SEC Tournament 2016: Quarterfinal Scores, Updated Bracket, Semifinal Schedule

The 2016 SEC men's basketball tournament continued Friday with four quarterfinal games featuring the conference's top four seeds in action for the first time.

The No. 1-seeded Texas A&M Aggies were the surprising regular-season conference co-champions, posting the school's best record (24-7) since reaching the Sweet 16 in 2007. The Kentucky Wildcats, who tied for first place, are the defending tournament champions, but a 3-2 record in their final five games is cause for concern.

It wasn't a great year overall for the conference, with only four potential NCAA tournament teams, but upsets this weekend can change the perception of the SEC in a hurry.

Here are the results from Friday's quarterfinals as well as a look at the updated bracket and remaining schedule.

Tournament Results

Game	Matchup	Result/Start Time (ET)
Game	Matchup	Start Time (ET)
6	No. 1 Texas A&M vs. No. 8 Florida	Texas A&M, 72-66
7	No. 4 LSU vs. No. 12 Tennessee	LSU, 84-75
8	No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 10 Alabama	Kentucky, 85-59
9	No. 3 South Carolina vs. No. 6 Georgia	Georgia, 65-64
10	No. 1 Texas A&M vs. No. 4 LSU	1 p.m. (Saturday)
11	No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 6 Georgia	3 p.m. (Saturday)

Tournament Bracket

Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Championship
No. 1 Texas A&M 72
No. 8 Florida 66
	No. 1 Texas A&M
	No. 4 LSU
No. 4 LSU 84		TBD
No. 12 Tennessee 75
No. 2 Kentucky 85
No. 10 Alabama 59		TBD

	No. 2 Kentucky
	No. 6 Georgia
No. 3 South Carolina 64
No. 6 Georgia 65

Kentucky def. Alabama, 85-59

Kentucky kicked off its SEC tournament title defense in grand fashion, obliterating Alabama by an 85-59 score to move within one more victory of its third straight appearance in the conference championship game. 

The Wildcats did everything right in one of their most complete games of the season. They shot 54.5 percent from the floor, including 13-of-22 from beyond the arc, and held Alabama to 39.6 percent shooting. 

Freshman Jamal Murray posted his 11th straight game with at least 20 points, finishing with 23 and adding four assists for good measure. He also tied a school record in the game, per Kentucky Basketball on Twitter:

There were plenty of points going around for Kentucky, as Alex Poythress scored 20 points for the first time since January 9 and Tyler Ulis added 17 points. 

An encouraging sign moving forward for Kentucky is it did all of this with Isaiah Briscoe scoring just four points on 1-of-5 shooting. He did, however, impact the game in other ways with six assists. 

247Sports did note that Kentucky head coach John Calipari made an interesting statement before the game that may not end up being true:

If Calipari meant that in more of an abstract way, given his team has had six days off and wanted to see what the layoff would do for his club, then it makes sense. 

Alabama did have a successful season, posting an 18-13 record after Friday's loss, but two previous matchups against Kentucky were decided by a total of 41 points. Today was more of the same for the Crimson Tide. 

The Wildcats are getting hot at the right time, winning three straight games. They knocked off their potential semifinal opponents, Georgia or South Carolina, by an average of 30.5 points during the regular season. 

It's been a process for Kentucky to figure out the right mix that works, yet getting hot at the right time is all that ultimately matters. The Wildcats are playing their best basketball heading into the NCAA tournament. 

LSU def. Tennessee, 84-75

John Bazemore/Associated Press

LSU kept its slim NCAA tournament hopes alive with an 84-75 victory over Tennessee in the second SEC quarterfinal game. 

After trailing by one point at halftime, LSU's offense came storming out of the gate in the second half. The Tigers outscored Tennessee 52-42 over the final 20 minutes. Antonio Blakeney led the scoring barrage with 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting. 

Blakeney also went 9-of-9 from the free-throw line, which Glenn Guilbeau of Gannett Newspapers noted extends the freshman's consecutive-made streak to 28:

Making Blakeney's performance more impressive is his quote after the game about playing through an illness, per Christian Boutwell of the Daily Reveille:

Ben Simmons added 15 points and eight rebounds, though he only played 25 minutes. LSU's starting five reached double digits in scoring, as the bench only contributed eight points. 

Tennessee got a strong effort from Robert Hubbs, who had 19 points and five rebounds in 34 minutes off the bench. The Volunteers hurt themselves with 14 turnovers, compared to just seven for LSU. 

The loss ends Tennessee's season at 15-19, marking the program's first season under .500 since 2004-05. 

