Mike Strange: Anthony Davis, Arnette Moultrie top SEC newcomers

Not that Dick Vitale noticed, but Jarnell Stokes and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a couple of talented freshmen, went at it Saturday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Because their teams are vying to stay out of the SEC cellar, these two Diaper Dandies will likely play out the season under the radar.

As the conference race hits the halfway point, a wealth of newcomers have materialized to impact the standings.

Five newcomers are among the top 10 SEC scorers — and none of them wears a Kentucky uniform.

Anthony Davis, the sensational Kentucky freshman, is the runaway leader for SEC player of the year honors as he heads down his first and only collegiate stretch run.

Davis is averaging 13.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and hitting 65 percent of his shots. But none of those stats represent his biggest impact on the game.

Davis has blocked 108 shots going into Saturday's game at South Carolina, which puts him 50 ahead of any other individual in the league and ahead of seven other teams.

But before the MVP trophy is engraved, Arnett Moultrie would like to state his case.

Moultrie is a 6-foot-11 junior who transferred to Mississippi State from UTEP. He is fourth in the league in scoring (16.8), first in rebounding (11.3) and second in field-goal percentage (55.6). He's also second in minutes played (34.2). He has knocked down a few treys and is a solid 79 percent at the free-throw stripe.

Arkansas freshman BJ Young is averaging 14.3 points, sixth best in the league and one slot ahead of Florida's Bradley Beal at 14.2. Beal played big in both the Gators' wins this week, over South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

The transfer with the biggest impact other than Moultrie is LSU's Justin Hamilton. The 7-footer came south from Iowa State and is averaging 13.6 points and 7.2 boards.

At Kentucky, Davis is only one of three freshmen starting for the No. 1-ranked Wildcats. Every hoops junkie in America loves Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who's averaging 12.8 points, 7.7 boards and consistently making heady hustle plays.

Marquis Teague may not be at the level of John Calipari's previous string of one-and-done point guards, but he's still averaging 32.2 minutes for the nation's No. 1 team.

Among the other notable freshmen are Rodney Hood at Mississippi State (11.3 ppg) and Anthony Hickey at LSU. Hickey ranks in the top three in the SEC in steals and turnover-assist ratio while scoring 9.7 ppg.

Then there's Georgia's Pope, who is the leading scorer at 14.0 ppg on a bad team. That's a lot of pressure for a freshman, but Pope can fill out a box score.

Stokes, the youngest and newest freshman in the league, doesn't have to carry Tennessee. That's a good thing since he didn't arrive on campus until after the New Year.

Stokes is averaging 9.5 points and 7.7 rebounds in 24 minutes a game. Considering that he's already done his time against Kentucky's shot-blockers, it's not out of the question that he can average a double-double the second half of the season.

As February begins, here is one man's All-Newcomer team:

Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist of Kentucky; Moultrie of Mississippi State; Beal of Florida and Hamilton of LSU.

But, remember, the race is only halfway done. Stokes is just getting warmed up.

Mike Strange may be reached at strangem@knoxnews.com. Follow him at http://twitter.com/strangemike44 and http://blogs.knoxnews.com/strange