SB Nation - Devan Downey

Richmond at South Carolina: A Quick Recap

Gamecock Man — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:15:53 -0000

More photos » by Richard Shiro - AP

12 days ago: South Carolina head coach Darrin Horn watches his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Clemson, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009, at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C. Clemson defeated South carolina 72-61. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

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The Court 'Cocks just finished up a convincing 76-60 victory over a solid Richmond team. The Spiders played tough and led at the half, but we completely took over in the second half on the strength of improved shooting and toughness on the boards. Devan Downey led the way for us with 18 points, while Justin Harper led the Spiders with 15.

Here are my thoughts on the game:

This was a solid win. Richmond is a talented, experience team that is projected to dance this year. They currently have nice wins over Mississippi State and Missouri. Dominating them like we did in the second half without two of our starters was impressive. If we can continue to play at this level, I have no doubt that we can win most of our remaining games before Dominique Archie returns, at which point we'll be ready to handle the SEC.
We're definitely a second half team. That's not surprising, as our up-tempo style is designed to yield dividends as the opponent tires late in the game.
We dominated the boards in this game, and that's part of what made the difference. We took a full 11 more FGA than Richmond, mostly due to all of our offensive boards. The big performers here were Sam Muldrow, Jhondre Jefferson, and Austin Steed. Jefferson, in particular, played quite well; his continued development is important for us as we stare down possibly being without Mike Holmes for the rest of the year.
Ramon Galloway is really playing well. This guy is the surprise of the season so far for me. I knew he was good, but he's beginning to make me think he might be a star in the making. Along with Lakeem Jackson and Jefferson, he's got me thinking that this year's freshman class is going to be better than expected.
Evaldas Baniulus, on the other hand, is not playing well. He's cold as ice from the field right now, and since he's always been a defensive liability, he's really not worth much to us for the time being. Hopefully he'll get it together and start shooting like he did last year.

Well, that's a wrap on this one. Next up is a road game at Wofford. The Terriers are a decent team this year, so hopefully we'll be ready for them. Go 'Cocks.

South Carolina at Clemson: A Quick Recap

Gamecock Man — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:27:53 -0000

More photos » by Mary Ann Chastain - AP

about 1 month ago: Clemson's coach Oliver Purnell watches his players during the first half of their NCAA college basketball game against Presbyterian College Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

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Clemson just finished off a 72-61 victory over the Gamecocks at Little John Coliseum. Carolina hung close with the Tigers for most of the afternoon, but Clemson pulled away at the end to a fairly convincing victory. Demontez Stitt and Tanner Smith led the Tigers with 14 apiece and Brandis Raley-Ross led the Gamecocks with 17.

Here are my thoughts on the game:

We did some of the things I thought we would need to do to win this game. In particular, we had a +9 differential in TO margin and a +13 differential in FGA. However, Clemson's astounding superiority in FG% negated those advantages. The Tigers shot 46% and 41% from the field to our abysmal 36% and 28%. I don't care how often you force turnovers, you're not going to win many games when you shoot that ball that much worse than your opponent.
The bad shooting on our end came from a surprising source: Devan Downey. Downey laid a big egg in this game, going 3-15, with two of the made shots coming in garbage time in the final two minutes. In other words, this was hardly a repeat of his 30+ performance last year against the Tigers. Included among the misses were numerous mid-range jumpers and layups. CU defended Downey tight all game, but even with a hand in his face, we've become accustomed to seeing Downey make at least some of these shots. I guess everyone has a bad game sometimes, though.
On the flip side of things, Clemson was able to score lots of points inside, which I think most of us expected, considering that we're without two starting big men and CU is very effective close to the basket. I didn't, though, expect Clemson to shoot over 40% from beyond the arc. Some of CU's success just came from hot shooting, but some of it came from our failure to deny the ball and get hands in shooters' faces. This isn't the first game in which we've had trouble defending the three, and I find that unacceptable for an athletic team that considers tough perimeter defense one of its fortes. This is something we need to work on.
Brandis Raley-Ross had another good game. He's really been a difference maker so far this year, and he'll need to continue his great play as team's continue to try to take Downey out of the game. Other solid performers included Sam Muldrow and Lakeem Jackson.
It's not the end of the world. I would have loved to have won a game against our rival, who is, coincidentally, a ranked ACC team, which would have meant something to the NCAAs selection committee had we won. However, I'm proud that we managed to play them tough without two of our starters. If we can improve a couple of areas of our play, I see no reason why we can't, at worst, finish out the OOC slate with only one more loss. We should get Dominique Archie back at that point and then be in position to win some games in the SEC.

