Alabama Basketball: Auburn Game Preview And Info
By Chris Hale
The Alabama basketball team (12-6, 2-3) will host the Auburn Tigers (10-8, 2-3) on Saturday in the Iron Bowl on the hardwood.
- Date: Saturday, January 24, 2015
- Start Time: 7:30 p.m. Central
- Location: Tuscaloosa, AL
- Arena: Coleman Coliseum
- TV Info: SEC Network
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
- Odds (VegasInsider.com): Alabama (-11)
After a heartbreaking 93-91 overtime loss in Fayetteville to the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Tide will head home to the friendly confines of Coleman Coliseum for Saturday’s match-up. So far this season, Alabama is 10-1 at home but has struggled on the road with a 1-4 record. The athletic department announced that the game was a sell-out so hopefully a rowdy crowd will make it tough on the Tigers to leave Tuscaloosa with their first road victory of the season. An Auburn win would be Coach Anthony Grant’s first loss to Auburn in Tuscaloosa.
“I think it’s a big-time difference maker,” Grant said. “You want to create as hostile a home environment as possible. I think it helps everything, in terms of the energy of your team, just the overall appearance of your program. I think it makes a big difference so we certainly appreciate all of our fans coming out and showing support for our program.”
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While the team as well as Alabama fans want and need the win, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl knows the importance of win for the Tigers and wants it just as much. “I just know the games mattered more to our fans, they mattered more to me,” Pearl said. “You want to win them all, but there’s no team I want to beat more than Alabama in the SEC because I’m Auburn’s coach and that’s how I feel, that’s how our fans feel.”
Coming into the contest, Senior guard Levi Randolph leads Alabama in scoring (14.8 PPG), assists (2.6 APG), steals (1.6). Junior guard Ricky Tarrant is contributing 13.3 PPG. Tarrant, along with Senior guard Rodney Cooper, leads the team in shots made from beyond the arc with 27. If the Tide can remain close to their average of 73-percent of shots made from the charity stripe, that should put them in good shape for the win. However, they have got to rebound better. In the loss against Arkansas, the Tide only pulled down eight offensive boards and were outscored 22-8 on second chance points.
The Tide will have to deal with K.T. Harrell‘s 17.2 points per game which is second in the conference for scoring. Harrell has scored more than 20 points in nine contests so far this season. Shooting guard Antoine Mason comes in right behind him with 14 points per game. Junior forward Cinmeon Bowers could also pose some problems for the Tide. Bowers notched his 12th double-double of the season in Auburn’s loss against Mississippi State, scoring 16 points and pulling down 17 rebounds. Shooting guard K.C. Ross-Miller is contributing 6.4 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 2.4 APG, and 2.3 SPG. Ross-Miller also has a defensive rating of 94.7.