SEC Notebook
Brent Beaird, SEC columnist
Is LSU for real? Three seasons ago, LSU won the SEC championship. Last year the Tigers were 11-21.
But the Tigers appear to be building momentum again, sitting at 9-3 and winning eight of the past nine games. The key has been defense. Only in the South Alabama loss did LSU allow more than 60 points. This has been the best defensive stretch for Johnson since he arrived at LSU.
The Tigers already have been defeated by a couple of mid-majors this season - South Alabama and Coastal Carolina, but they redeemed themselves with a quality win over a top 10 ranked Marquette team. The last time LSU beat a ranked team was in 2009 when the Tigers defeated No. 22 Butler in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
During the current six-game winning streak - LSU's longest since the 2008-09 campaign, no opponent has shot better than 44% from the field. Only Houston has made more than 36% of its field goal attempts. The win also marked the sixth straight game the Tigers held an opponent under 60 points.
Contributions have come from everyone. Ralston Turner, a 6-foot-6,
205-pound sophomore guard, was named SEC Player of the Week after
averaging 15 points, 4.5 rebounds and one steal in wins over
Marquette and North Texas. Freshman guard Andre Stringer is leading
the Tigers in scoring averaging 11 points per game. Three seniors -
Storm Warren, Malcolm White and Chris Bass - came off the bench
against Marquette to get LSU back in the game.
Required Reading
Kentucky is always involved with top recruits.
Auburn coach Tony Barbee loses to his former team.
Ole Miss is trying to rebound this week.
More on the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry...
What I knew
I knew that according to other pundits Georgia freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had the potential of being good this season. Pope has lived up the hype of being the program’s first McDonald’s All-American in 20 years. He has already been named the SEC Freshman of the Week. Pope, who has led the Bulldogs in scoring eight times this season, also leads the team averaging 13.9 points per game. He also averages 4.9 rebounds per game.
What I should have known
I should have known that Mississippi State big man Arnett Moultrie, who leads the Bulldogs with 17 points and 11 rebounds per game, was in for a great season. The 6-foot-11 junior has an SEC-leading seven double-doubles on the season. In a recent win over Northwestern State, Moultrie had 24 points and 14 rebounds and 11 of those boards came on the offensive end. He shot 8 of 11 from the floor and had four assists. State is on its best win streak since 2003-04 after winning 11 straight games.
Stat of the Week
It hurts anytime that a coach loses a player. Georgia coach Mark Fox now has to deal with the loss of sophomore forward Marcus Thornton who is out for an extended period of time with a knee injury. Thornton injured his knee in the first half of Georgia's 64-50 win over Furman. Thornton leads Georgia in rebounding with 5.8 rebounds per game. He also averages 2.8 points per contest and has started nine of the Bulldogs' 12 games.
Odds n' Ends
IMMEDIATE HELP ON THE WAY: Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin
has a late Christmas present. Jarnell Stokes, a Southwind (Memphis)
High school basketball standout, announced his decision to play for
Tennessee last Thursday during a press conference. He chose
Tennessee over Memphis, Arkansas, Kentucky and Florida and will be
eligible to play immediately, pending his enrollment for the spring
semester and clearance from the NCAA. Stokes, a 6-foot-8, 255-pound
big man, was regarded as the nation’s No. 11 prospect when he
was still in the class of 2011. Stokes would have had to sit out
the remainder of the season had he chosen Memphis because the
Tigers don’t have a scholarship to offer. Stokes is the first
prospect ranked No. 1 in the state of Tennessee to sign with the
Vols in at least 13 years.
MR. CONSISTENT: Who is the most consistent Kentucky player this season? The candidates are many, but some UK fans could point to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a freshman from Somerdale, N.J., who is averaging 13.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and two assists per games. He is the team’s second leading scorer and rebounder. Gilchrist also showed some mental toughness last week when he played in a win against Loyola (Md.) despite his mother being in the hospital. Kidd-Gilchrist finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the game. His mother was home in time for Christmas.
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Brent Beaird writes for Lindyssports.com, Gator Bait magazine and Samssportsline.com. He can be heard on 1010XL sports radio in Jacksonville, Florida. Brent, who is a Heisman Trophy voter, can be contacted at brentbeaird@aol.com
Johnson photo courtesy of Steve
Franz/LSU
