Alabama Basketball: Tide Rolling & Tigers Reeling
Heading into the second iteration of the basketball rivalry between Bama and the Barn, Alabama Basketball is clearly in the more favorable position. The Crimson Tide are still trending towards locking up the SEC regular season title and a no. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Meanwhile, Auburn has struggled mightily in recent weeks. The Tigers were already on a skid heading into the first matchup against Alabama, having lost four out of five games. That home loss to the Tide made it five out of six, and Auburn has only managed to split its four games since then.
A commanding 89-56 win over Missouri indicated that Auburn might be back on track, but the Tigers subsequently lost a narrow contest to Vanderbilt. They would bounce back with a win, although it was a close win over an Ole Miss team that resides in the SEC cellar.
Auburn could’ve used some momentum leading into its trip to Tuscaloosa. Hoping to string together back-to-back wins for the first time since January 21st, Bruce Pearl’s team laid an absolute egg on the road at Kentucky, losing 86-54. It was Auburn’s third-worst loss of the Pearl era, and its widest margin of defeat since losing by 38 to Tennessee back in 2016.
Granted, the loss came against a solid Kentucky team that appears to be peaking at the right time, but it is far from a vintage John Calipari-led squad.
The Wildcats haven’t dominated anyone like that since late November. In fact, the only other teams that Kentucky has beaten by 30-plus all season are Howard, South Carolina State, and North Florida.
It’s safe to say that Auburn is struggling, having lost seven of its last ten games after a 16-3 start.
On the flip side, Alabama Basketball has won eight of its last ten, and currently sits at 25-4 with a 15-1 SEC record. The Crimson Tide is on a three-game winning streak, although it is not playing its best basketball.
In its two most recent games, Alabama escaped with a 78-76 overtime win over South Carolina and survived a late push from Arkansas to win 86-83.
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Facing a reeling rival in its final home game, Alabama should come out with lots of energy on Wednesday evening. Coleman Coliseum, where Bama has not lost all year, should be rocking to the rafters.