In the Dance

1. TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS

Bruce Pearl said he voted for Shan Foster as SEC Player of the Year but didn’t pronounce his name correctly (it’s “Shane,” Coach Pearl) on Monday’s SEC teleconference. Pearl can’t vote for his own players. Pearl also said he selected Mississippi State’s Rick Stansbury for Coach of the Year. “Mississippi State was picked to finish second and won the West by three games,” he said.

2. VANDERBILT COMMODORES

Coach Kevin Stallings sat Jermaine Beal and Alex “Red” Gordon for much of the second half against Alabama last Saturday and gave freshmen Keegan Bell and Andre Walker season highs in minutes. “I didn’t think Jermaine and Red were playing effectively, and I gave some other guys a try,” Stallings said. “We haven’t gotten many baskets out of some of our guards lately, so we’re going to try to do some things to address that.”

3. MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS

The always loquacious Charles Rhodes shaved a star into the hair on the back of his head before his final home game last Saturday. “I told my mom the star’s going to shine on senior night,” Rhodes said. He didn’t let his mother down. Rhodes scored 27 points — including a double-double in the second half alone — in the Bulldogs’ win over LSU.

4. KENTUCKY WILDCATS

Eleven of Kentucky’s 12 SEC victories this year came by a total of 60 points. The Wildcats are 11-2 in SEC games decided by eight points or less. The primary reason is senior guards Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley, who combined for 55 of Kentucky’s 71 points at South Carolina. Bradley and Crawford are also among the top five free-throw shooters in the SEC.

On the bubble

5. ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS

After Auburn’s 6-foot-3 guard Quantez Robertson grabbed an offensive rebound and drew a foul in the first half of last Saturday’s game, Arkansas coach John Pelphrey kicked and broke a glass panel on the scorer’s table with his right foot. A maintenance worker fixed it during a break. “I’ve hit it harder in practice,” Pelphrey said. “It was a lucky punch.”

6. OLE MISS REBELS

Coach Andy Kennedy said he voted for Bruce Pearl as SEC Coach of the Year. “What he has done, not only this year but in his tenure at Tennessee, is nothing short of remarkable,” Kennedy said. Kennedy voted Shan Foster as the Player of the Year just ahead of Jamont Gordon of Mississippi State. “And I’m a huge Jamont Gordon fan,” Kennedy said.

7. FLORIDA GATORS

The wins aren’t there, but Florida coach Billy Donovan insists that his team continues to improve. “Our last three games were against three really good teams — Mississippi State, Tennessee and obviously going to Kentucky is tough,” he said. “All three of those experiences put our guys in a situation for growth. Our guys will get better through those games. Those games have helped us.”

Wait till next year

8. LSU TIGERS

A mock draft by ESPN’s Chad Ford projects LSU freshman forward Anthony Randolph as the No. 10 pick in this year’s NBA draft. The NBADraft.net Web site has Randolph going No. 18 overall. “I think he has a lot of growing up to do mentally and physically in his preparation for that level,” LSU interim coach Butch Pierre said. “He’s grown so much the last 21 days. I think he’s only scratched the surface.”

9. SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS

The Gamecocks are simply getting pounded on theo utside. Tennessee’s Chris Lofton scored 28 points and combined with JaJuan Smith for 10 3-pointers last Saturday. Kentucky’s Joe Crawford dropped 35 on the Gamecocks a few days earlier. “We’re just getting crushed out there on the perimeter,” South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. “Now we’ve got LSU and Marcus Thornton.”

10. ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

The officiating crew from the Alabama-Ole Miss game March 1 is expected to face disciplinary measures after a bizarre finish, according to The Birmingham News. In an end-of-game fouling situation, Alabama’s Alonzo Gee wrapped his arms around Dwayne Curtis, then hit him in the arm several times. No foul was called and the game ended with time on the clock.

11. AUBURN TIGERS

It’s easy to understand how the Tigers lost 10 of their last 12 games. In conference games only, Auburn ranks last in five categories — scoring defense, scoring margin, field-goal-percentage defense, 3-point defense and defensive rebounds — and 11th in three other rebounding categories. Auburn also doesn’t have a player ranked in the top 10 in scoring or rebounding in league games.

12. GEORGIA BULLDOGS

Count Dennis Felton as a Vanderbilt fan. Georgia’s coach said he voted Kevin Stallings for Coach of the Year and Shan Foster for Player of the Year. “Foster was even an easier choice in my mind,” Felton said. “That team played exceptionally well. They had some new players to plug in, they lost the Player of the Year (Derrick Byars) and yet they’ve been really, really good.”

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