SEC Men's Basketball Results for Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009



South Carolina 74, Western Kentucky 56



COLUMBIA, S.C.(AP) -- Devan Downey scored 15 points to lead five South Carolina players in double figures as the Gamecocks defeated Western Kentucky 74-56 on Wednesday night.

Playing short-handed for the second straight game, South Carolina (6-1) went on a 21-4 run in the first half as five players connected on 3-pointers.

Brandis Raley-Ross hit a pair of 3-pointers and Ramon Galloway, Sam Muldrow and Downey also connected from long range during the stretch lasting more than 6 minutes.

The Gamecocks were 10-for-16 from the field in building a 15-point lead, but went 6-for-23 the remainder of the half.

Western Kentucky (2-3) opened the second half on an 11-5 run to pull within eight but could not get any closer.

Muldrow and Raley-Ross had 12 points apiece while Galloway and Evaldas Baniulis scored 11 each.

A.J. Slaughter led Western Kentucky with 12 points.

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Tennessee 78, East Tennessee State 66



KNOXVILLE, Tenn.(AP) -- Tyler Smith scored 15 points and No. 11 Tennessee held off scrappy East Tennessee State for a 78-66 victory Wednesday night.

A steal and a fastbreak layup by ETSU's Justin Tubbs with 15:52 left cut the Vols' lead to 42-39.

Tennessee (6-1) answered with an 11-2 run capped by a layup by Wayne Chism that boosted the lead to 53-41.

Tubbs led the Buccaneers (4-4) with 22 points.

The Buccaneers, who last week beat Arkansas on the road, used their own pressure defense to slow down the Vols' fast-paced style.

Tennessee went 15 of 24 from the free throw line and six of them came in the last minute of the game. ETSU was 11 of 13 from the line.

The Volunteers entered the game having scored more than 90 points in their last three meetings with the Bucs.

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Georgia 64, Saint Louis 56





ATHENS, Ga.(AP) -- Dustin Ware scored a season-high 17 points as Georgia held off Saint Louis 64-56 on Wednesday night.

Georgia (4-2) led by 20 points early in the second half and was up 12 with 4:41 remaining after Ware hit a runner. But a dunk by Willie Reed, a 3-pointer by Kwamain Mitchell and a steal and layup by Mitchell cut the margin to 55-50 with 3:11 to play.

Trey Thompkins hit a turnaround jumper for Georgia and assisted on a backdoor layup by Jeremy Price to put the Bulldogs up by nine with 1:53 to go.

Mitchell scored 16 for Saint Louis (4-3) and Reed had 14.

Price added 14 points for the Bulldogs.

Georgia led 13-3 before Saint Louis scored its first field goal on a finger roll by Femi John midway through the first half.

The Bulldogs led 31-18 at the break.

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Oklahoma 67, Arkansas 47





NORMAN, Okla.(AP) -- Tony Crocker scored 16 points and added a career-high 16 rebounds as Oklahoma rallied from an early deficit to beat Arkansas 67-47 on Wednesday night.

With Oklahoma football legends - and native Arkansans - Barry Switzer and Keith Jackson watching from courtside, Cade Davis added 11 points in a career-high 38 minutes for Oklahoma (4-3).

Marshawn Powell led the Razorbacks with 12 points and eight rebounds. Arkansas (2-5) has lost 20 of its last 24 games dating to last season, including its last four.

Perhaps more important than his points, Davis effectively shut down Arkansas' leading scorer, Rotnei Clarke. Clarke, a former Oklahoma high school star, entered with a 28.2-point average, but finished with 11 on 5-of-13 shooting.

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Alabama 73, North Florida 51





TUSCALOOSA, Ala.(AP) -- Freshman Tony Mitchell scored 17 points and Mikhail Torrance added 15 to lead Alabama to a 73-51 victory over North Florida on Wednesday night.

Mitchell, who also had seven rebounds, left the game with 9:25 to go because of a swollen left knee. He hit the floor hard after going up for a rebound and is day-to-day.

North Florida (1-5) led 31-30 at halftime and 35-34 with 17:56 to go.

Alabama (5-2) used a 35-11 run to pull away and held the Ospreys without a field goal for the final 4:03.

The Crimson Tide hit a season-high nine 3-pointers - going 9-for-20 from long range - and made five of their first 11.

North Florida, which entered the game with the third-best 3-point shooting percentage (48.4 percent) behind Iowa State and Kansas, was 4-for-14 from beyond the arc (28.6 percent).

Andy Diaz had 14 points and Stan Januska added 13 for North Florida.

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Ole Miss 79, Arkansas State 57




JONESBORO, Ark.(AP) -- Terrico White scored 19 points as Mississippi cruised to a 79-57 victory over Arkansas State on Wednesday night.

The Rebels (6-1) got 17 points from Zach Graham, and Chris Warren added 13.

Rashad Allison's nine points led Arkansas State (3-3), while Martavius Adams, Trey Finn and Daniel Bryant had eight points each.

Ole Miss used a 12-0 run to build a 20-11 lead, then pushed the lead to 35-13 with 4:46 remaining in the first half.

Adams picked up his second foul just 1:10 into the game and was forced to sit for much of the first half. The Rebels took advantage of their size to collect 24 first-half rebounds, nine of them on offense.

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Vanderbilt 89, Missouri 83



NASHVILLE, Tenn.(AP) -- A.J. Ogilvy was 11-for-12 at the free throw line and finished with 25 points, and Vanderbilt held off Missouri 89-83 Wednesday night in the Commodores' first home game since their season opener.

The Commodores (5-1) hadn't played in six days since finishing fifth at the Maui Invitational, where an opening loss to Cincinnati ended their stint at No. 24 at one week. They dominated inside, and Ogilvy, at 6-foot-11 the tallest player on the floor by 2 inches, was a big reason why.

Jeffery Taylor scored 18 points, Jermaine Beal 14 and Andre Walker grabbed 11 rebounds as Vanderbilt outrebounded Missouri 47-26.

Missouri (4-2) refused to quit trailing by 14 with 5:25 to go, and used a 13-1 spurt to erase that lead before coming up short after a furious final minute.

Kim English led Missouri with 20 points, Zaire Taylor 17, Mike Dixon 11 and J.T. Tiller had 10.







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