Wednesday night in Oxford, the Alabama Crimson Tide should produce another SEC road win. Alabama is a solid favorite over the Ole Miss Rebels, who are 3-7 in SEC play and have lost five straight SEC games.
Alabama cannot afford to squander its momentum by losing to the Rebels. Last January, Alabama was rolling at 14-2 when Ole Miss came to Tuscaloosa. The Rebels upset the Crimson Tide in a 74-64 win. Ole Miss big man Malik Dia scored 23 points and pulled down 19 rebounds. Alabama was cold outside the arc, making only five of 20 attempts.
The Crimson Tide frontline will face Dia again on Wednesday night. This season, the Rebels have more help for Dia on the boards. LSU transfer Corey Chest is LSU's No. 2 rebounder. Chest gained 18 rebounds for LSU last season in a game Alabama won.
The Rebels have three players averaging double-digit points. AJ Storr leads Ole Miss in scoring, followed by DIa. Next is former French professional player Ilias Kamardine. He is listed as a senior, but he is a new addition to the Rebels after playing for six European professional teams. Storr, Patton Pinkins, and Kezza Giffa are good three-point shooters, with Pinkins at 44.9%, Giffa at 38.1%, and Storr at 37.3%.
The Ole Miss record of 11-12 includes losses in close games to good opponents. St. John's beat Ole Miss 63-58 in December, and two weeks ago the Rebels lost to Vanderbilt 71-68 in Nashville.
Alabama Crimson Tide Matchup Issues
Talking about the game, Nate Oats said, "We've got to do a great job rebounding the ball, we're aware of that. Dia's a tough cover. He's one of the better post players in our league. He's been good for them at times. I don't know if he's had a 23 and 19 game for them this year, but shoot, he was great against us last year. So we definitely have to be on high alert with him, make sure we have the right matchups and the right game plan." The Crimson Tide's matchup options are suddenly limited with no Charles Bediako and with Keitenn Bristow not expected to play. Recent rumors question whether Bristow will ever play another game for the Crimson Tide.
Note: Ole Miss stats provided by Sports Reference