The Finals of the SEC Tournament takes place today and we will see the Florida Gators take on the Mississippi Rebels. The game is scheduled for a 1:00 pm (Eastern) start time and will be televised on ABC. Currently the Odds for the game have Florida favored by 11 points while the total sits at 135.
Analysis: Mississippi is one game away from taking its NCAA Tournament fate out of the hands of the selection committee. le Miss entered the conference tournament as a bubble team and would like to ensure its spot in the NCAA Tournament by earning the automatic bid reserved for the SEC champion. Ole Miss has been relying heavily on SG Marshall Henderson in this SEC Tournament, as Henderson scored 27 of his team's 64 points on Friday, making 8-of-18 shots (4-of-12 threes). In Saturday's win, Henderson scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-17 shooting (3-of-11 threes). But just as important for the Rebels in the win over Vandy was the play of starting forwards Reginald Buckner (15 points, nine rebounds) and Murphy Holloway (12 points, eight rebounds) who combined to make 11-of-16 FG, but just 5-of-15 free throws. Ole Miss has shot a horrible 52% from the line in this tournament, as Henderson is 13-of-15 and his teammates are just 14-of-37 (38%). PG Derrick Millinghaus scored 11 points on Friday, including the game-winning layup with 1.1 seconds left on the clock. But the 5-foot-10 freshman was held scoreless on Saturday, going 0-for-5 from the floor (0-for-4 threes). Mississippi has not won the SEC tournament since 1981 and has not made the championship game since falling to Kentucky in 2001.
The Gators have had little trouble advancing to the championship game, blowing out Louisiana State in the quarterfinals and using a second-half surge to end Alabama’s tournament run on Saturday. Florida is playing for NCAA Tournament seeding, and is hoping a conference tournament triumph will lift it into a No. 2 seed. lorida is a much more balanced team than Ole Miss with four double-digit scorers. Senior PG Kenny Boynton was in a two-game slump (5.5 PPG on 5-of-17 FG) before busting out with 11 points during a decisive 15-0 run in the second half versus Alabama, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-12 FG in that semifinal win. C Patric Young (13 points, nine rebounds) and SG Mike Rosario (10 points) were the other double-digit scorers on Saturday. PG Scottie Wilbekin scored just four points, but had four assists and one turnover. Florida was able to make up for a poor shooting day (44% FG, 3-of-17 threes) by committing just four turnovers versus Alabama. But the Gators had little trouble scoring in the Feb. 2 win over Ole Miss (52% FG, 38% threes), as PF Erik Murphy lit up the Rebels for 19 points on 7-of-8 FG (5-of-6 threes) with six rebounds. Rosario (14 pts, 6-of-10 FG), Young (13 pts, 6-of-8 FG) and Wilbekin (13 pts, 6-of-15 FG) all shot well against Ole Miss too, helping make up for Boynton's dreadful 3-of-13 afternoon. They Gators are 11-6 SU (9-8 ATS) in non-home games this season and 16-4 SU (11-9 ATS) in all SEC contests.
Pick: The Gators don't really play at a high tempo, but they will when are faced with another team that does and the Rebels certainly fall into that category as they are 13th in the nation in pace. The Gators average 71.9 ppg on the year and they have the 5th best efficient offense in the nation. Ole Miss is 64th in defensive efficiency, but they still have allowed 67.4 ppg overall and 71.9 ppg when playing away from home. The Rebels on offense are 29th in efficiency, while they average 78.2 ppg and they could be going up against a tired defense of the Gators. Yes Florida has played lockdown defense this year, but this is their 3rd game in 3 days and the legs may not just be there to full keep pace with the fast paced Ole Miss squad. This should be a good game and we should also get the added advantage of having a foul fest at the end of the game, as the Rebels could be down 7-10 near the end and knowing they probably have to win t get in the big dance they will play till the final whistle. I look for this one in the 140's.
College Basketball Free Picks: Mississippi vs Florida
What college basketball bettors need to know about Mississippi vs Florida on Saturday (3/17/13) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Marco D'Angelo.