2009 SEC Tournament: Semifinals Recap, Final Preview

Here’s a recap of the action of the last two games in the history of Raycom Sports:

MISSISSIPPI STATE 67 LSU 57

This was not a very fun game to watch. LSU appeared to be sleepwalking, and neither team could string together any made shots. The teams combined to shoot 42-131 (32.1%).

LSU’s two stars, Marcus Thornton and Tasmin Mitchell, scored only 29 points total on 12-31 shooting and never were able to find any kind of rhythm against the tough Bulldog defense. Even though Mississippi State shot poorly, they constantly attacked the basket on offense (they made 35 trips to the line) and attacked the ball on defense. Jarvis Varnado led the way with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 blocks. He switched on Tasmin Mitchell in the second half, and Tasmin could not do a thing against him.

Mississippi State moved up to 74 in the RPI with their quarterfinal win over South Carolina, and that number will climb even more after the LSU win. The question now becomes “have they done enough?’ They have won 5 in a row now and have inserted themselves in the bubble conversation. They don’t want to leave anything up to chance, but I think they will be in.

TENNESSEE 94 AUBURN 85

Every once in a while Tennessee has one of those games where they forget that they are really a poor shooting team; that’s exactly what happened this afternoon against the formerly red hot Auburn Tigers. They shot 57.6% from the field and 9-19 from three point range. Wayne Chism had a career high 27 on 4-8 three point shooting and Tyler Smith added 23. Korvotney Barber tried everything he could to keep Auburn in the game, but he had to be perfect, and he was only 13-16 with 29 points.

Tennessee makes their first SEC Tournament final trip since 1979, and Auburn goes home today wondering whether winning 9 of 11 to close the season will cause the Committee to put them in. Auburn has shot up to a respectable 57 in the RPI, and an SEC team has never been left out with double digit wins in conference play. Their out of conference loss to Mercer looms large, but I think they are in.

Just one game left:

E1 TENNESSEE VS. W3 MISSISSIPPI STATE, 1 PM EDT, CBS

Including the SEC Tournament, Mississippi State is 9-1 against the SEC East on the season, but their lone loss came two weeks ago in Knoxville to Tennessee, 81-76. Tennessee won that game by shooting pretty well (47.7%), and when they missed, they attacked the offensive glass, grabbing 14 rebounds. Tennessee’s pressure also forced the Bulldogs into 17 turnovers.

Scotty Hopson played his best game of his freshman year against Mississippi State, the program he originally committed to play basketball for during his junior year, scoring 21 points and grabbing 6 rebounds.

Also, Tennessee did a good job on Mississippi State center Jarvis Varnado. Varnado has improved his offensive game drastically this season, but the Vols held him to only 8 points. Varnado has played a great SEC Tournament, and one more strong performance could seal SEC Tournament MVP.

Tennessee has defeated Mississippi State in 5 consecutive matchups, but I expect a hotly contested game.

A win for Mississippi State would clinch an NCAA Tournament berth, which is not even close to a certainty if they lose. Tennessee is in the Tournament regardless, but I believe that a win could move them up to as high as a 6 or 7 seed.

As great of a run as Mississippi State had had, the Vols are playing their best basketball of the year, and I don’t think they are going to lose. They only way I think they go down is if they shoot themselves out of the game (which they are entirely capable of).

PREDICTION: TENNESSEE 78 MISSISSIPPI STATE 69