Road wins are hard 

The hardest thing to do in college basketball is win a road conference road game! It doesn’t really matter who you are playing, winning on the road is a challenge. This year in college basketball, ranked teams are losing on the road every week.

If your team wins a road game, you should celebrate no matter who you beat. Just take this week in the SEC. Auburn lost on the road, Alabama lost on the road, Tennessee lost on the road. All were by double digits. These are the top teams in the league. 

One reason it is so hard to win on the road is because the energy and the environments within the SEC are incredible. The home team always shoots better and is more focused. To win games, you need the role guys to step up and role guys always hit shots at home. It makes perfect sense because you practice in that gym everyday, so you should hit more shots. 

I also believe the energy created by the fans in the SEC this year has been amazing. The top teams have always had great environments, but now more SEC teams are taking the sport more seriously which makes for great parody in the league.

Get ready because the end of this conference season is going to be heck of a ride. 

The Gainesville struggles continue for Auburn 

In my opinion, this was the most shocking outcome of the weekend.

This was a beat down by the Florida Gators and the score doesn’t tell the story at all in this game. The Gators were up close to 30 at one point in the game. I predicted that Florida would win this game because this was a great spot for them. Auburn was coming off an emotional win on Wednesday, but this performance has to alarm Auburn fans.

The offense was non-existence and there wasn’t any type of flow within the offense. No movement or screening actions and a lot of quick rushed shots. The thing that I keep saying about the Tigers, and will keep saying, is until they prove they can run their offense  against good teams for 40 minutes I am not buying them. On the other hand, this was a great win for Todd Golden’s club and I believe this team could make some noise come March. 

They have great shot making guards, who can get into the lane off the dribble and shoot the ball really well. They rebound the ball really well and Kelly for the Gators is a very nice inside presence. This will be a team that many will pick to upset some people in the tournament. I have been high on the Gators all year and believe Golden is a great young coach. 

Aggies blitz the Vols

Wade Taylor and Tyrece Radford destroyed the Vols defense all night in College Station. This was by far the worst performance by the Vols all year.

The Vols offense has always been up and down, but the way Taylor and Radford just went one on one all night and got whatever they wanted is not a good sign. I have talked about how bad Kentucky has been guarding the ball, and Tennessee was equally as bad Saturday night. This was a huge win for Texas A&M and is another team who could be a trendy pick come March.

I wouldn’t be too worried about the Vols, but there are some concerns from this game. The biggest being the inability to guard the ball and second was the rebounding effort. Rebounding has been a problem all year for the Vols and it was a big problem Saturday. It felt like every time A&M missed a shot, Anderson Garcia got the rebound. LSU also killed the Vols on the glass as well.

Tennessee just never got into the flow of the game and A&M came out on fire. I haven’t seen them shoot the ball that good all year. I do think A&M hitting shots early, played a huge part in the Aggies ability to drive the ball. 

I was also very confused about the offensive attack from the Vols. A&M plays a weird matchup switching zone and Tennessee kept running their down screen floppy action. With this defense these actions are very easy to guard as you just switch the down screen. I would have liked to see more post ups from Aidoo and Knecht, as well flare screens and shots screens from guards. Ghost screens are when a shooter runs to the ball handler and slips out for the screen.

To beat a switching defense, you need to slip screens and get cutters to the basket. It also helps to be able to throw into the post and play from there. Tennessee did neither and was forced to play one on one and dribble a lot on possessions. 

Best of the rest from the SEC

The Tide continue their great play as they pull away late from LSU. Alabama is very fun to watch and as a fan of the game, the way they run offense is a thing of beauty. I still think they need to take the mid range jumpers, but the actions and five out sets they run are as good as anyone. If they play any defense at all, they will be a serious threat come March.

South Carolina played a really good second half to beat Vanderbilt. It looked to me as the Gamecocks were just going through the motions in the first half, which had them trailing. I believe Collin Murray-Bowles is the most underrated freshman in the league. He had a monster game with 31 points and 7 rebounds. He has really developed into a very skilled big man and has a chance to be a star in this league.

Arkansas picks up a home win, as the Georgia Bulldogs seem to have lost their way a bit. They were a really nice story to begin the year, but have now lost five in a row. I did like the energy the Razorbacks have been playing with as of late.

Missouri stays winless in conference, as one has to wonder if Dennis Gates is on the hot seat. Tolu Smith continues to play like the best big man in the SEC.

I thought I would never say this, but Kentucky has lost three straight home games. Gonzaga picks up a win as the late game struggles continue for Kentucky. I wasn’t a huge fan of the late game play John Calipari ran, but Reed Sheppard should have never thrown that pass. I do believe Antonio Reaves would have been open for a shot.

I'm just not a huge fan of a lob play when you need a basket. You have to get a shot off in this situation. Even if you do not make the shot, you have the chance to get a tip, but to not even get a shot off is very bad for the Wildcats.

Kentucky desperately needs Tre Mitchell to get healthy and play like he did earlier in the year, as the young bigs are getting physically outplayed down low. Gonzaga just out manned the bigs of Kentucky all game.

The question now becomes this: is John Calipari officially on the hot seat? 

Look ahead to this week games

The game of the week is in Auburn as the Gamecocks come to town. I still think there are many people who do not believe in the Gamecocks. They have a chance to quiet everyone if they pull off this win.

I think the Gamecocks are a good team, but they haven’t played the hardest schedule and really only have two solid wins. That all changes with a win on Wednesday. For Auburn, you really need to win this game as the Tigers are coming off an embarrassing loss to Florida. I am not sure we can take a lot from Auburn from this game because no one questions their play at home. 

Ole MIss goes to Kentucky in what is a huge game for both teams. I think this is almost a must win game for the Wildcats, as they have a brutal schedule to end the year. There is a scenario where the Wildcats could miss the NCAA tournament. I look for Rob Dillingham to get more than four minutes of action in the second half on Tuesday, but this is a great opportunity for Ole Miss to make a statement.

Tennessee travels to Bud Walton in what I think is a game Tennessee needs to win. If the Vols drop this one, I think there will be reasons to be concerned. I do think this will be a close game. 

The Gators host LSU, as they look to build off the momentum of their great play as of late. Texas A&M looks to avoid a let down as they go to Nashville. I still think Vanderbilt will upset someone at home as Jerry Stackhouse runs really good sets and those kids play really hard. We also all know how weird that gym is to play in. I'm not saying an upset happens Tuesday, but this is one to look out for.