The Alabama Crimson Tide is back at home, reeling on a two-game losing streak, and welcomes injury-riddled Kentucky Wildcats. Read more for an Alabama vs Kentucky prediction and preview.
Alabama basketball is coming off a good offensive game but terrible defensively. It gets off to another poor start and loses 110-98 on the road to Missouri. The team is desperately looking to get back on the right track and is looking to sweep the Kentucky Wildcats, which has not happened since the 2020-2021 season.
“We knew our last seven games were gonna be tough. We have not had a great start to our last seven. We’ve got to correct the ship here,” said head coach Nate Oats.
Game Information:
Teams: Alabama (21-5, 10-3) and Kentucky (18-8, 7-6)
Tip-Off: 5 p.m. CST ( 6 EST)
Watch: ESPN
Listen: Tide 100.9
Latest on Kentucky Basketball:
The Kentucky Wildcats are entering year one under Mark Pope, who also played for the Wildcats from 1994 to 1996. They are off to an 18-8 start. The roster is dealing with adversity, losing Jaxson Robinson, Lamont Butler, and Kerr Kriisa.
So far this season, Kentucky’s marquee victories in non-conference play came in a close 77-72 win over Duke and a 90-89 win over Gonzaga in overtime. So far in SEC play, it has struggled to win on the road, most recently beating Vanderbilt in Rupp 82-61, where Oklahoma transfer Otega Oweh had 20 points and Drexel transfer Amari Williams had 17 points.
The Wildcats have three healthy guys who average double figures: Oweh, Williams, and three-point specialist Kobe Brea from Dayton.
This season, Oweh leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.2 PPG. Williams still leads the Cats on glass, averaging 8.7 RPG as a 7″0 anchor down low, and also leads the team with 2.9 APG.
Per KenPom, the Wildcats are ranked 5th in offensive efficiency numbers and just inside the top 70 at 69th in defensive efficiency. The team is the sixth-ranked team in its conference in the rankings by the numbers. The team averages around 88.7 PPG and shoots 36.5% from the three-point line.
Last year, Kentucky finished 23-10 (13-5 in conference play) and lost to Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Latest on Alabama Basketball:
Alabama is coming off a performance in which it scored 98 points but still lost because the defense gave up 110. Birthday boy Mark Sears, however, had a big bounce-back performance with 35 points.
“We’ve got to come out with our hair on fire like our season’s on the line. A lot is riding on in this game, including SEC seeding and NCAA Tournament seeding. Two weeks from tomorrow, the regular season is over,” said Oats.
Alabama won the first meeting between these two teams 102-97 on January 18th, in a game Grant Nelson dominated. Maybe this is another spot for Nelson to dominate after struggling the past couple of games.
Derrion Reid is doubtful tomorrow after missing the Missouri game.
Sears continues to lead the team in scoring and is up to 18.5 PPG on the season, trending upward after the last game. Nelson continues to be the anchor in the rebounding department and leads the team in averaging 8.1 RPG. Sears leads the team in assists at 4.8 APG, whereas the team averages 16.7 APG.
Per KenPom, Alabama is in the top 5 in offensive efficiency at three and defensively, with an efficiency ranking of 48. Alabama is averaging 90.6 PPG while shooting 34.2% from three.
Alabama vs Kentucky prediction: Crimson Tide by 13
Alabama will be in for another chance at a quadrant one game at home, bounce back and come out hungry after struggling at home last week, and get the win over Kentucky and the regular season sweep.
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