C.; Friday, 9:45 p.m. ET (CBS). Winner faces: North Carolina or Long Island University.

Outlook: Washington junior guard Isaiah Thomas never stepped off the court and scored a game-high 28 points, including a buzzer-beating 18-footer, in a 77-75 victory over Arizona in the Pac-10 Tournament championship game. Thomas, who is named after the former Pistons guard, is averaging a team-best 16.8 points on 45.0 percent shooting this season. Matt Bryan-Amaning has averaged 15.5 points and a team-best 8.1 rebounds for a Washington team that had seven players average at least 7.2 points per game.

The winner of the second-round contest between Wash-ington and Georgia will most likely face regular-season ACC champion North Carolina.

Kentucky WildcatsRecords: No. 4, East Region. Record: 25-8 (10-6 SEC East). Coach: John Calipari (505-151). Second-round opponent: Princeton 25-6 (12-2 Ivy League); Tampa, Fla.; Thursday, 2:45 p.m. ET (CBS). Winner faces: West Virginia or Clem-son/UAB.

Outlook: The Wildcats will be making a national-record 51st NCAA Tournament appearance and will face a Princ-eton squad that garnered the program’s Ivy League-record 24th Big Dance invitation with this past Saturday’s 63-62 victory over Harvard in the conference playoff game. Kentucky, which claimed its second straight SEC Tourna-ment championship by winning three games in three days, has to be a little concerned about injuries. Junior guard DeAndre Liggins and freshman guard Doron Lamb hurt their ankles late in a 72-58 tournament semifinal win over Alabama. Freshman forward Terrence Jones and fresh-man guard Brandon Knight each scored 16 points and Tournament MVP Darius Miller added 16 in a 70-54 win over Florida in the SEC Tournament title game.

A Kentucky win over Princeton could set up a rematch against West Virginia, which toppled the Wildcats in the 2010 East Regional championship game.

Vanderbilt CommodoresSeed: No. 5, Southwest Region. Record: 23-10 (9-7 SEC East). Coach: Kevin Stallings (359-210). Second-round opponent: Richmond 27-7 (13-3 Atlantic 10); Denver;

Thursday, 2:10 p.m. MT (TBS). Winner faces: Louisville or Morehead State.

Outlook: The Commodores are making their fourth NCAA Tournament in the last five seasons. However, the last two trips have been short-lived, as 13th seeded Siena recorded an 83-62 first-round victory in 2008 and Murray State’s Danero Thomas beat the buzzer and gave the 13th seeded Racers a 66-65 victory in the first round in 2010. Vanderbilt let a 12-point second-half lead evaporate and suffered a 77-66 loss to Florida in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. A left foot injury kept leading scorer John Jenkins, who scored 29 points in an SEC Tournament quarterfinal win over Mississippi State, from playing in the tourney opener against LSU and limited him to 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting against Florida.

Richmond set a school record for victories and claimed the program’s first Atlantic 10 Tournament championship with this past Saturday’s 67-54 win over Dayton in Atlantic City, N.J. This is the second straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the Spiders, who dropped an 80-71 first-round decision to Saint Mary’s last year.

Florida GatorsSeed: No. 2, Southeast Region. Record: 26-7 (13-3 SEC East). Coach: Billy Donovan (392-166). Second-round opponent: UC-Santa Barbara 18-13 (8-8 Big West); Tampa, Fla.; Thursday, 6:50 p.m. ET (TBS). Winner faces: UCLA or Michigan State.

Outlook: The 16-point loss to Kentucky in the champi-onship game of the SEC Tournament has the Gators look-ing like one of the least deserving No. 2 seeds in NCAA Tournament history. Florida’s inability to finish around the basket led to it shooting 38.6 percent from the field against the Wildcats, who converted 14 turnovers into 20 points and enjoyed a 21-point edge from the foul line. Although it appears that Billy Donovan’s squad has one of the more favorable paths in the tournament, they may need to rely on a partisan Tampa crowd to stave off upset threats.

UC-Santa Barbara returns to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season as the Big West Tourna-ment champions. If the Gators can overcome a stingy defense, they will play the winner of a matchup between traditional powers UCLA and Michigan State.

Tennessee VolunteersSeed: No. 9, West Region. Record: 19-14 (8-8 SEC East). Coach: Bruce Pearl (457-141). Second-round opponent: Michigan 20-13 (9-9 Big Ten); Charlotte, N.C.; Friday, 12:40 p.m. ET (truTV). Winner faces: Duke or Hampton.

