# 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.

## 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. 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. 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 |
| 2 | 3 | 1:30 pm | No. 5 Florida vs. No. 12 Vanderbilt | 69–63 | SECN | 1,733 |
| 3 | 4 | 6:00 pm | No. 7 Missouri vs. No. 10 Georgia | 73–70 | SECN | 1,809 |
| 3 | 5 | 8:30 pm | No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 South Carolina | 76–59 | SECN | 1,809 |
| Quarterfinals – Friday, March 12 |||||||
| 4 | 6 | 11:00 am | No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 9 Mississippi State | 85–48 | ESPN | 2,186 |
| 4 | 7 | 1:30 pm | No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 5 Florida | 78–66 | ESPN | 2,186 |
| 5 | 8 | 6:00 pm | No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 7 Missouri | 70–64 | SECN | 2,155 |
| 5 | 9 | 8:30 pm | No. 3 LSU vs. No. 6 Ole Miss | 76–73 | SECN | 2,155 |
| Semifinals – Saturday, March 13 |||||||
| 6 | 10 | 12:00 pm | No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Tennessee | 73–68 | ESPN | 3,164 |
| 6 | 11 | 2:45 pm | No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 3 LSU | 71–78 | ESPN | 3,164 |
| 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 | First round Wednesday, March 10 SEC Network | First round Wednesday, March 10 SEC Network | Second round Thursday, March 11 SEC Network | Second round Thursday, March 11 SEC Network | Second round Thursday, March 11 SEC Network | Quarterfinals Friday, March 12 ESPN/SEC Network | Quarterfinals Friday, March 12 ESPN/SEC Network | Quarterfinals Friday, March 12 ESPN/SEC Network | | | Semifinals Saturday, March 13 ESPN | Semifinals Saturday, March 13 ESPN | Semifinals Saturday, March 13 ESPN | Championship Sunday, March 14 ESPN | Championship Sunday, March 14 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 | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | 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