Around the SEC men's basketball: Week of Dec. 5

SEC basketball had a plethora of games to offer us throughout the weekend, and what better way to celebrate than to talk a little about each one? Let’s begin.

For the Saturday slate, the Missouri Tigers traveled to play the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks.

Kansas is 9-1 on the campaign, with its only blemish deriving from No. 4 Marquette.

Since then, the Jayhawks have reeled off five straight, as K.J. Adams Jr. and Kevin McCullar Jr. each posted 17 points, with Hunter Dickinson posting a double-double and 17 points along with 16 rebounds.

Sean East II was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 21 points on 8-15 shooting.

Missouri is now 7-3 on the year, as the Tigers had previously been enjoying a four-game winning streak before the fall.

73-64 was the final between Missouri and Kansas.

Moving on, the Alabama Crimson Tide showed a valiant effort against the No. 4 Purdue Boilermakers but just came up short by a 92-86 final result.

Zach Edey cloned his season high of 35 points in this one, and boasted from the charity stripe with a perfect 11-11 mark.

Mark Sears was on fire for the Crimson Tide, as he exploded with 35 points on 13-25 shooting.

Alabama now stands in with a 6-3 record on the season.

Traveling over to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the No. 16 Kentucky Wildcats defeated the Pennsylvania Quakers with an 81-66 deficit.

The leading scorers for the Wildcats both came off the bench, as Rob Dillingham and Aaron Bradshaw each posted 17 points to try and forget about the shocking loss to the UNC Wilmington Seahawks last Saturday.

The No. 20 Illinois Fighting Illini and their battle with the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers proved to be a good one, as Tennessee bested its opponent thanks to Dalton Knecht thrashing his way to 21 points.

The Volunteers holding the Fighting Illini to 35.4% shooting and 25% from beyond the arc was a monumental factor in why Tennessee snagged the victory.

The Arkansas Razorbacks came up short against the No. 19 Oklahoma Sooners with the scoreboard reading 79-70.

Most of the Razorbacks’ production derived from the bench, with Khalif Battle and Jeremiah Davenport accounting for 25 points.

Arkansas is now 6-4 on the year following the defeat.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs crushed the Tulane Green Wave with 106 points as opposed to the opposition’s 76.

Josh Hubbard led the Bulldogs with 22 points on 7-10 shooting and 5-7 from 3-point range.

Mississippi State cashing in on 46.4% of its deep balls compared to the Green Wave nailing just 20.8% of theirs had a big say in the final result.

The South Carolina Gamecocks still stand in with one loss on the season, as their 68-62 beating of the East Carolina Pirates was spearheaded by Meechie Johnson and Myles Stute stacking 30 points collectively.

The LSU Tigers were pitted at home against the Kansas State Wildcats, with a 75-60 score once the final buzzer sounded.

Jordan Wright and Jalen Reed were the double-figure scorers for the Tigers, with 19 and 12 points, respectively.

Despite the Indiana Hoosiers having a good start to the season, the Auburn Tigers pulled the Hoosiers apart with a 104-76 victory.

Aden Holloway and Jaylin Williams were spectacular on the hardwood, as they each feasted with 24 points each to put the Tigers at 6-2 on the campaign.

And finally, to round off our Saturday slate, the Florida Gators squashed the Richmond Spiders with an 87-76 beating.

Will Richard led the floor by compiling 21 points on 8-12 shooting.

Tyrese Samuel flaunted a double-double with 18 points and 14 boards.

On Sunday, Dec. 10, two games tipoff at 4 p.m. The Memphis Tigers and their match against the No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies, and the Ole Miss Rebels dueling with the UCF Knights.

Jake Irwin is a fourth-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email jpi5089@psu.edu.