LSU didn't necessarily strengthen its resume by defeating an inferior team, but at 19-13 with a matchup against SEC regular-season champion Texas A&M on deck, it may be able to lock up a tournament berth with a win on Saturday. 

The Tigers and Aggies did split two regular-season games, with LSU winning the second matchup on February 13 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Simmons led the way with a double-double on that night, and he'll need a similar effort to give LSU its first appearance in an SEC title game since 1993.

Texas A&M Def. Florida, 72-66

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

Texas A&M strengthened its tournament resume with a 72-66 victory over Florida. The close battle was tense from the tipoff, but Jalen Jones hit a go-ahead layup with just over two minutes remaining to put the Aggies on top for good.

It was not a particularly good day for either team. Texas A&M and Florida each shot under 40 percent from the field and went a combined 7-of-35 from three-point range. 

Turnovers were crucial for the Aggies. Seconds after Jones' layup, Alex Caruso stole the ball from KeVaughn Allen for an easy bucket as part of a late 7-0 run. 

Despite the win, Good Bull Hunting was not impressed with the Aggies' performance down the stretch:

Those habits included settling for jump shots and missing easy buckets and free throws that would have given Texas A&M some breathing room so it wouldn't need a late-game surge to secure the victory. 

Looking at the glass half-full, though, the Aggies got a win when they were not playing their best. This was also their first game since Sunday, so the five-day layoff may have played a role in the team's rust. 

Jones and Danuel House are not likely to shoot a combined 11-of-31 again, giving Texas A&M more reasons to be optimistic looking ahead to Saturday.

After the game, Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy said this was a good all-around victory, per the SEC:

The bench Kennedy mentioned combined for 19 points and 17 rebounds, led by Tonny Trocha-Morelos' nine points and seven rebounds.

Florida had great contributions from its bench, too, with Kasey Hill scoring a game-high 18 points. It was an unusual game for the Gators, who had five players score in double figures. But two starters didn't have a point, and Justin Leon (six points) was the only other player to make a basket. 

The Gators (19-14) will likely end up on the outside of the NCAA tournament picture. They lost four straight games from February 20 through March 1, which left them with a steep hill to climb. Their two wins over Missouri and Arkansas to close the regular season won't be enough, though a berth in the NIT is likely. 

Texas A&M is riding the always-important momentum wave, having won seven straight games. Kennedy has the Aggies doing everything right, even when their performance is lacking, setting the team up for a chance to secure its first conference tournament title since 1987.

Georgia def. South Carolina, 65-64

The sixth-seeded Georgia Bulldogs kept their NCAA tournament hopes alive with a 65-64 upset over No. 3 South Carolina.

Georgia’s J.J. Frazier netted one of two free throw attempts with 2.1 seconds left and South Carolina big man Mindaugas Kacinas recovered the rebound with no time to shoot.

Jason Butt of the Macon Telegraph noted Frazier may have had a strategy in his final free throw attempt:

Former Bulldogs linebacker Jake Ganus tweeted his kudos to the hero from Friday’s game:

Georgia, in the semifinals for the third straight year, led for just 43 seconds Friday and picked up their third win over the Gamecocks. South Carolina has lost only eight games all season. 

The Gamecocks led 29-26 at the half and Frazier, the Bulldogs’ anchor all season, had just five points on 1-of-7 shooting at the break. 

But the junior came alive in the second half, shooting 5-of-7 from the field and adding another 15 points. He also had three rebounds and two steals, and played nearly wire-to-wire, going 39 minutes.

Frazier tied the game at 64-64 with a two-point jumper with 24 seconds remaining, then had a critical steal with two seconds remaining that positioned him for the game-winner. 

Georgia will take on Kentucky in the semifinals in a game that could be a huge résumé boost if they hope to make the Big Dance. South Carolina at 24-8 will likely be a tournament team, but will know its true fate Sunday. 

Postgame Reaction

Georgia head coach Mark Fox made an argument for why his team should be in the hunt for the NCAA tournament:

Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated outlined agreed:

"

Georgia has 0 top 50 wins, is 6-11 v top 100. But it beat South Carolina three times. What's the argument for taking Gamecocks over Dawgs?

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 12, 2016"

Fletcher Page of the Athens Banner-Herald outlined just how pivotal the Bulldogs’ matchup against Kentucky will be in determining its fate:

Chris Low of ESPN.com noted South Carolina should feel a little anxiety heading into Selection Sunday:

Georgia is seeking its second straight bid to the Big Dance. It hasn’t had such a streak since reaching in back-to-back seasons in 2001 and 2002.