SEC Tournament 2015: Round 1 Scores, Updated Bracket and Round 2 Schedule

When discussion of the SEC tournament begins, Kentucky is the overwhelming favorite with the 13 other teams fighting for second place. Yet as has been proved countless times in March, strange things happen, and an upset could be ready to happen at any moment. 

Whatever is going to happen over the five days at Bridgestone Arena, all of the results and recaps can be found right here. Below you will see a table of the results from the first round of the SEC tournament, as well as a look at the bracket and schedule for games. 

Results

Matchup	Result
No. 12 Mississippi State vs. No. 13 Auburn	Auburn, 74-68
No. 11 South Carolina vs. No. 14 Missouri	South Carolina, 63-54

Updated Bracket

Game	Matchup
1 (First Round)	Auburn vs. Mississippi State (Auburn, 74-68)
2 (First Round)	South Carolina vs. Missouri (South Carolina, 63-54)
3 (Second Round)	No. 8 Florida vs. No. 9 Alabama
4 (Second Round)	No. 5 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 Auburn
5 (Second Round)	No. 10 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Vanderbilt
6 (Second Round)	No. 6 Mississippi vs. No. 11 South Carolina
7 (Quarterfinals)	No. 1 Kentucky vs. Game 3 Winner
8 (Quarterfinals)	No. 4 LSU vs. Game 4 Winner
9 (Quarterfinals)	No. 2 Arkansas vs. Game 5 Winner
10 (Quarterfinals)	No. 3 Georgia vs. Game 6 Winner
11 (Semifinals)	Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner
12 (Semifinals)	Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner
13 (Finals)	Game 11 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner

SEC Tournament Schedule

Date	Matchup	Start Time (ET)	Network
Thursday, Mar. 12	No. 8 Florida vs. No. 9 Alabama	1 p.m.	SEC Network
Thursday, Mar. 12	No. 5 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 Auburn	Approx. 3:30 p.m.	SEC Network
Thursday, Mar. 12	No. 10 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Vanderbilt	7 p.m.	SEC Network
Thursday, Mar. 12	No. 6 Mississippi vs. No. 11 South Carolina	Approx. 9:30 p.m.	SEC Network

South Carolina Defense Stifles Missouri

South Carolina used a strong defensive effort to send Missouri home in the first round of the SEC tournament with a 63-54 victory. The Tigers were held to 36 percent shooting and committed 16 turnovers to end their season with a 9-23 record. It's the program's worst finish since 1966-67, per Sports-Reference.

The Gamecocks are an unusual No. 11 seed for the SEC tournament. Their record shows an average team (16-15), but a deeper examination shows a more competitive team. Frank Martin's group lost a number of close conference games this season, including each of the last three (vs. Texas A&M, Alabama, Arkansas) by 10 points or less. 

It wasn't a crisp game for South Carolina, by any stretch. There was only one player (Sindarius Thornwell) who scored more than 10 points until there was less than three minutes left in the game. Thornwell was the go-to guy with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting with six assists. 

Fortunately, it wasn't needed as Missouri's inability to knock down a shot helped the Gamecocks. The Tigers went more than eight minutes without a field goal in the second half after a layup by Jakeenan Gant with eight minutes, 52 seconds to play. 

The big story for Missouri came before the game, Keith Shamburger did not start for disciplinary reasons, per Steve Waletnik of the Columbia Daily Tribune:

Shamburger did come off the bench, but only scored six points on three field goal attempts with four assists. There was noting Missouri could do in this game, or really all season. It's been a sinking ship that mercifully went all the way under water tonight, completing Kim Anderson's first season in fitting fashion. 

On the winning side, Martin was complimentary of the effort his team showed after the game, via Avery Wilks of Rivals.com:

It was also another sign that Martin has the program moving in the right direction, as David Cloninger of The State noted South Carolina has won three times as many SEC tournament games in three years as the program had in six years before he arrived:

Riding the high of this win, the Gamecocks will have their work cut out for them on Thursday. Mississippi is waiting in the wings, holding a 16-point win over South Carolina in January, though the Rebels have struggled down the stretch with three losses in their last four games. 

Auburn Survives Late Mississippi State Rally

It wasn't easy, as Auburn blew an 11-point lead midway through the second half, but the Tigers survived a late run by Mississippi State to advance to the second round of the SEC tournament with a 74-68 win.

The hero for Auburn was Alex Thompson, who came into the game averaging 2.3 points per game. The sophomore set a career high with 16 points and was lights out from three-point range, via Teresa Walker of The Associated Press:

His late three-pointer that gave Auburn a four-point lead with less than three minutes to play was the cushion his team would need to seal the victory. 

Thompson wasn't alone in displaying a good shooting touch for the Tigers. KT Harrell, who led the SEC in scoring with 18.1 points per game, did a little better than that with 19 points. It wasn't a clean game, as the senior had eight turnovers, but the win is all that counts. K.C. Ross-Miller had a team-high 21 points. 

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl knows that a surprise run in the SEC tournament is his team's only shot to make the Big Dance, as he told reporters coming into this game (h/t Charles Goldberg of the school's athletic website):

"

The quality and the depth of the league have a lot to do with the fact that we have put together a bad run here at the end, and that we have been shorthanded. A win in the tournament at any point in our young history would be important. It would be something that we could put in the left column as an accomplishment.

"

The Tigers' win snapped a six-game losing streak and improved the team's overall record to 13-19. 

In the loss, Mississippi State star Craig Sword did everything in his power to help the Bulldogs. He finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists. 

That effort wasn't lost on some. Hugh Kellenberger of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger praised his development and the work of Mississippi State's coaching staff over the years:

The Bulldogs' season ends with a disappointing 13-19 record. Mississippi State will miss the NCAA tournament for the sixth consecutive year. 

As for what's on deck, Auburn will look to ride the wave of momentum from this win into Thursday's game against Texas A&M. The Aggies won both matchups this season, including a 25-point blowout at Reed Arena on February 28. 

Pearl has been a strong postseason coach throughout his career. He knows the SEC well from his days at Tennessee, but the Tigers will have a difficult task ahead of them in the second round.