Ace Reporter: Basketball Notes And Georgia Avoids Further Embarrassment
The 1972 Miami Dolphins celebrate when the last unbeaten NFL team loses.I wonder what the 1953-54 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets basketball team does?
They are the last team to go winless in the SEC.
Perhaps those Yellow Jackets who remain had feint hope that this year's version of the Georgia Bulldogs might erase that Georgia Tech team from the record books... might make people forget that it's been more than 50 years since a men's basketball team went winless in the SEC.
Georgia won't replace Georgia Tech on that dubious list -- thanks to the Florida Gators. Billy Donovan's team was tied for the first place in the East Division before their expected rout of Georgia.
But Georgia turned in the most shocking upset in the SEC on Saturday. After losing by 31 at Tennessee and scoring just 48 points, Georgia upset Florida 88-86. That's 40 more points against Florida than the Bulldogs scored against Tennessee.
A year ago at about this time, Florida coach Billy Donovan said he didn't like last year's team, in part because it wasn't tough and didn't play good defense. I wonder if he likes this team any better at the moment.
When you don't play much defense, you're susceptible to being upset -- even by one of the worst teams I've seen in the SEC in two decades.
I was prepared to write this week that Georgia might be the first winless team in SEC play since that Georgia Tech team. I was prepared to talk about a Georgia team that wasn't that void of talent, but was playing with no heart, no intensity and no desire.
Now let's see if Georgia can avoid becoming the eighth SEC team since those woeful Yellow Jackets to win just one SEC game. Those seven squads: Alabama in 1968-69, LSU in 1966-67 and 1956-57, Ole Miss in 1964-65 and 1958-59, Tulane in 1963-64 and Georgia in 1955-56.
Besides Georgia Tech (and not counting the World War II years), only one other team has gone winless in SEC play. Sewanee did it five times in seven years in the 1930s before leaving the league.
Thus, the only two teams that didn't win a game in SEC play havenât been in the SEC is more than 40 years.
Georgia has a couple of winnable games left on the schedule. And if they play the rest of the way like they did against Florida, maybe they can win two or three SEC games.
That didn't seem likely -- until their upset of Florida.
Now, you've got to wonder if Florida will nosedive the way it did a year ago when the Gators lost eight of 11 games at the end of the season to miss an invite to the NCAA Tournament.
Florida should win its next two games -- hosting Alabama and Vanderbilt -- but then Donovan's team goes to LSU, hosts Tennessee, visits Mississippi State, then entertains Kentucky.
Considering its RPI and strength of schedule, the Gators better win at least three more games to get off the dreaded NCAA bubble.
Speaking of being on the bubble, Mississippi State's loss to Auburn dropped the Bulldogs to 16-9 and three games back in the West. That's an uncomfortable position for Rick Stansbury's team.
Three-Point accuracy revisited
With less than a month left in the regular season, I thought it would be a good time to revisit three-point shooting in the SEC.
The line moved back a foot this past off-season. That seems to have had a greater impact on some teams, although you could argue losing key personnel was just as big of a factor.
Thus far, the top four three-point shooting teams in the SEC -- South Carolina, LSU, Mississippi State and Florida -- are all shooting better than a year ago. South Carolina has gone from 36.4 percent to 39 percent. LSU has gone from last at 32.2 percent to second at 38.4. Mississippi State has gone from 33.4 to 37.9. And Florida has gone from 36.3 to 36.7.
The other eight teams have shown a decline. The three most significant drops are at Vanderbilt (39.9 percent to 33.5 percent), Tennessee (35.7 percent to 31.6) and Alabama (36.3 to 30.9). Not surprisingly, each of those schools lost outstanding outside shooters.
Don't be surprised if Vanderbilt, which has made a three in every game since the three-point shot was introduced, fails to hit a trey in a game this season. The Commodores are a poor outside shooting team, compared to recent years.
This year, four teams are shooting less than 33 percent from three-point range while only one shot less than 33 percent a year ago.
Regarding SEC games only, six SEC teams are shooting better in conference play, meaning six are not.
Mississippi State, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Auburn are shooting better in league play from beyond the arc.
LSU players have the most high-scoring games
After LSU's Tasmin Mitchell scored 41 points Mississippi State, the research began.
LSU has had a player score at least 40 points in 77 games -- the most in the SEC by far.
The SEC has had exactly 50 players score at least 50 points in a game. LSU's Pete Maravich has 27 of those. LSU's Chris Jackson has four Shaquille OâNeal has one.
That means LSU has 64 percent of the SECâs 50-point games.
Maravich, who had a career scoring average of 44.2 points, scored in the 50s in 33 percent of his games. He scored in the 60s four times.
