Bracket set for 2020 SEC Basketball Tournament
Hogs will need big run to make it to “ The Dance” with No. 11 seed
sports@theeveningtimes.com
The 2020 SEC Tournament will be played in Nashville, Tennessee, from Wednesday, March 11 through Sunday, March 15. The University of Kentucky is the top seed this season. Auburn won the 2019 title with an 84-64 win against Tennessee in the final. The Tigers' win marked the first time a team other than Kentucky won since 2014 (Florida).
• First Round — Wednesday, March 11 Game 1: No. 12 Ole Miss vs. No. 13 Georgia | 7 p.m. | SEC Network Game 2: No. 11 Arkansas vs. No. 14 Vanderbilt | 25 minutes after Game 1 | SEC Network
• Second Round — Thursday, March 12 Game 3: No. 8 Tennessee vs. No. 9 Alabama | 1 p.m. | SEC Network Game 4: No. 5 Florida vs.
Game 1 winner | 25 minutes after Game 3 | SEC Network Game 5: No. 7 Texas A& M vs. No. 10 Missouri | 7 p.m. | SEC Network Game 6: No. 6 South Carolina vs. Game 2 winner | 25 minutes after Game 5 | SEC Network
• Quarterfinals — Friday, March 13 Game 7: No. 1 Kentucky vs. Game 3 winner | 1 p.m. | ESPN Game 8: No. 4 Mississippi State vs.
Game 4 winner | 25 minutes after Game 7 | ESPN Game 9: No. 2 Auburn vs. Game 5 winner | 7 p.m. | SEC Network Game 10: No. 3 LSU vs.
Game 6 winner | 25 minutes after Game 9 | SEC Network
• Semifinals — Saturday, March 14 Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner | 1 p.m. | ESPN Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 25 minutes after Game 11 | ESPN
• Championship — Sunday, March 15 Game 13: Semifinal winners | 1 p.m. | ESPN The Arkansas Razorbacks find themselves essentially in a play-in position.
Texas A& M used a 12-2 run to take a 3-point advantage at halftime and never relinquished the lead to hand Arkansas a 77-69 loss in the teams’ regular-season finale Saturday afternoon at Reed Arena, sending the Hogs into the No. 11 seed for the SEC tournament.
The Aggies turned their 3point lead into a 10 (60- 50) with 8:54 left in the game. The Razorbacks trimmed the deficit to five (65-60) on a 3-pointer by Isaiah Joe. However, A& M answered with a 6-0 run – making four straight free throws and getting a dunk by Quneton Jackson – to push its lead to 11 (71-60) to put the game out of reach.
The loss spoiled Mason Jones’ ninth 30-point game of the season while Joe added 22. Jones and Joe combined to make all 14 of Arkansas’ 3-pointers, including a careerhigh eight from Jones.
The 14 triples were a season high and the most since the Razorbacks sank 16 versus Mississippi State on Jan. 9, 2016.
Jimmy Whitt Jr., contributed 10 points as he Jones and Joe combined for 62 of the Razorbacks’ 69 points.
When Arkansas heads east for the SEC Tournament in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Arkansas will be seeded 11th and will face No. 14 seed Vanderbilt at approximately 8:30 p.m. in game two of the opening day on Wednesday, March 11.
Game one of the tourney will Ole Miss and Georgia at 6 p.m.
The Lady Razorbacks await their fate in the NCAA Tournament after falling 90-64 in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament over the weekend to top seen North Carolina.
Lady Hogs Fall
