Player of the Week
Keon Johnson (Tennessee) — The 6-foot-5, 186-pound freshman guard went off in their recent games at Ole Miss and at Kentucky. In the matchup with the Wildcats, Johnson managed to get the ball to hit twine with ease as he reeled in a season-high 27 points. This included nailing 9-of-11 attempts from the charity stripe, as well as snagging four rebounds and marking a block and a steal. This season, he is averaging 10.1 PPG, three RPG, and 2.2 APG for the Vols.
Who’s Hot?
Devontae Shuler (Ole Miss) — The 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior guard dropped an average of 20.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, two assists and two steals in back-to-back victories over No. 11 Tennessee and at Auburn. Against the Tigers, Shuler pumped in a season-high 26 points, scoring 23 of them in the second half and overtime, including the game-winner with 0.2 seconds left on the clock.
Dru Smith (Missouri) — The 6-foot-3, 203-pound senior guard has proved himself as a clear leader for the Tigers this season. In two straight wins against Kentucky and No. 10 Alabama, Smith averaged 22 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He tallied a season-high 26 points as he took the reins of his squad against Kentucky, marking the program’s second win ever over the Wildcats.
Who’s Not?
Kentucky — The Cats are back in yet another drought as they’ve now lost four straight games. In one of their latest two matchups where they faced a tough No. 11 Tennessee team where they registered a poor 38.5% FG percentage and 23.5% from beyond the arc as a team: Most of the damage was done in the paint where the Vols outscored Kentucky 44-30. In their one-point loss to Arkansas, turnovers were the story where they gave up the rock 11 times to the Razorbacks six TOs.
Jermaine Couisnard (South Carolina) — The sophomore guard is a massive role player being the third-highest scorer for the Gamecocks and is currently averaging 10.1 PPG and leads the team in assists dishing out around 3.8 per game. Couisnard is averaging 2.7 TOPG but in his last two efforts he turned the ball over a combined 9 times making him responsible for 27.2% of the teams’ turnovers in their matchups against Mississippi State and Alabama.
Top 5 Scoring Forwards (thus far):
Trendon Watford (LSU) — Easily the best scoring forward in the conference as Watford averages 16.8 PPG on 46.9% shooting including making 4.7 free throws per game.
Emmanuel Miller (Texas A&M) — Miller boasts as average of 14.8 PPG on 56.7% from the field and 78.8% from the charity stripe.
Keyshawn Bryant (South Carolina) — Shooting 51.6% per game, Bryant manages to pour in 14.5 PPG and shoots 21.4% from three.
Dylan Disu (Vanderbilt) — Disu scored 14.4 PPG on 51.1% shooting from the field, as well as 71.2% from the free-throw line and 36.4 from beyond the arc.
Jeremiah Tilmon (Missouri) — The veteran forward for the Tigers averages 13.3 PPG and shoots an impressive 63.1% from field goal range. He has always experienced some challenge from the foul line in which he’s shooting just 50% from that spot this season.