After its first two wins in Las Vegas, Alabama basketball looks to win the first-ever Player’s Era Festival Title against the Ducks.
Alabama basketball won its first two games and will look to bring home an extra 500,000$ dollars to its NIL collective, Yea Alabama, with a win over the Oregon Ducks. Both of these teams matched up last year on the Saturday of the Iron Bowl in football, and this time, they matched up on the Iron Bowl. The Tide beat the Ducks last season 99-91, in which Mark Sears had 27 points in the game.
General Information:
Teams: Alabama (6-1) and Oregon (7-0)
Tip time: 9:30 p.m. EST
Watch:Â TNT
Listen:Â Tide 100.9
What to know about Oregon:
The Oregon Ducks are coming into the season as new members of the Big Ten and look to make an impact early with a good start this season. So far, the Ducks are 7-0 and led by 7″0 center Nate Bittle, who is leading the team averaging 14.1 PPG, and 9.5 RPG. The transfer from Villanova and Washington State in TJ Bamba is second in scoring, averaging 13.1 PPG.
In its last game, Oregon defeated San Diego State 78-68, in a game where Bamba scored 22 points, and Keeshawn Barthelemy came off the bench to tally 16 points. The Ducks are a 10-deep with tons of guys capable of scoring.
Oregon is shooting 46.6% from the field as a team and 33.1% from the three-point line. By the metrics, Oregon’s defense is sitting outside of the top 35, so the Tide will be up for a challenge and have to take care of the ball.
Latest on Alabama basketball:
Alabama is entering its first MTE title game since 2017 in the Barclay’s Classic and has the chance to win its first MTE since 2012 beating Villanova 77-75 in the 2k Sports Classic. Alabama is coming off a win in which the team had 20 turnovers but was able to stay in control of the game for most of the second half and was able to get some key stops on the defensive end.
The key for Alabama basketball to win this game is to continue to dominate the glass like it has done so far in Las Vegas. The Tide has done a good job in keeping teams out of the paint and forcing tough midrange shots, which coach Oats wants teams to shoot because they are analytically bad shots. Alabama will need to continue to not turn the ball over at a high rate because possessions will be at a premium.
Mo Dioubate has continued to get an uptick in minutes in each of the two games and has been Alabama’s MVP, doing the dirty work in grabbing boards and defending the opposition’s top scorers. Mark Sears has gotten back on track after putting up a zero last week with two 20+ point performances.
The analytics for Alabama show that the team is scoring 89.7 PPG and shooting 32.8% from three. Defensively, the team ranks just below the top 50 in defensive efficiency.
Alabama basketball will have a chance to move back into the AP Top five with a win tomorrow.