Well, that's a wrap on this one. Next up is a home game against Richmond. We won't be able to sleep on the Spiders, who currently have victories over Missouri and Mississippi State. Hopefully we'll be able to take care of business.

Western Kentucky at South Carolina: A Quick Recap

Gamecock Man — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:43:11 -0000

Well, maybe we can play basketball without two of our best players in the lineup, after all: after losing Dominique Archie, struggling against Jacksonville in his absence, and then losing Mike Holmes, the Gamecocks turned in a solid performance tonight against Western Kentucky, winning 74-56. Devan Downey led Carolina with 15 points, while A. J. Slaughter led the Hilltoppers with 12. Darrin Horn got the satisfaction of not losing to his old team.

Here are my thoughts on the game:

Defense. After giving up 93 points, .500 shooting, and 27 FTAs to Jacksonville, I thought we might be lost defensively without Archie in the lineup. Tonight, though, we buckled down a bit, holding the Toppers to 56, .34 from the field, and an abysmal .17 from beyond the arc. The Toppers don't appear to be a good shooting team, but the fact still stands that you did something right anytime you hold an opponent to those numbers. Two of the big names here are Sam Muldrow with a whopping six blocks and Devan Downey with his standard three steals.
Getting the young guys involved. Lakeem Jackson had a full stat line with nine points, ten rebounds, four assists, and two steals, while Ramon Galloway had eleven points. Jhondre Jefferson was less prominent on the box score but did lend a hand on the boards. It's important for these guys to contribute like this with the two starters out. That's particularly true for Jackson, who is going to be required to fill multiple roles.
Everyone contributing. We had eight players who played at least 13 minutes. WKU, on the other hand, had seven players that played at least 14 minutes, and all of their starters played at least 30, with leading scorer Slaughter playing almost the entire game. As you can see, our improved depth is paying off for us even with two of our stars out. We had five players in double figures scoring; that's again important with two double-figure scorers out and with teams continuing to try to limit Downey's effectiveness by running zones to keep him out of the lane.
The Toppers aren't as good as they were the past two years. Before you go getting excited about beating a team that has advanced two straight years in the NCAAs, you should know that WKU has already lost to both LSU (who is rebuilding this year) and Indiana State. The Toppers have four of five starters back, but the one they lost is a doozy: Sun Belt POY Orlando Mendez-Valdes. Apparently they're missing him. I have no doubt the Toppers will do well in the Sun Belt, where they usually only get consistent competition from a couple of programs. (One is my South Alabama Jaguars, who whopped Arkansas the other day.) However, so far, this year's WKU doesn't look like a mid-major power, so don't expect this to be one of those elusive "quality OOC wins" come tourney time.

That's a wrap on this win, folks. While WKU may be struggling, I'll take this win. In fact, I'll take just about any win we can get with Archie and Holmes out and then hope we can make our run when they return. We can hopefully make our run at the NCAAs when they come back by storming the SEC. Now, it's on to the Upstate this weekend. Can we hang with the Tigers? It looks doubtful, but anything's possible.

