Alabama basketball has done a good job this season of bouncing back from its rare defeats. Following its three previous losses, the Crimson Tide have put together three of their best performances of the season. They'll need to do it a fourth time to avoid a second straight defeat, one that would be extremely damaging to its chances of winning the SEC.
Here's the result of Alabama's previous three games following a loss:
- vs. Illinois: W, 100-87
- at North Carolina: W, 94-79
- at Kentucky: W, 102-97
Alabama has, somewhat perplexingly, played better on the road than at home. Turning around and going on the road in a difficult environment against Missouri would normally not be seen as an ideal situation for a team in need of a win. But this particular Crimson Tide team seems to be more comfortable away from Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama has the most difficult six game stretch to finish the regular season of any team in the country and if they want to have a realistic shot at playing at Auburn on March 8th with a share of the SEC Championship on the line, they can't afford to lose a second straight game.
Missouri has been one of the surprise teams in the country this season, rebounding from an 0-18 mark in SEC play a year ago. The Tigers come in at 19-6 overall and 8-4 in the league. Dennis Gates deserves serious Coach of the Year consideration.
Alabama will have to give its best effort to have a shot at winning in CoMo.
Alabama basketball a small road favorite over Missouri
Betting Odds:
Odds courtesy of FanDuel
Spread: Alabama -1.5
Over/Under: 170.5
How to Watch:
Tip Time: 8:00 PM CT
TV: SEC Network
Streaming: WatchESPN
Prediction:
Missouri will present a lot of problems for Alabama. Mark Mitchell is one of the best interior players in college basketball and they have capable shooters like Caleb Grill, Anthony Robinson, and Tamar Bates on the perimeter. If Alabama doesn't play well defensively and leaves shooters open to the level they did against Auburn, then the Tigers will make them pay and this game will turn into a shootout.
Vegas views this game as a toss-up. So does KenPom. KenPom gives Alabama a 46% chance of winning on the road.
This will be a difficult matchup, but this Alabama team has earned the benefit of the doubt with its ability to bounce back from adversity. I think they will do it again on Wednesday night, with a big bounce-back game from Mark Sears.
One of Chris Youngblood or Aden Holloway will have a good shooting night as well. Alabama probably won't shoot 17-of-29 like it did last week against Texas, but the Tide won't have another 5-of-26 game, either.