Tuesday’s SEC Notes

Editor's Note: Brian Edwards is on a 31-21-2 run (59.6%, +7.96 Units! in college hoops since Dec. 8. After hitting an easy winner on The 'Cuse as a 17-point underdog in an outright win at Duke last night, Brian's guaranteed plays are on a 13-8 roll (61.9%, +4.1 Units!) since Dec. 10, so don't miss out on his pay-if-it-wins-only selection for tonight!

**Florida at Mississippi State**

-- Both SEC schools are off tough home losses on Saturday. UF fell to 1-2 in the SEC play by allowing a three-point halftime lead to get away in a 78-67 loss to Tennessee as a 3.5-point home underdog. Likewise, Ole Miss went into The Hump and recovered from a 41-39 intermission deficit to win an 81-77 thriller over MSU as a five-point road underdog.

-- William Hill opened Mississippi State (12-3 straight up, 7-8 against the spread) as a 2.5-point home favorite late Monday afternoon. The total was 133.5 at a few  shops as of early Monday night. However, as of early this morning, the Bulldogs were 4.5-point home ‘chalk’ with the total at 136. The Gators were +170 on the money line at the Westgate SuperBook (risk $100 to win $170).

-- Ben Howland’s squad is 8-1 SU and 5-4 ATS at home.

-- Mississippi State has dropped back-to-back games both SU and ATS to start SEC play. The Bulldogs lost 87-82 in overtime at South Carolina last Tuesday before going down against the Rebels. They led Ole Miss 70-62 with seven minutes remaining and the game was tied at 77-77. However, this was day was about new Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis, who grew up in Starkville, where his father was MSU’s head coach in the late 1970s and where Davis played for the Bulldogs in the early ‘80s. After a 14-year run at Middle Tennessee, however, Davis became a Rebel when he was hired to replace Andy Kennedy. And in leading Ole Miss to its 10th straight win and spot in the national rankings, Davis must be a leading candidate for National Coach of the Year, especially when realizing how the Rebels are 14-1 ATS, the best such mark in America.

-- One of Davis’s signers in his first freshman class was 6’7” guard/forward Blake Hinson, who erupted for a career-high 26 points in the win at MSU. Hinson hit three consecutive 3-balls on Saturday afternoon on his way to scoring a career-high 26 points. Breein Tyree scored the go-ahead bucket with less than a minute remaining and the Rebels held on from there. Tyree finished with 19 points and five assists without a turnover. In the losing effort, Quinnndary Weatherspoon had 18 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals, but he committed five turnovers. Lamar Peters added 16 points and Nick Weatherspoon was also in double figures with 11 points.

-- Mississippi State is ranked No. 27 at KenPom.com. The Bulldogs are 6-2 against opponents ranked in K-Pom’s Top 100. They own quality neutral-court wins over Saint Mary’s and Clemson, in addition to home wins over Cincinnati, Wofford and BYU. MSU won 65-58 at Dayton. The only other defeat on its resume was a 72-67 loss to Arizona State on a neutral floor.

-- Howland’s fourth team is hungry for its first NCAA Tournament appearance of his tenure. The Bulldogs got a taste of the postseason, their first since 2012, when they advanced to New York City and the NIT semifinals last year with road wins at Baylor and Louisville. The non-conference resume is outstanding, but MSU certainly wants to avoid a 0-3 start in league play.

-- Quinndary Weatherspoon, one of two seniors on the roster, paces MSU in scoring with his 17.1-points-per-game average. He averages 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game while hitting 84.0 percent of his free-throw attempts. Q-Weatherspoon has scored 14 points or more in seven straight games. Peters (13.5 PPG) is hitting 41.4 percent of his 3-pointers and dishing out a team-best 6.1 assists per game and has a 1.4 SPG average. Aric Holman (12.7 PPG) lead the Bulldogs in rebounding (8.4 RPG) and blocked shots (2.5 BPG) and averages 1.1 SPG. The 6’10 senior center out of Owensboro, KY., can also stretch the court with his range, draining 28 triples and shooting at a 43.8 percent clip from downtown. Nick Weatherspoon, a sophomore guard who is Quinndary’s younger brother, averages 10.7 PPG and is burying 48.6 percent of his launches from 3-point range.

