Alabama Basketball: Tide needs to get over typical February hump
By Ronald Evans
Alabama Basketball: Two, not pushovers, to close the regular season
By the road game at Mississippi State and Auburn’s trip to Tuscaloosa, the Tide should be cruising to a strong NCAA Tournament seed.
The games are too far out for score predictions to have much merit. To give some frame of reference, Warren Nolan has the Alabama Crimson Tide beating Mississippi State in Starkville by three points. Nolan rates the Tide higher for the regular-season close in Tuscaloosa, projecting a defeat of the Auburn Tigers by 10 points.
Ken Pomeroy’s predictions are only available to subscribers. For serious college basketball fans, his site is worth every penny of its modest cost. His Crimson Tide game predictions are consistent with, but not identical to Nolan’s.
Going into February, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are 10-8. They had two impressive January wins over the Missouri Tigers and the Florida Gators. They lost to Kentucky in double overtime and by a single point to Texas A&M. In their most recent SEC game, they lost to Tennesee in Knoxville by three points. As they stubbornly showed in Tuscaloosa, they are a scheme and matchup challenge for the Crimson Tide. Well coached by Ben Howland, the Crimson Tide will have to play well in Starkville.
The Auburn Tigers are an enigma, rather like their provocative coach. When the Tigers’ freshman sensation, Sharife Cooper eased past eligibility concerns and joined the playing roster, Auburn became a different team. In his college basketball debut, against the Tide, he was nearly unstoppable until the game’s closing minutes. He scored 26 points in the Tigers’ loss.
Much like the Tide’s difficulties stopping his dribble-drives, Missouri lost to Auburn recently because of repeatedly sending Cooper to the foul line. He made 18-of-21 and Auburn won by six.