Sports

College basketball

SEC: Tennessee turnaround rolls along

Associated Press
Published February 5, 2006

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee has won more Southeastern Conference games than it did all last season, and there is still a month to go.

Behind C.J. Watson's 18 points, the 13th-ranked Volunteers beat Mississippi 86-72 on Saturday, their fifth straight win that made them 12-0 at home.

The victory helped the Vols (16-3, 7-1) maintain their lead in the East division.

Tennessee first turned heads when the Vols won at then-No. 6 Texas on Dec. 17, and first-year coach Bruce Pearl has continued to amaze fans with the success he has brought after last year's 6-10 SEC record. The Vols were 14-17 overall.

Even he is surprised.

"We're better than I thought. We're 16-3 and in first place right now," Pearl said. "Who could've anticipated the attendance being what it is and the support we're receiving?"

The end of the SEC slate is more formidable, as the Vols still have to play Kentucky twice and go to Florida on Feb. 22. Tennessee visits Rupp Arena on Tuesday.

"It's tough to win on the road in any league. If you can get one and especially in some of the places we have to go to, it separates you because not many people are going to beat Kentucky at Kentucky or Florida at Florida," he said.

But not everything has gone great for Pearl in recent days. He was ejected from his son's high school game in Knoxville Thursday after he criticized an official. Pearl said he left the stands before security escorted him out.

GEORGIA 74, VANDY 73: Sundiata Gaines tipped in his own miss with 18 seconds left and the Bulldogs held on. The road team had not won in this series in nine games, but Georgia used its best shooting this season to win in Nashville for the first time since Jan. 24, 2000.

Vanderbilt shot almost as well, hitting 51 percent compared to 53.6 percent.

Trailing by one, Vanderbilt guard Shan Foster missed a 3-pointer from the right wing with 7 seconds remaining. Levi Stukes missed a free throw for Georgia, leaving Vandy 3.9 seconds, but an inbounds pass flew out of bounds.

ALABAMA 67, NO. 24 LSU 62: Ronald Steele was 6-for-6 from the free throw line over the final 1:52 and scored 21 to lead the host Crimson Tide. With stingy defense and Steele's late scoring spree, Alabama won for the first time in four games against ranked teams. The Tigers (15-6, 7-1) were the last unbeaten SEC team and had their seven-game winning streak snapped. They were off to their best league start since going 17-0 in 1980-81.

ARKANSAS 73, SOUTH CAROLINA 59: Jonathon Modica scored a career-high 37 for the host Razorbacks. Modica had 20 in the first half as Arkansas rolled to a 39-21 lead at the break. He finished 11-of-17 from the field and 6-of-9 from 3-point range, surpassing his previous career high of 33 points set in 2004 against Mississippi State.

MISS. ST. 71, AUBURN 53: Charles Rhodes had 21 points and 19 rebounds, and the host Bulldogs snapped their longest losing streak (seven) in nearly two decades, the worst stretch of Rick Stansbury's tenure as head coach. The Bulldogs led by as many as 22 in winning the matchup of the conference's worst teams.

[Last modified February 5, 2006, 01:23:11]

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