-- Florida (9-6 SU, 7-8 ATS) is 1-1 both SU and ATS in a pair of road assignments. The loss to UT, which was an extremely misleading final, dropped UF to 1-2 in conference action. The Gators cut the deficit to 69-67 with 1:25 remaining, but the Volunteers finished the game on a 9-0 run to close the show. Tennessee hit 29-of-55 field-goal attempts to shoot 52.7 percent from the field. The Vols also enjoyed a 32-23 rebounding advantage, twice scoring at crunch time after keeping possessions alive with two offensive rebounds apiece. Grant Williams was the catalyst with 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots. KeVaugh Allen scored a team-high 17 points in the losing effort. The North Little Rock High School product hit 5-of-6 attempts from long distance. Freshman guard Noah Locke hit four 3-balls and scored 16 points. Jalen Hudson and Keith Stone’s baffling and extremely disappointing seasons continued, as the duo combined to make only 1-of-11 FGAs and combined for only six points.

-- Mike White’s club is ranked No. 24 at K-Pom.com. UF has a 3-5 record against the Top 100, posting wins over West Virginia on a neutral court, a home win over Butler and a 57-51 win at Arkansas last week. Two of the Gators’ losses have come at home to top-five foes, Michigan State (63-59, #3) and UT. They’ve also lost at FSU, to Butler and Oklahoma at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, and in a home game vs. South Carolina.

-- Florida is 0-3 both SU and ATS in three games as an underdog.

-- UF is ranked 12th in the nation in scoring defense (61.2 PPG), 39th in FG percentage defense (39.9%) and 42nd at defending the 3-point line (30.3%). However, it has been atrocious offensively, averaging only 69.7 PPG to rank No. 281 out of 351 Division-I teams. The Gators aren’t much better shooting from the field (42.9%, No. 267 nationally) or the FT line (67.4%, No. 257).

-- Vaughn leads UF in scoring with an 11.3 PPG average, followed by Locke’s 10.4 PPG average. Allen has a team-best 23 steals, a 37/22 assist-to-turnover ratio and a team-high 84.4 FT percentage. Locke is burying 42.6 percent of his 3-pointers. Hudson is ensuring a nightmare senior campaign. After averaging 15.5 PPG last year, he’s averaging merely 6.5 PPG. Hudson, a senior who spent his first two seasons at Va. Tech, has abysmal shooting percentages of 29.7 percent from the field, 22.0 percent from 3-point territory and 59.4 percent at the charity stripe. Stone (6.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG) has scored in double figures just twice in the past 10 games.

-- Florida has beaten MSU eight consecutive times and hasn’t tasted defeat against the Bulldogs since Jan. 29 of 2011. UF beat up on the Bulldogs by a 71-54 count in Gainesville last year, covering the spread as a nine-point home favorite. Hudson scored 12 points for the Gators, while Stone added 10 points and eight boards. Quinndary Weatherspoon had 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.

-- The ‘over’ is 8-7 overall for MSU, 6-3 in its home games.

-- The ‘under’ is 10-5 overall for UF, 2-0 in its road contests. The ‘under’ has cashed at a 10-1 clip in the Gators’ past 11 road games dating back to last season. Regardless of the venue, the ‘under’ is on a 19-9 run in UF’s past 28 outings.

-- Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. Eastern on the SEC Network.

**LSU at Ole Miss**

-- As of late this morning, most books had Ole Miss (13-2 SU, 14-1 ATS) listed as a four-point favorite with a total of 141. The Tigers were +160 on the money line (risk $100 to win $160).