Charleston Classic Finals, South Carolina vs. Miami: A Quick Recap

Gamecock Man — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:28:47 -0000

My congratulations to the Miami Hurricanes, who just took the Charleston Classic with an 85-70 victory over the Gamecocks. Miami guard James Dews turned in an epic performance, scoring 22 points on 8-11 shooting. Devan Downey led the Gamecocks with 20 points.

The big story is that Dominique Archie went down with a knee injury early in the game. When he left the game, my first thought was that we'd have to shoot extremely well to win, as our defense would suffer with Archie out. Our defense did suffer, but we didn't step up to the plate and make our shots, and the result was predictable.

Now we get to sweat out a few hours before we learn some definites on Archie's status. Unfortunately, the early word is that this is a torn ACL, which means that Archie is done for the year. It's possible, though, that it's just a hyperextension, which would put Archie out for two or three weeks and have him back for SEC play. Archie injured the knee coming down hard on it after a dunk, and it looked more like the kind of thing that could lead to a hyperextension than a tear, but we'll have to wait and see.

It's going to really be a tragedy if Archie is done for the year. I would hate to see such a great Gamecock miss the majority of his senior season with a knee injury, especially considering that he passed up on making some bucks in Europe to come back and try to make a run at the NCAAs. We're also going to have to adjust expectations for the team if Archie is done. While I'm confident that Coach Horn and our players can play better without Archie in the lineup than they did tonight, they'll still hardly be the team they were with him.

A few more thoughts:

We continue to shoot the ball horribly; only Ramon Galloway, Evaldas Baniulus, and Archie finished above .500 from the field, and many players had abysmal percentages. We also shot 45% from the line tonight. We've gotta get it together in these areas or it could be a long year. With teams choosing to play zone against us, we're going to have to make shots to be productive offensively.
Lakeem Jackson struggled mightily tonight. So far, I'm more impressed with Ramon Galloway. Both, though, will improve over the course of the year. That's the way it is with freshmen. If Archie is indeed done, Jackson will need to fill his role eventually.
Devan Downey did what he could to get us back into the game, but his shots weren't falling. So far this year, he hasn't looked like the inhuman player he was at times last year. This is partially because teams are taking him out of the game with zones, but it's also because he hasn't been able to figure out a way to counter. I have faith he'll get it together, though.
It's really a shame we didn't get a win tonight. A win over a middle-tier ACC team would have been good for our tourney resume if we make it that far.

Well that's a wrap for tonight. Hopefully we can iron out some of the wrinkles before we take on Western Kentucky after Thanksgiving.

Charleston Classic Round Two, South Carolina vs. South Florida: A Quick Recap

Gamecock Man — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:56:07 -0000

The Court Cocks won another game last night, beating South Florida 69-66. Devan Downey led the way with 17 points, while Dominique Archie put in 15 with 6 rebounds. Augustus Gilchrist led the Bulls with 19. As in the past few games, we struggled early but came out playing well in the second. This game was tight throughout, though.

Here are some thoughts on the game:

The turnover differential was much better in this game, with the 'Cocks leading 16-9. We also tallied 16 offensive rebounds. The turnovers and offensive boards led to us taking 62 shots to South Florida's 48. The extra attempts allowed us to survive a poor night from the field.
We shot very well from the charity stripe, at least by our standards, going 21-30 for 70%. We also made our free throws down the stretch, preventing the Bulls from making a comeback.
The Bulls have some talented players, but depth was a major issue for them. They basically ran a six-man rotation for most of the game, and fatigue caught up to them in the second half. We, on the other hand, are now running nine- and ten-men rotations, which is benefiting us late in games.
The Bulls are considered a sleeper in the Big East, and if they can manage to have a decent season, this win could end up looking nice on our resume. I'm really glad we're playing some real competition out-of-conference this year.

That wraps this one up. Next is Miami on Sunday for the tournament championship. Go 'Cocks!

Early Round Ball Season Round Up

Year2 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:25:53 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

Tennessee's Scotty Hopson.

