Alabama basketball's SEC Tournament quarterfinal opponent is finally set after a marathon day in Nashville on Thursday. The Crimson Tide will face Kentucky for the third time this season, having swept the regular season meetings with Mark Pope's Wildcats.
Kentucky got a game-winner from Otega Oweh to lift them to an 85-84 win over Oklahoma.
In January, Alabama went to Lexington and beat Kentucky 102-97. In the rematch in late February, the Crimson Tide knocked off the Wildcats 96-83 for a rare sweep of the 'Cats.
Beating Kentucky in the SEC Tournament would be an even rarer feat for Alabama. The Crimson Tide hasn't beaten the Wildcats in this setting since 1983. Kentucky has won the last nine meetings between the two in the SEC Tournament, and Nate Oats hopes to get that particular monkey off this program's back.
Mark Sears scored a combined 54 points in the two meetings against Kentucky in the regular season. Pope and his team had few answers for Alabama's offense as the Tide identified and took advantage of mismatches in both meetings.
Koby Brea and Andrew Carr are both good offensive players, but Alabama took advantage of both on the defensive end and will undoubtedly hope to do so again on Friday in Nashville.
Beating a team three times in a row is never easy, but Alabama matches up well with Kentucky this year.
Alabama basketball a moderate favorite over Kentucky in the SEC Tournament
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of FanDuel
Spread: Alabama -5.5
Over/Undrer: 179.5
How to Watch:
Tip Time: 8:30 PM CT**
TV: SEC Network
Streaming: Fubo TV
Prediction:
A heads up for anyone who isn't aware how these tournament games work: Alabama and Kentucky is the final game of the day on Friday, meaning that 8:30 PM tip time is no more than an estimate. Last night's Kentucky and Oklahoma game started over an hour late due to the other games running over, particularly the double overtime Texas/Texas A&M contest.
Alabama and Kentucky will tip off roughly 25 minutes after the conclusion of Florida and Missouri.
Alabama's win over Kentucky in Lexington will come in handy in this matchup as this will effectively be a road game with how well Big Blue Nation always travels to Nashville for this event. But that's not necessarily a bad thing for the Crimson Tide with how well they have played on the road this year.
Alabama scored a neutral site win over Houston and then true road wins over North Carolina, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Texas, and Auburn. This team is battle tested and used to staring down hostile environments and not blinking.
Pope will have Kentucky well prepared for this game and I would expect it to be close throughout. But Alabama is the better team and as long as they don't go ice cold from deep and/or struggle with a plethora of turnovers, the Crimson Tide should win and advance to play the Florida/Missouri winner on Saturday in the semifinals.
Pick: Alabama 92, Kentucky 84