AU HOOPS: Tigers picked to finish last in SEC West

Auburn point guard DeWayne Reed received some respect from a panel of SEC media members Monday, but the Tigers, as a whole, certainly did not.

Auburn, fresh off one of the hotter finishes to the 2008-09 season in the nation, were picked to finish last in the SEC West and received the second least amount of voter points in the league’s preseason projections.

The Tigers, who won 11 of their final 14 games to finish 24-12, received 44 voter points, 19 more than Georgia in the SEC East and 19 fewer than Arkansas, which was picked to finish one place higher in the West.

Mississippi State, whose surprising run through the 2009 SEC Tournament landed it in the NCAA Tournament, was picked to finish first in the West and received all but three first-place votes.

Kentucky received 23 of 25 first-place votes in the East and was picked to win the entire conference.

Reed, who led the Tigers last year with 13.2 points per game, was named to the All-SEC second-team.

“He’s probably been our best player, no doubt in workouts and been our most consistent guy, offensively and defensively,” coach Jeff
Lebo said last week. “It’s like having a quarterback. You want an experienced guy back there that has been through the wars.”

Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson, who averaged 17.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game last season, was named the SEC’s Preseason Player of the Year.

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