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LAST NIGHT

As we mentioned in Sprints this morning, points were raining down in Knoxville as No. 11 Tennessee set a school scoring record in its 124-49 pummeling of UNC-Asheville. Scotty Hopson led the Vols with 25 points. Rocky Top Talk has a wrap up of the romp.

Meanwhile in Baton Rouge, a Tiger set a career high as Bo Spencer's 28 points led LSU to a 71-60 win over Western Kentucky. Storm Warren also had a great night with 20 points and 11 rebounds, his third straight double-double. And the Valley Shook has game coverage and a look ahead at LSU's upcoming games in Madison Square Garden.

Staying in the SEC West, Alabama picked up the first win of the Anthony Grant era with an 86-69 laugher over Jackson State. Four Tide ballers went into double figures, with freshman Tony Mitchell setting the standard with 23 and Mikhail Torrance distributing eight assists with his 13 points.

It was not as nice a night in Athens for new coach Mark Fox as Georgia fell to 1-1 on the season with a 60-57 loss to Wofford. Trey Thompkins registered a double-double for the Bulldogs with 14 points and a manly 16 rebounds, while Travis Leslie led the team with 17 points.

It was an even rougher night in Papa John City for John Pelphrey's Arkansas squad as they were overmatched and overpowered by No. 22 Louisville, 96-66. Marshawn Powell got a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards, and Rotnei Clarke paced the Hogs with 16 points. Arkansas Expats says it was about what they expected, but the goal of finding a way into the NIT is still on the table.

MONDAY

The No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats needed a last-second jumper from freshman John Wall to pull out a 72-70 squeaker over Miami University. Wall had 19 points on the game, and both Patrick Patterson (17 and 10) and DeMarcus Cousins (10 and 10) put up double-doubles for the Cats. A Sea of Blue of course has an excellent wrap up of the night's action.

Ole Miss had no such trouble in putting away Alabama State to the tune of 90-53. Four Rebels broke into double digits in scoring. Terrico White had the most points with 19, but Eniel Polynice had the best line of the night with 17 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Polynice was one of three Ole Miss players with eight or more boards. Red Cup Rebellion had some quick thoughts about the game.

Also hitting the 90 point mark was South Carolina, as the Gamecocks blew out Georgia Southern 90-66. Dominque Archie was the man of the night for Carolina, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, while stud Devan Downey chipped in 14 points and a team-high six assists. The Gamecocks put the game away by scoring the final five points of the first half and opening the second half with a 16-0 run, a combined 21 unanswered points.

Not to be outdone, the Vanderbilt Commodores went for 95 while holding Lipscomb to just 73 in their season opener. Star center A.J. Ogilvy came off the bench for the 'Dores thanks to a concussion sustained in practice last month, but that didn't stop him from scoring 13 points and leading the team with nine boards and three blocks. Jeffery Taylor led the way with 20 points.

On the other end of the spectrum, LSU eeked out a 55-45 win over Indiana State in the first round of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Tipoff. Despite the low scoring output, three Tigers went into double digits. And the Valley Shook was impressed by the defense, but was decidedly underwhelmed by LSU's shooting.

Still in the West, Auburn ended up with a disappointing 73-62 loss to the MVC's Missouri State. You can't blame the Tigers' Lucas Hargrove, who put up 24 points and tied for the team lead with six rebounds. Unfortunately the effort was in vain as his only teammate to break into double digits was DeWayne Reed with 12. Auburn got a paltry five points off the bench in the game.

SUNDAY

The Florida Gators got off to a rousing start with a 74-46 start over in-state foe Stetson. The 46 that the Hatters scored is the lowest point total any opponent has scored in the Billy Donovan era. The Gators nearly snapped a streak though, waiting until the final minute of the game to make a three point shot to extend the school's record of 579 games with at least one trey made. Chandler Parsons, author of the one made three, led the team with 14 points, Alex Tyus put in 12 while snaring 13 rebounds, and hyped freshman Kenny Boynton scored 12 though only on 5-11 shooting. Alligator Army hopes for a return to toughness out of the team.

