Alabama Basketball Opponent Preview: Vanderbilt Commodores

Alabama basketball will look to start a new winning streak when it resumes conference play on Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide, whose SEC winning streak is still intact at eight games, will host the Vanderbilt Commodores in Coleman Coliseum.

Vanderbilt is currently 10-11 and 3-5 in the league under Coach Jerry Stackhouse. The Commodores previously lost to Alabama 78-66 in Nashville. Vandy is currently on a two-game losing streak, having dropped back-to-back games to Kentucky and Texas A&M. For the season, the Dores have SEC wins over South Carolina, Arkansas, and Georgia.

Vanderbilt’s best wins this season include a convincing win over a then-ranked Arkansas team, and a one-point victory over a gritty Pittsburgh squad. Both wins came in Vandy’s home arena.

The first matchup between Alabama basketball and Vanderbilt was less than two weeks ago. Outside of Brandon Miller, who poured in 30 points on a highly efficient 10-16 from the field, Alabama was unremarkable in the victory.

In fact, the Crimson Tide shot just 18-48 from the field (37.5 percent) and 4-21 from the three-point line (19.0 percent) without Miller’s contributions. Even Miller, who is among the elite scorers in college basketball, has gone cold in the three games since Alabama went to Nashville.

Brandon Miller has averaged just 13 points per game on 13-35 shooting and 5-16 from outside in the last three outings. To further compound matters, Junior guard Mark Sears and freshman forward Noah Clowney are in the midst of well-documented shooting slumps of their own.

Collectively, each of Alabama’s top three scorers are struggling to find the bottom of the net.

If the trio continues to struggle, Vanderbilt is capable of giving Alabama a good game, or even pulling the upset. However, the Crimson Tide has plenty of depth and bench scoring it could lean on if necessary.

Senior guard Jahvon Quinerly has upped his game, assuming a leadership role and scoring in double figures in six of the last eight games. According to Coach Nate Oats, per Charlie Potter’s Twitter account, Quinerly is continuing to get more comfortable.

Freshman wing Rylan Griffen also comes off the bench for the Tide, and is looking to follow up one of the best performances of his career. Griffen is a confident shooter, and led Alabama with 15 points in the loss to Oklahoma.

On the defensive side of the ball, Alabama basketball will have to focus on the perimeter. Vanderbilt’s leading scorer, big man Liam Robbins, is out for the foreseeable future with an ankle injury.

In Robbins’ absence, the Commodores have been led by guard Tyrin Lawrence, three-point sniper Myles Stute, and wing Jordan Wright, all of whom average between 10.4 and 10.8 points per game. Guard Ezra Manjon has also done well to run the offense.

Lawrence, a slasher, led Vanderbilt with 20 points in the first game against Alabama. Wright added 15 points, while Manjon scored 11 points.

Although Alabama basketball is in fantastic shape on paper, sitting in first place in the SEC with an 18-3 overall record, this feels like a team that really needs to play well against Vanderbilt. Bama is far from desperate for a win, but it certainly needs a good showing to return to its previous upward trajectory.

Alternatively, back-to-back losses to teams that won’t make the NCAA tournament would certainly be head-scratching, and would raise serious alarm bells amongst the fan base.