2013 SEC Tournament: Ole Miss upsets Florida for conference championship

NASHVILLE - Ole Miss won the SEC Tournament, making the SEC a three-bid power conference. It was the Rebels’ first SEC title since 1981. They beat Florida, a program with two national titles in the last decade.

And if not for the sheen of pep bands and Jumbotron productions, a crowd of around 10,000 would’ve made the 19,000-plus seat Bridgestone Arena sound embarrassingly cavernous during Sunday’s championship game.

Ole Miss won its first SEC men’s basketball championship since 1981, led by SEC Tournament MVP Marshall Henderson. The Rebels junior guard made his presence known in Sunday’s conference championship game with 21 points and four rebounds, a landshark salute and trolling Florida with a Gator chomp. He also gave one hell of an interview after the game.

Some highlights.

Most importantly for Ole Miss, the win guaranteed them a spot in the NCAA Tournament, where their previous position as a bubble team would have made for a very long Sunday afternoon wait.

The Rebels can thank Henderson, the SEC’s leading scorer, for leading them to the tournament. Their energetic guard averaged 23.6 points in the tournament and is riding a hot shooting hand that could make Ole Miss a team to look out for on the bracket line.

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Chris Dobbertean of SB Nation had the Mississippi Rebels as one of the last four in the tournament. So although the Rebels might be in regardless of the result, a win would go a long way in calming the team’s nerves this afternoon as the bracket is revealed.

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The game will start at 1:00 p.m. ET, with ABC televising the game. The winner will receive an automatic invitation to the NCAA tournament, although both teams are expected to receive invitations regardless.

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Ole Miss struggled with Vanderbilt early on. The Commodores upset Kentucky in the quarterfinal round and seemed primed to pull off another one, leading 23-16 early in the first half, However, the Rebels came back with a 10-3 run and went into halftime tied up.

The second half was all Ole Miss. Vanderbilt managed 26 points while the Rebels ran up and down the court. A 28-6 run put this game away quickly, making most of the second half a mere formality. The Commodores finished the day shooting just 35.2 percent from the field. Ole Miss made 44 percent of its field goals and narrowly won the rebounding battle, 36-34.

So given Alabama’s complicated resume, a win Saturday over Florida would give the selection committee a lot to consider (of course, a win Saturday would also put the Tide one win away from an automatic berth).

Florida topped the Tide in their only meeting this season, a 64-52 win in Gainesville on March 2.

The 2013 SEC tournament heated up on Friday with the quarterfinal round. The conference still has a muddled group of bubble teams, so many of the games were critical for teams hoping to impress the Selection Committee on Sunday. Now only four teams are left standing in the quest for the automatic bid. Let’s recap Friday’s action.

Florida faces Alabama in the semifinals Saturday.

With both teams firmly on the bubble, this had all the makings of a “win or go home” game. As such, it was closely contested for most of the first half. Alabama led most of the way, but never got a lead larger than five points. The Tide used a 7-3 run at the end of the first half to go into halftime up 31-27.

Alabama started to pull away in the second half, opening up one of their biggest leads of the game at the 9:03 mark, when they led 50-41. The Vols attempted a comeback late in the game, but they never got the deficit closer than four points.

Here’s the rest of the schedule for the day (all times Eastern):

No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 5 Tennessee, in progress

Murphy scored the first basket of the game and 15 points in the first half, leading the Gators to a 43-28 halftime lead. Florida never let off the gas pedal, pushing their lead out to as many as 35 in the second half. Murphy finished the game shooting 11-of-15 and 5-of-7 from three, part of an excellent overall shooting game for the Gators. Florida shot 50.9 percent from the field and went 11-of-20 from deep.

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The 2013 SEC Tournament is widely believed to host the country’s biggest array of bubble teams, and the conference’s quarterfinal round on Friday could be a very solid stepping stone towards the NCAA Tournament for those who advance.

A full bracket is available here. Friday’s complete schedule (all times Eastern):

The 2013 SEC tournament finished up its second round Thursday, and one of the SEC’s handful of bubble teams got a critical win to keep its season rolling toward a possible spot in the Big Dance.

The loss all but extinguished Arkansas’ NCAA tourney hopes. SB Nation’s Chris Dobbertean has the Razorbacks nowhere to be found on his latest bracketology update.

• Bracketology: Selection Sunday week is here

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The SEC tournament quarterfinals continue tonight, with Texas A&M taking on Missouri in Nashville. The Aggies struggled in the final stage of the regular season, dropping four of six and playing their way out of an at-large bid. Missouri finished strong, winning four of six, including a Feb. 9 win over then-No. 5 Florida. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Mizzou as a No. 8 seed, meaning their 11-7 conference record has them securely in the postseason.

Texas A&M prevailed in their only meeting this season, winning at home 70-68 on Feb. 7.

Tennessee didn’t struggle with a horribly injured Mississippi State team that wasn’t much good before all their injuries, taking a 16-point lead at the half and holding on for a 69-53 win.

Next up for Tennessee is Alabama, a team that might need a win in order to make the NCAA Tournament.

While Florida sat back and rested, the Gators watched their potential second-round opponents in LSU and Georgia battle in a game that took a lot out of both sides, with the Tigers finally prevailing in the first of four games Thursday in Nashville.

LSU a good matchup for Florida, who eviscerated the Tigers, 74-52, in January despite missing key players. The top-seeded Gators are trying to fight their way to a 3- or maybe even a 2-seed, while LSU would need to win in the quarterfinals and probably again in the semifinals just to receive NCAA Tournament consideration.

The Aggies jumped out to a fast lead, taking a 24-14 lead early in the first half. Auburn cut the deficit to six points, but a 7-0 run gave Texas A&M a 34-27 lead at halftime.

The second half was more of the same. The Tigers would cut the lead short, but an Aggie run would always keep them on top. Auburn never once held a lead in this game. They finished shooting 40 percent from the field, while Texas A&M shot 44.9 percent and won the rebound war, 31-21.

The Bulldogs and the Gamecocks were both tied in the conference at 4-14, but South Carolina had a much better overall record, at 14-17 compared to 9-21.

It was the third win in four games for the Bulldogs after losing 13 straight from Jan. 16 to Feb. 27.