Kentucky Wesleyan at South Carolina Post-Game Report

Gamecock Man — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:55:52 -0000

The Court Cocks hosted Kentucky Wesleyan tonight in exhibition action, winning 78-55. It's hard to take too much away from games like this, as teams are trying to feel themselves out and are, consequently, generally sloppy. That was the case for the Gamecocks tonight, as we committed an ugly 18 turnovers. Moreover, coaches want to play the bench as much as possible in these games to figure out where the new faces will fit in. (At least, this is what happens as long as we maintain a safe lead, which was mostly the case tonight.) This played out predictably, as a large range of players got between 18-28 minutes except for Austin Steed, who only played eight. Trust me, Devan Downey will play much more than that during the regular season.

Despite the fact that these performances aren't necessarily representative, however, we can take a few things away from them. First of all, as the above suggests, exhibitions are a good chance to take a look at the new faces. We got to see two of ours tonight: Lakeem Jackson and Ramon Galloway. Jackson, of course, is the big name, and he turned in a solid performance, scoring eight points and registering three steals. The steals are a good sign, as Darrin Horn will want Jackson to play a big role in the full-court press. Galloway also turned in a really quality performance, scoring 11 points on 3-6/2-4 shooting. We will need Galloway and Brandis Raley-Ross, who also played well, to take on big roles in Zam Fredrick's absence, so it was good to see Galloway show off his shooting prowess.

As far as bad points go, perhaps the most noticeable was our poor free throw shooting: we went 16-27 for 59.3%. Free throws were our bugaboo last year, and unlike the turnovers we committed tonight, we can't just write this one off to rust. I expect we'll continue to see the guys struggle in this regard. I guess the one bright side is that we showed a solid penchant for actually getting to the line.

The Gamecocks open up the regular season next week against Alabama A & M.

Tennessee Basketball Season Preview: The SEC

Will — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:00:38 -0000

More photos » by James Crisp - AP

Elvis is just as popular in Lexington.

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Part Three of our weeklong preview of the upcoming Tennessee Basketball season, which tips off Friday, November 13. Part One - Last Year Part Two - The Roster

The SEC struggled through its worst overall basketball season in the modern era in 2008-09: only three teams made the NCAA Tournament, and it would've been only two had the Vols gotten the best of Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament finals, where the Bulldogs secured an automatic bid. Regular season champion LSU was the league's highest seed - at an 8 - and was the only SEC team in the final Top 25 poll of the regular season, at #17. The league placed no teams in the tournament's second weekend, and no players in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft (though Jodie Meeks, Marcus Thornton and Nick Calathes were all taken in the second).

But if it's always darkest before the dawn, prepare for the bounceback in 2009-10.

This time around, the league has three teams in the preseason polls, two in the top ten, and four others receiving votes. Aside from the three names taken in the NBA Draft, almost every major player from last season is back, joined by superstar recruits and a couple of new head coaches you might have heard of. Just one year after being the worst of the major conferences in college basketball, the SEC will have a chance to be one of the best.

A quick preview of Tennessee's competition:

The once and future king of the SEC is back to lead the conversation: Kentucky had the most productive and most celebrated offseason of any team in college basketball, replacing Billy Gillispie with John Calipari. Calipari proceeded to convince Patrick Patterson to stay in school, and then cleaned up on the recruiting front. The Cats pulled in Rivals' #1 recruiting class in 2009 by getting the two best players in the nation - G John Wall and F DeMarcus Cousins - who join additional five-star freshmen Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe, plus in-state star Jon Hood and juco transfer Darnell Dodson. Kentucky could put those five freshmen on the floor, and if they're as good as their recruiting rankings suggest, the Cats could be better than most of the nation with their presence alone.