-- LSU (12-3 SU, 7-7-1 ATS) is 1-1 both SU and ATS in a pair of road assignments. The ‘over’ has hit in three straight games for the Tigers and five of their past six.

-- Will Wade’s team improve to 2-0 in SEC play with last week’s home win over Alabama (88-79) and Saturday’s overtime victory at Arkansas by a 94-88 score as a one-point road underdog. Naz Reid, the freshman who was a 5-star recruit out of New Jersey, was the catalyst in Fayetteville with 27 points and seven rebounds on 10-of-12 shooting from the field, 4-of-4 makes from 3-point range and 3-of-4 at the FT line. Reid also pulled down seven rebounds. Tremont Waters had 17 points, 11 assists and three steals, while Marlon Taylor finished with 21 points and seven boards. Skylar Mays contributed 15 points and two steals. LSU won the rebounding battle by a 34-28 advantage. Both teams shot better than 51 percent from the floor, but LSU splashed the nets at a 40.0 clip from 3-point range, while the Hogs made only 3-of-16 from downtown. Daniel Gafford had a game-high 32 points for the Razorbacks in defeat.

-- Waters, a sophomore point guard who is scoring at a 13.2 PPG clip, paces the Tigers in assists (6.0 APG) and steals (3.0 SPG). Mays leads a balanced scoring attack with his 13.3 PPG, and he has 28 steals, a 35/19 assist-to-turnover ratio and excellent shooting percentages from the field (50.4%), 3-point range (40.6%) and the FT line (88.1%). Reid averages 13.2 points and 5.5 RPG. Lavell Bigby-Williams (6.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG) has a teqam-high 32 blocked shots.

-- LSU has been an underdog three times, going 1-1-1 ATS with the outright win at Arkansas. The Tigers lost 82-67 at Houston as 3.5-point underdogs and dropped a 79-76 decision to FSU in OT on a neutral court.

-- LSU is ranked No. 38 at K-Pom, going 4-3 against the Top 100. Since the loss at Houston, the Tigers have ripped off five consecutive victories while going 4-1 ATS. Four of the five victims have been Top-100 foes, including Saint Mary’s, Furman, Alabama and Arkansas.

-- Ole Miss is a perfect 7-0 both SU and ATS at home.

-- Since losing 71-57 to Cincinnati on a neutral court on Nov. 24, Ole Miss has won 10 games in a row both SU and ATS. The only other loss for the Rebels was by an 83-76 score at Butler as 9.5-point underdogs back on Nov. 16. They’re 2-0 both SU and ATS in just a pair of single-digit ‘chalk’ situations.

-- Ole Miss is 3-0 in SEC play, winning 81-71 at Vanderbilt and 82-67 at home vs. Auburn as a four-point underdog last week before winning at MSU. Terence Davis erupted for 27 points and 12 rebounds vs. Auburn. KJ Buffen, a freshman forward, finished with 16 points, four rebounds and three steals vs. AU, while sophomore guard Devontae Shuler had 14 points.

-- Ole Miss is ranked No. 30 at K-Pom, compiling a 4-2 record against Top-100 foes. The Rebels own quality road scalps over Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, in addition to a neutral-court victory over Baylor and a home win over Auburn.

-- Terence Davis, one of only two seniors on the roster who is averaging 15.7 PPG and is making 42.0 percent of his 3-pointers, leads the Rebels in assists (3.5 APG), rebounding (5.6 RPG) and blocked shots (1.0 BPG). Tyree is scoring at a team-high 17.5 PPG clip while burying 40.0 percent of his treys and 81.8 percent of his FTAs. Shuler is also scoring in double figures (10.6 PPG) and hitting 40.0 percent of his 3’s and has a team-best 24 steals.

-- Ole Miss is ranked 15th nationally in FG percentage (49.9%), 38th in 3-point accuracy (38.2%) and 22nd in FT percentage (76.1%).

