.... Alabama is 2-5 on the road this year. Alabama won at Missouri (83-70) and Ole Miss (97-83), the latter being its most recent road game, but lost road games against No. 1 Auburn (100-81), Georgia (82-76), Mississippi State (78-76), Missouri (92-86), and Memphis (92-78). The 2-5 road record doesn't look good for their chances of winning in Rupp but Alabama is looking to build on its best road performance of the season.
.... BracketMatrix.com averages out all the seed projections from different bracketologists and Alabama is currently right at a 5. They're as high as a four and a low as a six. That's in spite of already having nine losses and largely due to the fact that it has played (KenPom) the No. 1 most difficult schedule in the country this year. Alabama's seed projection is powered by a slate of excellent wins against Gonzaga (in Seattle), Houston, Baylor, Tennessee, and LSU. Nobody doubts Alabama's ability to beat any team in the country in spite of nine losses. Alabama played a brutal non-conference slate and has also had an intense league slate.
.... The Tide is currently on a three-game winning streak. In addition to the win at Ole Miss it has close wins against Arkansas and Mississippi State. Jahvon Quinerly scored 21 points to lead Alabama in its most recent game against Mississippi State. Nate Oats was ejected in the game. It was his first ejection. Arkansas had been riding a nine-game winning streak before it lost to Alabama last weekend.
..... Jaden Shackelford leads Alabama in scoring at 17.1 PPG. He is complemented by Quinerly at 14.2, Keon Ellis at 11.1, and JD Davison at 8.6. It's a team that scores a lot and they have more featured guys but also a pretty deep cast of guys who can hurt you.
..... KenPom ranks Alabama No. 19 with the No. 14 offense, No. 66 defense, and at the No. 15 tempo. While many expected Kentucky's trip to Tuscaloosa to be a high scoring track meet neither team had a great offensive game and the Cats won 66-55. TyTy Washington led UK with 15 points and four other players had exactly 10. While UK only shot 40% for the game, Alabama was held to 28.1% FG.
..... Alabama is No. 22 in the NET rankings, down from 21 last week in spite of the win streak. Alabama has a very strong 7-5 record in Quad 1 games but it does have a 5-2 mark in Quad 2 games. Worst of all: 5-2 in Quad 3 games. So it's one of the more maddening resumes out there, along with Rutgers and a few others.
..... In front of 12,477 fans at Coleman Coliseum, Kentucky a scoreless night from Sahvir Wheeler and 15 turnovers in the first meeting between these teams. Of course the big story of that game was that Alabama was 3/30 from three-point range. It was one of the worst shooting games for a team in college basketball this year. Although Kentucky played a good defensive game Alabama was also ice cold.
..... Alabama has outscored its opponents 80.4 to 75.5 on average this year so it's a high scoring team. Bama shoots 46% FG, 30.8% 3-PT, and 72.0% FT. It outrebounds the opposition by 3.7 per game, but that comes out to a good rebounding squad considering the level of competition Nate Oats' squad has faced. Alabama's opponents shoot 42.8% FG and 32% 3-PT.
.... BracketMatrix.com averages out all the seed projections from different bracketologists and Alabama is currently right at a 5. They're as high as a four and a low as a six. That's in spite of already having nine losses and largely due to the fact that it has played (KenPom) the No. 1 most difficult schedule in the country this year. Alabama's seed projection is powered by a slate of excellent wins against Gonzaga (in Seattle), Houston, Baylor, Tennessee, and LSU. Nobody doubts Alabama's ability to beat any team in the country in spite of nine losses. Alabama played a brutal non-conference slate and has also had an intense league slate.
.... The Tide is currently on a three-game winning streak. In addition to the win at Ole Miss it has close wins against Arkansas and Mississippi State. Jahvon Quinerly scored 21 points to lead Alabama in its most recent game against Mississippi State. Nate Oats was ejected in the game. It was his first ejection. Arkansas had been riding a nine-game winning streak before it lost to Alabama last weekend.
..... Jaden Shackelford leads Alabama in scoring at 17.1 PPG. He is complemented by Quinerly at 14.2, Keon Ellis at 11.1, and JD Davison at 8.6. It's a team that scores a lot and they have more featured guys but also a pretty deep cast of guys who can hurt you.
..... KenPom ranks Alabama No. 19 with the No. 14 offense, No. 66 defense, and at the No. 15 tempo. While many expected Kentucky's trip to Tuscaloosa to be a high scoring track meet neither team had a great offensive game and the Cats won 66-55. TyTy Washington led UK with 15 points and four other players had exactly 10. While UK only shot 40% for the game, Alabama was held to 28.1% FG.
..... Alabama is No. 22 in the NET rankings, down from 21 last week in spite of the win streak. Alabama has a very strong 7-5 record in Quad 1 games but it does have a 5-2 mark in Quad 2 games. Worst of all: 5-2 in Quad 3 games. So it's one of the more maddening resumes out there, along with Rutgers and a few others.
..... In front of 12,477 fans at Coleman Coliseum, Kentucky a scoreless night from Sahvir Wheeler and 15 turnovers in the first meeting between these teams. Of course the big story of that game was that Alabama was 3/30 from three-point range. It was one of the worst shooting games for a team in college basketball this year. Although Kentucky played a good defensive game Alabama was also ice cold.
..... Alabama has outscored its opponents 80.4 to 75.5 on average this year so it's a high scoring team. Bama shoots 46% FG, 30.8% 3-PT, and 72.0% FT. It outrebounds the opposition by 3.7 per game, but that comes out to a good rebounding squad considering the level of competition Nate Oats' squad has faced. Alabama's opponents shoot 42.8% FG and 32% 3-PT.