Jodie Meeks may be gone, which is good news for us...but aside from all the newcomers and PatPat, Kentucky also returns all their role players from last year - Perry Stevenson, Darius Miller, Ramon Harris, DeAndre Liggins - meaning there is no more talented team in the conference, or maybe even the nation. The key to UK's season is how quickly Calipari can get this team to play together, how well he develops the talented freshmen and how quickly they stop playing like freshmen, and how well the Dribble-Drive-Motion offense works in the Bluegrass. If you believe the hype surrounding the coach and the freshmen, this team might win it all. And even if you're skeptical...well, it's a good thing Tennessee is talented this season too.

The Cats and Vols look like the clear-cut class of the SEC, which we think will make for a very interesting season as Pearl and Calipari continue their rivalry. Behind those two, there are three other teams in the SEC East that should be improved and are thinking about March right now: Florida hasn't played in the NCAA Tournament since they won it all in 2007, but bolstered by their own freshman in stud guard Kenny Boynton (22 points in Florida's first exhibition game) and the return of Alex Tyus and Erving Walker, Billy Donovan looks to get this team back where it belongs. On the opposite end of Kentucky's spectrum is South Carolina, joining the Vols in fully relying on veterans: Devan Downey and Dominique Archie both elected to return for their senior seasons, and Darrin Horn looks to get Carolina into the dance in his second season. And our old friend Kevin Stallings returns AJ Ogilvy and Jermaine Beal at Vanderbilt, with all three teams receiving votes in the early polls.

Will the SEC East get five teams in the NCAA Tournament? Probably not, meaning if form holds, one of the Florida/Carolina/Vanderbilt group will be left out in the cold. They'll have company there, as Georgia looks like they'll continue to get comfortable in the basement.

In the SEC West, Mississippi State looks like the third best team in the conference, as Rick Stansbury just keeps doing a good job down in Starkville. The Bulldogs are ranked 18th in the preseason AP poll, and while Jarvis Varnado will get most of MSU's publicity, plenty of other veterans like Ravern Johnson and Dee Bost are still around, joined by a solid recruiting class. And the other team in the state may not be far behind: last year, no team faced adversity the way Ole Miss did, between injuries and off-court incidents. This year, Chris Warren and Eniel Polynice are healthy, and last year's SEC Freshman of the Year Terrico White returns. If the SEC gets six or seven teams in the NCAA Tournament, look for the Rebels to be among them.

Rounding out the rest of the West, Alabama welcomes ex-VCU coach Anthony Grant into the fold, and he'll work with Mikhail Torrance, JaMychal Green and pieces from other talented recruiting classes left behind in his first year. No team started faster and finished flatter than Arkansas last season, but they get almost everyone back, including Michael Washington and Courtney Fortson. Defending champs LSU return Tasmin Mitchell but lost a lot, and are not projected to repeat last year's success. Same goes for Auburn, who surprised by coming on strong late last season.

On paper, Kentucky and Tennessee look like locks for the NCAA Tournament, with Mississippi State not far behind. From there, how deep can the SEC go? Six teams is the league's usual average, and if form holds, that should be an attainable goal. And really, the league could go as deep as seven or eight teams.

All in all, this should be an incredibly exciting year for SEC Basketball. The league has the veterans, the rookies, and the coaching personalities to make a huge splash in the national landscape, and hopefully send several teams on deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. There will be few easy nights come January.

For more, check out Pat Forde's SEC preview column at ESPN.com.

Poll

How many teams from the SEC will make the NCAA Tournament?

3 or less

5 votes

4

14 votes

5

30 votes

6

21 votes

7

3 votes

8

1 votes

74 votes | Poll has closed

You obligatory SEC Primer

SFBE.MP — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:54:32 -0000

Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky! That’s about all you’ve heard about since Luther Vandross dropped those angel whispers of One Shining Moment on us back in April. Yes, Kentucky has the talent to be observed as the outright favorite to win the National Championship but there are a handful of other worthy opponents that can interrupt a bluegrass march through March.

