Florida’s Billy Donovan and Vanderbilt’s Kevin Stallings aren’t blaming Kentucky, but they want the SEC to reform a scheduling practice that has seemed to favor the Wildcats.
The SEC added short turnarounds — playing on Thursday nights and then on Saturday — to its schedule in 2009, a year after it signed a 15-year contract with ESPN.
The deal has provided more opportunities for televised games, but SEC-power Kentucky has been a Tuesday night mainstay, while other teams have played an unequal number of Thursday-Saturday games.
The Associated Press reported that Kentucky has played only twice on one day’s rest since the SEC’s new schedule went into effect and don’t have to do it this season. Florida and Mississippi have seven quick turnarounds, followed by Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt with five each.
“Go figure that out for me, would you?” Stallings told the (Nashville) Tennessean recently. “We all agreed to do it, so if you have one [of those weeks], like we have one, I’m not going to complain. To not have any and to be able to play four teams that have to do it to play you ... that’s not right.”
Last week, for example, Alabama hosted Vanderbilt on a Thursday night and played at Kentucky on Saturday. The Wildcats had three days’ rest after playing Arkansas at home on Tuesday.
The SEC has guidelines: Teams play a maximum of four Thursday games each season. At least one of Thursday-Saturday games has to be played at home, according to the AP.
Hot shot
Senior Darius Miller was 7-for-8 from the field and made all four of his 3-point attempts to tie his season-high with 19 points in Kentucky’s victory over Georgia.
On Saturday, he made four free throws in the final minute to help Kentucky hold off Alabama 77-71.
Have not
Andre Stringer is one of the reasons why LSU is one of the worst shooting teams in the SEC.
Stringer was shooting 30 percent from the field (18-for-60) in the past six games entering Wednesday’s game. He had 15 turnovers and 14 assists in that span.
On a roll
- Mississippi's Terrance Henry averaged 18 points and 6.5 rebounds in two victories last week. He had 24 points and 10 rebounds against Georgia for his first double-double of the season, and scored 12 points to help the Rebels upset Mississippi State.
- Frankie Sullivan averaged 20 points in Auburn's past three games, shooting 45.9 percent from the floor and 39.3 from the 3-point line.
- Arkansas' Mardracus Wade was shooting 50 percent from 3-point range to lead the SEC, but he had only 78 attempts, 24 fewer than any other player among the leaders.
Local ties
Jelan Kendrick might have found a home at Mississippi.
Kendrick, who played at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy for two seasons and at Westlake for one before finishing at Wheeler, signed with Memphis, but left there in November 2010.
He quickly transferred to Mississippi, where he became eligible in December.
Kendrick, who is a 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman, has played in eight games and started against Arkansas and Auburn after Dundrecous Nelson was kicked off the team, but has averaged only 3.6 points. He is third on the team with 13 steals, including four against Middle Tennessee on Dec. 21.
“Hopefully I’ll get a smile out of [coach Andy Kennedy] by the end of this season,” Kendrick told the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger. “He doesn’t do too much of it.”
Around the conference
First-year Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin wore an orange blazer on the sideline for the first time Tuesday night, but it didn’t help as Vanderbilt defeated the Volunteers. … Florida leads the country with 202 3-pointers and 10.6 per game, and is seventh nationally in scoring at 82.2 points. … Arkansas’ Hunter Mickelson is one of only two freshmen in the country with at least one block in every game, joining Kentucky’s Anthony Davis.
Must-see TV
- Florida at Mississippi, 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2)
The Gators are looking to extend their home winning streak to 17 games, but the Rebels have won three of their past four, including wins over Arkansas and Mississippi State.
Quotable
“I wish I knew so we could figure it out. I think we’re just rushing, and getting caught up in the crowd. That’s just something that really hurts us. Twenty-five turnovers. I think there were 30 points off of turnovers. There’s no way you can win an SEC basketball game on the road with that. It’s tough.” — Tennessee’s Trae Golden (McEachern) after the Volunteers committed 25 turnovers in Tuesday’s loss.
By the numbers
6 Consecutive overtime games lost by Vanderbilt, including three this season.
196 Blocked shots by Kentucky, which leads the nation.
