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SEC Tournament 2023: Men's Quarterfinals Scores, Updated Bracket, Semifinal Schedule
March 11, 2023
The 2023 SEC tournament has one of the few potential bid stealers left ahead of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
The Vanderbilt Commodores defeated the Kentucky Wildcats for the second time in two weeks to reach Saturday's semifinal round.
Vanderbilt takes on the Texas A&M Aggies, who are in search of their first SEC tournament title.
Vandy and A&M will follow the clash between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Missouri Tigers.
Alabama cruised in its quarterfinal win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs, but it likely will not surge into Sunday's final with ease.
Missouri is one of the best offensive teams in the country, and it could be involved in a high-scoring battle with the top seed.
SEC Tournament Quarterfinal Results
No. 1 Alabama 72, No. 9 Mississippi State 49
No. 4 Missouri 79, No. 5 Tennessee 71
No. 2 Texas A&M 67, No. 10 Arkansas 61
No. 6 Vanderbilt 80, No. 3 Kentucky 73
SEC Tournament Semifinal Schedule
Alabama vs. Missouri (1 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Texas A&M vs. Vanderbilt (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Make your picks: Play the NCAA March Madness Men's Bracket Challenge and Tournament Run.
Semifinal Previews
No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Missouri
Points will not be hard to come by in the opening semifinal.
Alabama and Missouri both average over 80 points per game and shoot over 44 percent from the field.
The Crimson Tide posted 85 points on Missouri in a 21-point victory on January 21. That result was the end of a 1-3 run from the Tigers.
Mizzou is 10-3 since losing to Alabama on its home court, and it proved it could win a tight game on Friday in the quarterfinals against Tennessee.
Missouri relies on a handful of scorers to take over in different spots of the game. Kobe Brown, D'Moi Hodge and DeAndre Gholston all average over 10 points per game and four other players average over 7.5 points per contest.
That is a contrast to Alabama's scoring output, which is led by star freshman Brandon Miller, who averages 19.6 points per game. Mark Sears and Noah Clowney are the only other Alabama players that average more than eight points per contest.
Miller, Clowney and Sears combined for 49 of Alabama's 85 points in the win at Mizzou Arena.
The obvious defensive strategy for Mizzou is to slow down Miller in some stretches. It is hard to completely shut down the first-year player for 40 minutes.
If Mizzou can make Sears, Clowney and others make shots, it stands a better chance to advance to Sunday's final.
Seven different Tigers have been the leading scorer in at least one game this season, so they are built a bit better to attack an opponent when one player goes cold from the field.
Hodge and Brown were responsible for 50 of the team's 79 points on Friday. Gholston and Noah Carter held the leading roles in the regular-season finale.
Missouri might have to match Alabama's production shot for shot, which is something not many teams in the country can do.
Miller's impact on the contest will determine the final result, and if he takes over, the Tide should get into the final. But if he is slowed down a bit, Mizzou could spring the upset.
No. 2 Texas A&M vs. No. 6 Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt is 10-1 in its last 11 games.
The Commodores are one of the hottest teams in the country, and they have a turned a long shot opportunity to make the NCAA tournament into a run at the bubble.
Vanderbilt is one of the few teams outside of the projected field of 68 still in action. It started Friday on the "Next Four Out" in the latest projection from ESPN's Joe Lunardi. Heading into Saturday, it is the Last Out in the projection of Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller.
Vanderbilt could make a strong case to the selection committee that it deserves to be in if it beats Texas A&M on Saturday.
Jerry Stackhouse's team has two wins over Kentucky and an upset of the Tennessee Volunteers at the top of its resume from its current winning run.
Vandy played a tight game with A&M inside Reed Arena on January 28. The Aggies won the contest 72-66.
Buzz Williams' Aggies thrive on their defense. The 66-point concession to Vanderbilt was high by their recent standards.
Texas A&M held opponents under 65 points in each of its last seven victories. Vanderbilt is one of two teams to score more than 65 in an Aggies SEC victory.
The No. 2 seed is more than capable of slowing down Vanderbilt and potentially ending its NCAA tournament quest one or two wins short of the ultimate goal.
A&M has some unfinished business to take care of in the SEC tournament, as it fell to Tennessee by 16 points in last year's final.
The Aggies have a better team this year, and they are still looking for the first SEC tournament title since they joined the league in 2012.