2021 SEC men's basketball tournament

The 2021 Southeastern Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Southeastern Conference at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, which took place March 10–14, 2021.^[1]

2021 SEC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2020–21
Teams	13
Site	Bridgestone Arena Nashville, Tennessee
Champions	Alabama (7th title)
Winning coach	Nate Oats (1st title)
MVP	Jahvon Quinerly (Alabama)
Attendance	14,782
Television	SEC Network, ESPN
SEC men's basketball tournaments ← 2020 2022 →

2020–21 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 Alabama†	16	–	2		.889			26	–	7		.788
No. 10 Arkansas	13	–	4		.765			25	–	7		.781
LSU	11	–	6		.647			19	–	10		.655
Tennessee	10	–	7		.588			18	–	9		.667
Florida	9	–	7		.563			15	–	10		.600
Ole Miss	10	–	8		.556			16	–	12		.571
Missouri	8	–	8		.500			16	–	10		.615
Kentucky	8	–	9		.471			9	–	16		.360
Mississippi State	8	–	10		.444			18	–	15		.545
Georgia	7	–	11		.389			14	–	12		.538
Auburn*	7	–	11		.389			13	–	14		.481
South Carolina	4	–	12		.250			6	–	15		.286
Texas A&M	2	–	8		.200			8	–	10		.444
Vanderbilt	3	–	13		.188			9	–	16		.360
† 2021 SEC tournament winner * Ineligible for postseason due to self-imposed postseason ban.

Seeds

On November 22, 2020, Auburn announced a self-imposed, one year postseason ban due to former assistant coach Chuck Person's involvement in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal.^[2] As a result, the #11 seed in the tournament was awarded a first-round bye, leaving the #12 seed–#13 seed game as the only game to be played on March 10. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records.^{[citation needed]} The top 11 teams received a first round bye and the top four teams received a double bye, automatically advancing them into the quarterfinals.

Seed	School	Conference
1	Alabama	16–2
2	Arkansas	13–4
3	LSU	11–6
4	Tennessee	10–7
5	Florida	9–7
6	Ole Miss	10–8
7	Missouri	8–8
8	Kentucky	8–9
9	Mississippi State	8–10
10	Georgia	7–11
11	South Carolina	4–12
12	Vanderbilt	3–13
13	Texas A&M	2–8

Schedule

Session	Game	Time*	Matchup#	Score	Television	Attendance
First round – Wednesday, March 10
1	1	6:00 pm	No. 12 Vanderbilt vs. No. 13 Texas A&M	79–68	SECN	1,149
Second round – Thursday, March 11
2	2	11:00 am	No. 8 Kentucky vs. No. 9 Mississippi State	73–74	SECN	1,733
	3	1:30 pm	No. 5 Florida vs. No. 12 Vanderbilt	69–63
3	4	6:00 pm	No. 7 Missouri vs. No. 10 Georgia	73–70		1,809
	5	8:30 pm	No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 South Carolina	76–59
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 12
4	6	11:00 am	No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 9 Mississippi State	85–48	ESPN	2,186
	7	1:30 pm	No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 5 Florida	78–66
5	8	6:00 pm	No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 7 Missouri	70–64	SECN	2,155
	9	8:30 pm	No. 3 LSU vs. No. 6 Ole Miss	76–73
Semifinals – Saturday, March 13
6	10	12:00 pm	No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Tennessee	73–68	ESPN	3,164
	11	2:45 pm	No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 3 LSU	71–78
Championship – Sunday, March 14
7	12	12:00 pm	No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 3 LSU	80–79	ESPN	2,586

*Game times in Central Time. #Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

	First round Wednesday, March 10 SEC Network					Second round Thursday, March 11 SEC Network					Quarterfinals Friday, March 12 ESPN/SEC Network					Semifinals Saturday, March 13 ESPN					Championship Sunday, March 14 ESPN
											1	Alabama	85
						8	Kentucky	73			9	Mississippi State	48
						9	Mississippi State	74								1	Alabama	73
																4	Tennessee	68
											4	Tennessee	78
						5	Florida	69			5	Florida	66
	12	Vanderbilt	79			12	Vanderbilt	63													1	Alabama	80
	13	Texas A&M	68																		3	LSU	79
											2	Arkansas	70
						7	Missouri	73			7	Missouri	64
						10	Georgia	70								2	Arkansas	71
																3	LSU	78
											3	LSU	76
						6	Ole Miss	76			6	Ole Miss	73
						11	South Carolina	59

Game summaries

First round

SECN

March 10 6:00 p.m.

No. 12 Vanderbilt 79, No. 13 Texas A&M 68
Scoring by half: 37–27, 42–41
Pts: Pippen Jr. (22) Rebs: Brown/Evans/Harvey/Milora-Brown (5) Asts: Pippen Jr. (6)		Pts: Miller (22) Rebs: Miller (10) Asts: Gordon (5)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 1,149 Referees: Tony Greene, Don Daily, Terry Wymer

Second round

SECN

March 11 11:00 a.m.

