Texas A&M is the best team in Southeastern Conference basketball right now, and nobody is viewing the Aggies as any kind of fluke.
The Aggies are 15-2 overall and 5-0 in league play and moved up to No. 10 in Monday's Associated Press poll. They won their eighth straight game Saturday, dismantling Georgia 79-45 in Athens to hand coach Mark Fox his most lopsided defeat in seven seasons with the Bulldogs.
"They don't have a weakness, really," Fox said Monday on the SEC teleconference. "They're probably as complete of a team as this league has. They have depth in the backcourt. They have terrific shooting from the 3-point line, and they have interior players who can score."
Billy Kennedy's fifth Aggies squad includes six seniors and six freshmen, with the newcomers highlighted by 6-foot-10 center Tyler Davis, who averages 10.8 points per game and is shooting 67.3 percent from the floor. The 6-7 senior guard tandem of Jalen Jones and Danuel House averages more than 33 combined points a contest, yet it's 6-5 senior guard Alex Caruso who holds the team together according to Tennessee coach Rick Barnes.
Caruso averages 7.9 points and is shooting 47.4 percent from 3-point range.
"When things aren't going well, you've got to have somebody steady that ship," Barnes said. "He's as good at doing that as anybody I've seen in a long time."
Texas A&M, a 3 seed in Joe Lunardi's latest NCAA tournament projection, hosts LSU tonight at 9 EST on ESPN.
Not panicking
One season after reeling off 38 consecutive wins as the No. 1 team in the country, Kentucky is clinging to one of the last spots in the AP poll. The Wildcats (13-4) fell from No. 14 to No. 23 after Saturday's 75-70 loss at Auburn, which was their fourth setback against an unranked team.
"It's a process, and I'm not panicked in any way," coach John Calipari said. "I knew going into the season that this wasn't last year's team. I've said all along that we're one of those teams that's good, but we're not like we were a year ago.
The Wildcats visit Arkansas on Thursday night.
Trying everything
Florida is 11-6 overall and 3-2 in SEC play under first-year coach Mike White, but the Gators are competitive despite shooting a woeful 61.2 percent from the free-throw line. White has tried everything from countless free throws in practice to avoiding the subject altogether with hopes that would help mentally, but nothing has worked to this point.
"I'm a young head coach, and I'm willing to listen and research it," White said. "We've all got to do a better job and shoot it at a higher percentage, because it's certainly as big of a weakness as we have. It's cost us, and if we don't fix it, it will continue to cost us."
In a 71-68 loss at Texas A&M last Tuesday, the Gators were just 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) from the line.
Perception enhanced
Ben Simmons leads LSU in scoring with 20.0 points a game and leads the SEC in rebounding with 12.9 per contest. The 6-foot-10 freshman from Australia has been league player of the week once this season and was named SEC freshman of the week for a third time Monday.
Tigers coach Johnny Jones said there are numerous off-the-court numbers that Simmons, LSU's most heralded freshman since 7-1 center Shaquille O'Neal in 1989-90, has brought to the program as well.
"He's helped to sell more season tickets than we have in the last 20 years," Jones said. "Our opening-night crowd was the biggest since Shaq's first game of his last season here. It's created an environment and a nice buzz, especially here in Baton Rouge, and when we've visited opposing teams, it's created quite a crowd there as well."
Importance noted
Auburn second-year coach Bruce Pearl wound up defeating Kentucky before winning an Iron Bowl on the hardwood. Pearl's Tigers host Alabama and first-year coach Avery Johnson tonight at 9 on the SEC Network.
The Tigers were swept last year in Anthony Grant's final season with the Crimson Tide.
"It's important, and we're motivated," Pearl said, "but it's going to take more than motivation, because Alabama is really good."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.