-- The ‘over’ is 8-6 overall for LSU, 2-0 in its road outings. Furthermore, the ‘over’ is on a 21-7 run in LSU’s last 28 road contests.

-- The ‘under’ is 12-5 in the past 17 meetings in this rivalry. Also, the favorite has cashed tickets at a 9-4 clip in the past 13 encounters between these SEC adversaries.

-- LSU has won four of the past five meetings against Ole Miss, including an 82-66 win as a 4.5-point home favorite last Feb. 10. Mays led the winners with 17 points and six rebounds, while Waters produced 11 points, five rebounds and eight assists compared to just one turnover. Bruce Stevens had 16 points for the Rebels in defeat, and Tyree finished with 10 points.

-- The SEC Network will have the broadcast at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

-- After losing at home to Georgia Tech on Saturday, Syracuse went into Coach K Court inside of Cameron Indoor Stadium and beat top-ranked Duke last night by a 95-91 score in overtime. Jim Boeheim’s team won outright as a 17-point road underdog, hooking up money-line supporters with a +1200 return (paid $1,200 on $100 wagers). Tyus Battle scored 32 points to go with four rebounds and four assists for the Orange. Elijah Hughes had 18 of his 20 points in the first half, including a buzzer-beating launch from about 75 feet away to end the first half. Frank Howard was clutch in the second half, finished with 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Duke’s Zion Williamson, who left Saturday’s win at FSU and didn’t return after taking an eye poke, was able to go last night and produced 35 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. However, it wasn’t enough to make up for Tre Jones, the Blue Devils’ defensive catalyst who had two points, two assists and four steals in the games first six minutes before leaving with a shoulder sprain. Jones is ‘out’ indefinitely. Duke was also without Cam Reddish, who drained the buzzer beater to clip the Seminoles on Saturday but fell ill and didn’t dress out vs. The ‘Cuse.

-- In other SEC action tonight, Kentucky (12-3 SU, 6-9 ATS) is at Stegeman Coliseum to take on Georgia and its new head coach Tom Crean. As of late this morning, most books had the Wildcats favored by 7.5 points with a total of 147.5 UGA is 7-1 both SU and ATS at home this season. ESPN will have the telecast at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

-- Another SEC showdown will take place in Knoxville, where Tennessee will host Arkansas at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2. As of this morning, most spots had the Vols installed as 14-point home ‘chalk’ with a total of 151. The Razorbacks, who are 2-0 both SU and ATS in a pair of road assignments were +800 on the money line (risk $100 to win $800). UT is undefeated in nine home games with a 3-4 spread record.

-- Virginia (15-0 SU, 12-3 ATS) and Michigan are the lone unbeatens remaining in college hoops. UVA will put that undefeated ledger on the line tonight at home vs. Va. Tech (14-1 SU, 9-5 ATS) on the ACC Network at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. The Cavaliers are 8-0 SU and 6-2 ATS at home, while the Hokies are 1-1 SU and 0-2 ATS on the road. As of late this morning, most spots had UVA favored by 7.5 points with a total of 121. The ‘over’ is 9-5 overall for Va. Tech, but the ‘under’ has cashed in both of its road assignments. This is the lowest total the Hokies have seen by 11.5 points. In fact, they’ve only had two totals in the 130s (133.5 & 136.5), but we should note that both of those games went ‘under.’ The Cavs have watched the 'under’ go 6-2 in their past eight games.

-- LAST CALL! The late televised game tonight is New Mexico at San Diego State at 11:00 p.m. Eastern on the CBS Sports Network. Most books had the Aztecs as seven-point home ‘chalk’ with a total of 147 late this morning.

-- St. John’s star guard Shamorie Ponds (20.5 PPG, 6.0 APG, 4.4 RPG & 2.7 SPG) is ‘questionable’ for Wednesday’s game against Creighton due to a back issue.

Follow Brian Edwards' sports gambling opinions on Twitter at @vegasbedwards.