No. 9 Mississippi State 74, No. 8 Kentucky 73
Scoring by half: 44-30, 30-43
Pts: Molinar (21) Rebs: T. Smith (11) Asts: Stewart (10)		Pts: Mintz (16) Rebs: Sarr/Brooks Jr. (5) Asts: Mintz (8)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 1,733 Referees: Joe Lindsay, Patrick Evans, Chuck Jones

SECN

March 11 1:30 p.m.

No. 5 Florida 69, No. 12 Vanderbilt 63
Scoring by half: 34–22, 35–41
Pts: Mann (22) Rebs: Castleton (8) Asts: Mann (6)		Pts: Pippen Jr. (23) Rebs: Brown (7) Asts: Pippen Jr. (4)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 1,733 Referees: Doug Shows, Byron Jarrett, K.B. Burdett

SECN

March 11 6:00 p.m.

No. 7 Missouri 73, No. 10 Georgia 70
Scoring by half: 32–33, 41–37
Pts: Pinson (17) Rebs: D. Smith (8) Asts: Brown (4)		Pts: Wheeler (14) Rebs: Camara (10) Asts: Wheeler (13)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 1,809 Referees: Pat Adams, Bart Lenox, Vladimir Voyard-Tadal

SECN

March 11 8:30 p.m.

No. 6 Ole Miss 76, No. 11 South Carolina 59
Scoring by half: 41–26, 35–33
Pts: Joiner (18) Rebs: Buffen (9) Asts: Shuler (5)		Pts: McCreary (15) Rebs: Leveque (6) Asts: Moss (6)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 1,809 Referees: Terry Oglesby, Steven Anderson, Owen Shortt

Quarterfinals

ESPN

March 12 11:00 a.m.

No. 1 Alabama 85, No. 9 Mississippi State 48
Scoring by half: 47–19, 38–29
Pts: Quinerly (14) Rebs: Jones/Ellis (7) Asts: Jones (7)		Pts: Mintz (18) Rebs: Sarr/Brooks Jr. (11) Asts: Mintz (2)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 2,186 Referees: Don Daily, Tony Greene, K.B. Burdett

ESPN

March 12 1:30 p.m.

No. 4 Tennessee 78, No. 5 Florida 66
Scoring by half: 31–22, 47–44
Pts: Vescovi (14) Rebs: Johnson/James (9) Asts: Johnson/James (6)		Pts: Mann (30) Rebs: Castleton (7) Asts: Castleton/Lewis (2)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 2,186 Referees: Pat Adams, Patrick Evans, Terry Wymer

SECN

March 12 6:00 p.m.

No. 2 Arkansas 70, No. 7 Missouri 64
Scoring by half: 32–33, 38–31
Pts: Notae (27) Rebs: Smith/Moody (8) Asts: Davis/Notae (4)		Pts: Pinson (14) Rebs: Brown (11) Asts: D. Smith (5)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 2,155 Referees: Doug Shows, Terry Oglesby, Steven Anderson

SECN

March 12 8:30 p.m.

No. 3 LSU 76, No. 6 Ole Miss 73
Scoring by half: 29–27, 47–46
Pts: Watford (24) Rebs: Days (12) Asts: Smart (5)		Pts: Joiner (26) Rebs: White (13) Asts: Shuler (3)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 2,155 Referees: Joe Lindsay, Byron Jarrett, Bart Lenox

Semifinals

ESPN

March 13 12:00 p.m.

No. 1 Alabama 73, No. 4 Tennessee 68
Scoring by half: 31–40, 42–28
Pts: Jones (21) Rebs: Jones (13) Asts: Jones (4)		Pts: Johnson (20) Rebs: Johnson (9) Asts: Vescovi (4)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 3,164 Referees: Don Daily, Tony Greene, Chuck Jones

ESPN

March 13 2:30 p.m.

No. 2 Arkansas 71, No. 3 LSU 78
Scoring by half: 37-40, 34-38
Pts: Moody (21) Rebs: Moody (8) Asts: Davis (4)		Pts: Thomas (28) Rebs: Days/LeBlanc (9) Asts: Smart (5)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 3,164 Referees: Terry Oglesby, Patrick Evans, Bart Lenox

Final

ESPN

March 14 12:00 p.m.

No. 1 Alabama 80, No. 3 LSU 79
Scoring by half: 40-37, 40-42
Pts: Shackelford (21) Rebs: Jones (11) Asts: Jones (6)		Pts: Watford (30) Rebs: Days (12) Asts: Smart (5)

Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN Attendance: 3,400 Referees: Doug Shows, Pat Adams, Joe Lindsay

See also

• 2021 SEC women's basketball tournament

References

1. "Championship - Men's Basketball". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
2. "Auburn men's basketball program to forgo postseason for 2020-21 season". Auburn Athletics. November 22, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.