For the first time all season, Alabama basketball has lost more than one game in a row. The Crimson Tide fell at home against Auburn last Saturday and then got ambushed in Columbia against Missouri on Wednesday. Coming back home on Saturday to face Kentucky, the Crimson Tide faces a stern test from a really good Wildcats team. Nate Oats' team has to find a way to get it done regardless.
One of Alabama's marquee wins of the season came in Lexington last month. Alabama stormed into Lexington fresh off a surprising mid-week home loss to Ole Miss in need of a win. The Tide got a big game from senior forward Grant Nelson, who scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Alabama to a 102-97 win at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky will be looking to return the favor by winning on Alabama's home floor. The Wildcats have the offensive firepower to turn this game into a shootout, especially if the Crimson Tide have a similar defensive effort to what we saw in CoMo earlier in the week.
Alabama's hopes of an SEC Regular Season title are diminishing. They will be gone if the Tide drops a third straight game. With back-to-back home games against Kentucky and Mississippi State on deck, Alabama needs a pair of wins before heading into a three-game finish to the season at Tennessee, vs. Florida, and at Auburn.
Kentucky is battling some injuries and will be without Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler in Tuscaloosa. But the Wildcats rallied together and played one of their better defensive games of the season in an 82-61 win over Vanderbilt on Wednesday.
It will take a high-level of basketball on both ends of the floor for Alabama to beat Kentucky, even at home. The Wildcats won't be intimidated by a hostile environment and Mark Pope will have his team prepared to play.
Alabama basketball is a heavy betting favorite at home over Kentucky
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of FanDuel.
Spread: Alabama -9.5
Over/Under: 180.5
How to Watch:
Tip Time: 5:00 PM CT
TV: ESPN
Streaming: WatchESPN
Prediction:
9.5 feels too high against a team with as much firepower as Kentucky. Alabama did not do a good job defensively against the Wildcats in Lexington in allowing 97 points. The Tide has been too inconsistent with shotmaking offensively to be able to depend on simply outscoring Kentucky in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama should come in motivated to break the two-game skid and get the season back on track. A third straight loss will end the Tide's chances of an SEC title, put a double-bye in the SEC Tournament in doubt, and potentially knock the Crimson Tide off of the No. 1 seed line for the NCAA Tournament.
Alabama played good enough defensively to beat Auburn a week ago. They played good enough offensively to beat Missouri on Wednesday. Unfortunately, they were let down by a poor offensive performance last Saturday and a disastrous defensive performance in CoMo.
I think Alabama will bounce back. Or at least I hope so. Mark Sears seemed to figure some things out against Missouri and he'll come locked in and ready to play on Saturday night.