Alabama Basketball opens its NCAA Tournament play Friday afternoon in San Diego, against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Notre Dame began its Big Dance experience Wednesday night in a First Four game against Rutgers. Notre Dame outlasted the Scarlet Knights to win in double-overtime, 89-87.
Notre Dame finished the regular season at 22-9 and lost their first ACC Tournament game to Virginia Tech, 87-80. The Irish beat Kentucky in a mid-December home game, 66-62. In that unusual game, the Wildcats made three-point shots at under 11%.
KenPOM has the Crimson Tide ranked at No. 24 and the Fighting Irish at No. 50.
The two teams have played five times before, with the most recent being in 2015. The Alabama Crimson Tide won that contest 74-73 on a neutral court in Orlando. The Fighting Irish have won three of the five previous games.
Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Notre Dame: Spread, Over/Under
According to WynnBET, Alabama is a 4.0-point favorite. The Moneyline is Notre Dame +155 and Alabama -190. The Over/Under is at 152.5 points.
Alabama vs. Notre Dame Prediction
Notre Dame is a deliberate team that does not beat itself. They are an excellent three-point shooting team, that moves the ball until one of their multiple good, perimeter shooters are open. They are superb at ball security and average around just 10 turnovers per game.
Against Rutgers, they did not have to depend on threes as much, because they got to the rim and 6’10” senior transfer, Paul Atkinson was effective inside. Averaging only 12.0 points-per-game, Atkinson scored 26 against Rutgers on 13-for-15 shooting. Their other 6’10” big is statistically their best three-point shooter.
Their weakness is offensive rebounding. Although the team is solid on not turning the ball over, junior Trey Wertz has turnover trouble against aggressive defenders. Wertz comes off the bench in Mike Brey’s seven-man rotation.
With the short rotation, there is a good chance Alabama’s pace will wear down the Fighting Irish.
Game Prediction: Alabama Crimson Tide 77 – Notre Dame 74
Make your pick in WynnBET now!
What Channel is the Alabama Game On?
The game can be seen on TNT at 3:15 PM CST. The game’s announcer will be Lisa Byington with analysts, Avery Johnson and Steve Smith, plus courtside reporter, Lauren Shehadi.
Chris Stewart, Bryan Passink and Roger Hoover will handle the radio broadcast on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
A live stream will be available through the CBS app.
Note: Stats and boxscore information courtesy of sports-reference.com and ESPN
Complete Alabama Crimson Tide Game Notes are available here.