The Alabama Crimson Tide is hitting the road for the first time in SEC play against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Read more for a full Alabama vs South Carolina prediction and preview.
Alabama basketball is coming off its most complete game from start to finish on Saturday against Oklahoma winning 107-79. It is hitting the road up to Columbia, South Carolina, to face off against the Gamecocks for the second game of SEC play. Alabama has won nine in a row against the Gamecocks with a big win last season 74-47 and are 35-16 overall head-to-head all time.
“Looking forward to our first conference road game. These are games where you find out if the team can compete for a conference championship or not,” said head coach Nate Oats
Game Information:
Teams:Â Alabama (12-2, 1-0) and South Carolina (10-4, 0-1)
Tip-Off: 6 p.m. CST (7 p.m. EST)
Where to Watch:Â SEC Network
How to Listen:Â Tide 100.9
Latest on South Carolina basketball:
South Carolina Gamecocks are off to another quality start under third-year head coach Lamont Paris hoisting a 10-4 record. The team is looking to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.
So far this season, South Carolina, had one marquee win over Clemson in the non conference slate: a 91-88 win in overtime. In its first conference game, however, they left a bad taste in their mouths, getting dominated on the road against Mississippi State 85-50. Â Zachary Davis came off the bench to lead the team with 22 points.Â
So far this season, Collin Murray-Boyles leads the Gamecocks in scoring at 15.8 PPG and averages nearly a double-double every game with 9.4 RPG. Guard Jamarii Thomas leads the team in assists with 3.5 APG and also does a good job forcing turnovers on defense with 1.4 SPG. Another familiar face for Tide fans is starting for the Gamecocks in Nick Pringle, who was on the Final Four roster just a season ago. Pringle averages  10.4 PPG to go with 6.4 RPG and has had big scoring games this year, with a season-high 19 points in a win South Carolina Upstate earlier this season.Â
Per KenPom, the Gamecocks are ranked 105th in offensive efficiency numbers and just outside the top 60 Â at 65th in defensive efficiency. The team is the 16th-ranked team in its conference in the rankings by the numbers. The team averages around 73.8 PPG and shoots 33.7% from the three-point line.
Last year, the Gamecocks were 26-8 (13-5 in conference play).
Latest on Alabama basketball:
Alabama is coming off a game in which the team scored over 100 points again for the second straight game in a game where Mark Sears led the way with 22 points and 10 assists.
The Tide began the SEC play with a dominant win and look to continue the momentum from Saturday and from December, with the team riding a six game winning streak.
Alabama seems to be the healthiest it’s been all year minus the Latrell Wrightsell injury back in November with Chris Youngblood getting more comfortable after the foot injury, and Derrion Reid looking how he has been all year coming off the ankle injury.
Sears continues to lead the team in scoring and is up to 18.0 PPG on the season thus far. Grant Nelson continues to be a force around the glass in the rebounding department and leads the team in averaging 8.6 RPG. Sears leads the team in assists at 4.0 APG, whereas the team averages 16.8 APG.
Per KenPom, Alabama is in the top 5 in offensive efficiency at 4 and defensively, with an efficiency ranking of 44, which is down two spots from the last game. Alabama is averaging 91.1 PPG while shooting 31.6% from three. Alabama averages the most points per game in the country.
Alabama vs South Carolina prediction: Crimson Tide by 12
Alabama will be in for a test against South Carolina, but I think the Tide will win 80-68 on the road to get its second SEC victory.
[…] to win its 10th head-to-head win against the Gamecocks in a row to move to 2-0 in SEC play with the 88-68 win. The Tide are starting to click as a team as conference play is in full […]