Alabama Basketball: History favors Tide vs MSU in clash of styles

Alabama Basketball: Crimson Tide looks for a three-game sweep while Mississippi State hopes its contrasting style can take down Nate Oats’ team.

Attention is focused on whether Alabama Basketball can beat Mississippi State for a third time when the teams pair off Friday morning. The Alabama Crimson Tide has beaten the Bulldogs twice this season by the scores of 81-73 and 64-59.

Conventional wisdom says winning three times, against one team in the same season, is unusual. Many coaches think otherwise. The thinking is a team going into a third game at 2-0 is the better team and should win for the third time.

Although the sample is small, history gives the Crimson Tide an edge. Alabama Basketball beat Mississippi State three times in the 1986 and 2017 seasons. The Bulldogs pulled off the trifecta in the 2008 season.

None of the above will be in the heads of the players or current coaching staffs. What will matter in Nashville will be effort, execution and strategy. The two teams have contrasting styles of play and both styles are well executed.

Mississippi State’s Ben Howland has been a college head coach since 1994. He is very much an old-school guy who values productive possessions more than a fast pace. He is not averse to shooting threes but his teams don’t prioritize shots from outside the arc. They do prioritize tough defense and rebounding.

The Bulldogs have four players 6-feet-9 or taller. Abdul Ado at 6-feet-11 and 255 pounds and Tolu Smith at 6-feet-10 and 245 pounds are Howlands’ most physical players. Smith is the SEC’s leading rebounder with 8.6 boards per game. Despite the size mismatch, the Crimson Tide outrebounded the Bulldogs, 45-40 in their most recent SEC game.

In that game the Tide was great at the foul line, making 88.2 percent. It was weak from the perimeter making only 25 percent of its three-point attempts. State was dreadful outside the arc in the game, making only 8.2 percent.

There is more to the Bulldogs than size. Iverson Milinar and D.J. Stewart are two of the best guards in the SEC. Molinar is 6th in the SEC, making field goals at 46.9 percent.

One key for the Crimson Tide on Friday will be playing good defense on Molinar, Stewart and the Bulldogs’ bigs, without getting key players in foul trouble. Mississippi State has a clear advantage having shot in the unfamiliar arena during an actual game. An advantage for the Crimson Tide is being rested and almost completely healthy.

The Bulldogs cannot be taken lightly. They are better than a typical SEC No. 9 seed.