Outlook: An NIT Season Tip-Off championship and an 83-76 victory at Pittsburgh, which earned one of the NCAA Tournament’s four No. 1 seeds, on Dec. 14 were among the factors that enabled the Volunteers to extend their streak of consecutive Big Dance invitations to six. Florida overcame a five-point halftime deficit in the SEC Tourna-ment quarterfinals by shooting an astounding 14-of-17 from the field in the second half to hand Tennessee its seventh loss in 11 games.

Michigan, which is making its second NCAA Tourna-ment appearance in the last three years, is led by Darius Morris and Tim Hardaway Jr. Morris has averaged 15.2 points on 49.4 percent shooting this season, while Hard-away has converted a team-high 74 3-pointers. Michigan head coach John Beilein led a West Virginia team that advanced to the tournament’s Elite Eight and Sweet 16, respectively, in 2005 and 2006. Defending national cham-pion Duke will most likely be waiting for the Michigan-Tennessee winner in the next round.

O P E N I N G - R O U N D G A M E S

NCAA Tournament Preview

© 2011 Sports News Bureau Inc.

’Dawgs have their day

The Crimson Tide was scheduled to play former

Auburn head coach Cliff Ellis and visiting Coastal Carolina in the first round of the NIT on March 15. Alabama was one of four teams to earn No. 1 seeds in the 32-team tournament. “We’re excited about the opportunity to play in the postseason,” Alabama head coach Anthony Grant said.

Vice chancellor and director of athletics Jeff

Long announced on Sunday that head coach John Pelphrey had been relieved of his duties after four years at the helm of the Arkansas program. Pelphrey, a former Kentucky standout, compiled a record of 69-59, including 25-39 in conference play, with the Razorbacks.

Freshman guard Chris Denson scored a career-

high 21 points and was the only Auburn player to reach double figures in a 69-51 loss to Georgia in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The 6-foot-2 Denson’s previous career high was a 16-point performance in a 90-59 loss at Mississippi on Feb. 16.

Billy Donovan and senior forward Chandler Parsons

were named SEC Coach of the Year and SEC Player of the Year, respectively, by the league coaches. For all his success as Florida’s head coach, it is the first Coach of the Year honor for Donovan.

Junior guard Gerald Robinson dished out a

career-high 11 assists, which was one shy of the program’s record for an SEC Tournament game, in the Bulldogs’ 65-59 overtime loss to Alabama in the quarterfinals.

Sunday’s SEC Championship Game

victory over Florida was freshman guard Brandon Knight’s 28th straight double-figure scoring performance. It is the longest streak of double-digit scoring performances for a Wildcat since Jodie Meeks scored at least 10 points in 32 consecutive games in 2008-09.

Guard Ralston Turner was named to the coaches’ All-SEC

Freshman team despite missing five conference games with an injury to his right foot. Turner was joined on the squad by Alabama’s Trevor Releford, Florida’s Patric Young, the Kentucky trio of SEC Freshmen of the Year Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb, South Carolina’s Bruce Ellington and Tennessee’s Tobias Harris.

The Rebels, who had their NCAA

Tournament drought extended to nine years, were the second team from the conference selected to play in the NIT. Mississippi, which garnered the No. 5 seed in one of the tournament’s four eight-team brackets, was scheduled to play at California in a first-round game scheduled for March 16.

This season will mark the first since the

2005-06 campaign that the Bulldogs will not compete in the NCAA or NIT Tournaments. Athletic officials said that if Mississippi State was not selected for the NIT that they would not seek a position in either the College Basketball Invitational or the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

The Gamecocks attempted 30

3-pointers in their 66-55 loss to Mississippi in the first round of the SEC Tournament. It was a program record for 3-pointers attempted in an SEC Tournament game, surpassing the previous record of 27, which was set in an SEC Tournament loss to Florida on March 12, 2006.

Senior center Brian Williams became the

first Tennessee player to earn SEC Sixth Man of the Year honors from the league’s coaches. Williams was a reserve in 13 of the 14 conference games he played in this season and averaged 7.9 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 7.1 rebounds in those games.

With a victory over No. 13 seed Richmond

in the West Regional, Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings can improve to 6-6 all-time in NCAA Tournament games. Stallings, who has a compiled a 4-4 mark in four previous tournament appearances at Vanderbilt, brought Illinois State to the tournament in 1997 and 1998.

Illustration © 2011 Bruce Plante (planteink.com)