Mississippi State and Tennessee provide the dangerous combination of experience and talent. Both programs biggest loss in the off season was probably a concessions employee and we’re positive that won’t be enough to cause for a first round exit like last year (MSU to Washington, UT to OK ST). South Carolina carries five seniors and arguably the best point guard in the conference in Devan Downey. Of course, we sidebar the previous statement with the ability to hold an exception based on the unproven ~~Jesus Shuttlesworth~~ John Wall of Kentucky.

The Commodores of Vanderbilt and Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators are sophomore heavy but possess the cohesion required to play spoiler on any given night.

After the newly acquired Calipari takes Rupp Arena, we’re sure the hype will fall true behind the broad shoulders of our pick to take home Conference Player of the Year honors, Patrick Patterson.

Where there is hype, there is Hocus Pocus and we think that the Southeastern Conference could be most wide-open races.

Our breakdown is after the jump.

Tourney teams (in order of conference finish)

   1. Kentucky
   2. Mississippi State
   3. Tennessee
   4. South Carolina
   5. Vanderbilt
   6. Ole Miss

All Conference Team

Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
Tasmin Mitchell, LSU
Devan Downey, South Carolina
Jarvis Varnado, Miss St.
John Wall, Kentucky

Most overrated – John Calipari’s character judgment

Most underrated – Mississippi State’s balance and experience. Florida’s recent ability to find themselves in the NIT.

Notable non-conference match-ups:

12/5 – North Carolina @ Kentucky
12/9 – Kentucky @ UCONN
1/10 - Kansas @ Tennessee
12/19 – Tennessee @ USC
11/27 - Florida @ Michigan State

Five story lines to keep tabs on:

John Wall. Can he be the Carmelo or Derrick Rose of Kentucky
Will Mississippi State let the Final Four talks come to their demise as they accumulate the wins?
Tennessee faces the toughest non-conference schedule with USC, Memphis and Kansas. Will the Vol’s use that help their seeding or ruin it?
Anthony Grant. Can Grant bring what worked at VCU to the Southeastern Conference? We think…yes.
What is the better fashion accessory? Courtney Fortson’s hair length or Wayne Chism’s headband.

Kentucky, Mississippi State Headline SEC Preseason Media Basketball Picks

Year2 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:11:26 -0000

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

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The SEC media has voted and produced its collective preseason basketball picks. Kentucky and Mississippi State are the two respective picks in each division, and UK collected the most votes for conference champion at 20. MSU got three such votes, and Tennessee picked up two. Here's how the divisional picks worked out:

EAST

Kentucky, 148 points (23 divisional first place votes)

Tennessee, 117 points (2 divisional first place votes)

Vanderbilt, 90 points

South Carolina, 77 points

Florida, 68 points

Georgia, 25 points

WEST

Mississippi State, 144 points (22 divisional first place votes)

Ole Miss, 120 points (2 divisional first place votes)

Alabama, 84 points

LSU, 70 points (1 divisional first place vote)

Arkansas, 63 points

Auburn, 44 points

After the jump, a look at the individual player awards.

Kentucky's Patrick Patterson was the only unanimous pick for First Team All-SEC, and he was the leading vote getter for preseason player of the year (11 votes). The other POY vote getters were Kentucky G John Wall (6), MSU F Jarvis Varnado (3), South Carolina G Devan Downey, and Tennessee G/F Tyler Smith. Here are the first and second team All-SEC squads.

FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC

G Devan Downey, South Carolina

G Terrico White, Ole Miss

G/F Tyler Smith, Tennessee

F Patrick Patterson, Kentucky

F Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State

SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC

G John Wall, Kentucky

G Chris Warren, Ole Miss

G DeWayne Reed, Auburn

F Tasmin Mitchell, LSU

C Andrew Ogilvy, Vanderbilt