There's been so much talk about Kentucky's phenomenal freshmen, it's sometimes easy to forget that junior Patrick Patterson still plays for the Wildcats.
His scoring and rebounding averages are lower than the past two years as freshmen John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe have dominated at times this year, but Patterson had a season-high 23 points in the Wildcats' 82-61 victory over South Carolina this week.
“I feel like I have to [play well] because I am the veteran, the older guy out there on the court with the most experience, and I should be doing that," Patterson said after the game.
It was only the sixth time that Patterson, who was all-SEC last year, has led the Wildcats in scoring this season after averaging 17.9 points and 9.3 rebounds as a sophomore. He’s averaging 15.1 points and 7.6 rebounds this year.
"He is a monster," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. " ... We needed him to play like this. I would like for him to have 25 points and 12 rebounds every game. I want him to shoot the ball."
Tigers break through
LSU won its first conference game of the season Wednesday, knocking off Arkansas 65-54, meaning the Tigers (10-17, 1-12) will not become the first team since 1954 to go winless in conference play.
The Tigers also snapped their regular-season conference losing streak, which had reached 14 games, dating back to last season.
No SEC team has finished with just one league victory since Alabama went 1-17 in 1968-69.
Toeing the line
One of the reasons behind Ole Miss' late slide has been the injury to freshman forward Reginald Buckner. The Rebels are 2-5 since he injured his ankle.
Another reason: Ole Miss has made 164 free throws in 237 attempts in SEC games, compared to 241 free throws in 328 attempts by its opponents this season.
"That's an amazing stat, one of which I've never dealt with before," coach Andy Kennedy said. "We've got to stop fouling and limit our opponents' opportunities from the free throw line. We're trying our best to remedy this problem before it's too late."
On the ball
- Jarvis Varnado set the NCAA mark for career blocks with 536 after blocking eight shots in Mississippi State's win over Alabama on Wednesday. He passed former Louisiana-Monroe player Wojciech Mydra, who had 535 from 1998-2002. Varnado has also started more games (111) than any other player in program history.
- Auburn's Tay Waller has gotten hot, scoring 29 points in consecutive games and averaging 20.9 in the past eight. He had 29 with seven 3-pointers in the Tigers' win over Arkansas and came back with 29 more in a loss to Ole Miss.
- When Tennessee's Kenny Hall shoots, he often scores. The freshman, who played at Redan, is shooting a team-high 60 percent from the field (45-for-75) and 26 of his baskets have been dunks.
Must-see TV
Tennessee’s 13-1 home record will be tested when second-ranked Kentucky visits Thompson-Boling Arena at noon Saturday (CBS). Vanderbilt and Florida could be playing for the East's No. 2 seed for the SEC tournament when they meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN).
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