Bama, MSU, Kentucky Claim First-Round Wins

Walter Hodge scored 16 points, Dan Werner added 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Florida beat Arkansas 73-58 on Thursday night in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Nick Calathes finished with 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Gators, who defeated Arkansas for the fifth time in the last six meetings - and like many teams in the league - improved their chances of making the NCAA tournament.

Kentucky, Mississippi State, Alabama and the Gators advanced to the second round, all probably needing at least another victory to get consideration from the NCAA selection committee.

Florida will now face Auburn in a game many believe will amount to a play-in game for the NCAA tournament.

The Gators (23-9) might need to play better than they did against the Razorbacks (14-16) to upset the Tigers.

Earlier Action From Thursday:

Alonzo Gee scored 25 points and Alabama went 12-for-12 from the foul line in the final 1:03 to hold off Vanderbilt 82-75 Thursday night in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Mikhail Torrance made all eight of his free throws and finished with 20 points as the Crimson Tide (18-13) continued a strong late-season surge and advanced to Friday's quarterfinals against SEC East co-champion Tennessee.

Gee bounced back from a poor shooting night in Alabama's 70-67 victory over Tennessee in the regular-season finale to go 9-for-12 from the field and 7-for-8 from the foul line. The Crimson Tide built a 16-point lead, but Brad Tinsley and Jeffery Taylor led a late surge that helped Vanderbilt (19-12) trim its deficit to five in the final minute.

Tinsley led Vanderbilt with 20 points and Taylor had 17 for the Commodores. Leading scorer A.J. Ogilvy was held without a field goal until the final minute and finished with eight points.

If Kentucky could have loaned its fans to Mississippi State and Georgia, both opening round SEC games at the St. Pete Times Forum today would have been exciting.

However, after Kentucky knocked off Mississippi in the opening round of the SEC Tournament in Tampa, the reception for the following game was colder than the ice usually found in the arena.

Kentucky forward Jodie Meeks scored a game-high 25 points, while Patrick Patterson dominated down low with 15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks in the Wildcats' 71-58 victory.

The Wildcats advanced to play against LSU in Friday's quarterfinals at 1 p.m.

Meanwhile, Georgia entered its opening round as defending SEC champions, but could not guard anyone on Mississippi State during its 79-60 loss before a sparse and unimpressed crowd.

Mississippi State advanced to play against South Carolina on Friday at 3:15 p.m.

Georgia won four games in three days last season to make a miracle run to the NCAA Tournament, plus beat Kentucky 90-85 on the road during the Wildcats' senior night this year, but the Bulldogs defeated themselves.

Despite having a significant height and weight advantage, Georgia took wild shots and never established its presence underneath the basket.

As a result, Mississippi State out-rebounded Georgia 28-23, while MSU had five blocked shots compared to zero for its opponent.

Mississippi State had three players score in double-digits, including Kodi Augustus, who came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points. Bulldogs guard Jarvis Varnado had 14 points and Ravern Johnson added 12.