Kentucky Tries To Keep Pace in SEC Race vs Alabama
Wildcats on Three-Game Win Streak
The No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats look for a fourth straight win when they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in a key SEC matchup on Saturday. The contest is scheduled for an 8 pm ET opening tip at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Kentucky (18-4, 7-2 SEC) is coming off a tight home win against the Vanderbilt Commodores on Wednesday night. The Wildcats are in second place in the conference standings, trailing the first-place Auburn Tigers by two games and leading the Arkansas Razorbacks and Tennessee Volunteers, who are tied for third place, by a game.
The Crimson Tide (14-8, 4-5) are in the middle of a brutal stretch of their schedule, beating the then-No. 4 Baylor Bears last weekend before falling to No. 1 Auburn on Tuesday. Alabama is tied for sixth in the SEC with the LSU Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies, Florida Gators and South Carolina Gamecocks.
If you want to bet online on this contest, the college basketball lines have the Crimson Tide as one-point favorites at home, with the over/under set at 157. A moneyline bet on Alabama gets you -120 odds, while Kentucky is at even odds.
On a Roll
The Wildcats are playing as well as anyone in the country right now, having won seven of eight, with that one loss coming at No. 1 Auburn. Kentucky is facing the best shot of many teams, but John Calipari’s squad is so far holding up to almost every challenge.
The win over Vanderbilt on Wednesday was a rough one, with a lot of physical play and four flagrant fouls. Kentucky knows it’s going to get that kind of fight from almost every team it faces from here on out.
“When teams come in here, they want to play hard,” senior guard Davion Mintz said after Wednesday’s win. “The SEC is a competitive conference, and Vanderbilt came to fight, and so does every other team we play in this conference.”
Mintz had 21 points against Vanderbilt, becoming the sixth Wildcats player to lead the team in scoring in a game with at least 20 points this season. Mintz is averaging just 8.8 points but is capable of a big game, as are many of the players in Kentucky’s lineup.
The most consistent point producer has been forward Oscar Tshiebwe, playing his first season with Kentucky after transferring from West Virginia. Tshiebwe has been spectacular on both ends of the floor, averaging 16.1 points, a national-best 15.2 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.8 steals per game.
Freshman guard TyTy Washington Jr. has also been dynamic on the offensive end, averaging 12.8 points and 4.2 assists per game. Washington is also opportunistic on the defensive end, recording 1.3 steals per game.
Junior forward Keion Brooks Jr. has been heating up of late, averaging 23.5 points over the last two games. Brooks is averaging 11.5 points this season, but he can’t be overlooked by the Crimson Tide in this one.
Needing A Surge
The Crimson Tide have defeated three teams currently ranked in the Top 10 in college basketball — the No. 2 Gonzaga Bulldogs, the No. 6 Houston Cougars and No. 8 Baylor — but coach Nate Oats’ team has its work ahead of it with a sub-.500 record in league play. Alabama at its best can beat any team in the country, as shown by its results, but it’s not at its best often enough.
If the Tide are going to make a move up the SEC standings, it will be guard Jaden Shackelford leading the way. Alabama’s leading scorer at 17.6 points per game, Shackelford is coming off a 26-point performance in the loss to Auburn, two points off his season high of 28 in the upset of Gonzaga.
Guard Jahvon Quinerly will need to play well against Kentucky for the Tide to pull out the win. Quinerly is averaging 14.8 points and 4.3 assists per game, but he also turns the ball over 2.8 times per game, which could lead to easy buckets for the Wildcats if that continues on Saturday.
Guard Keon Ellis leads Alabama with 6.2 rebounds per game, though the Tide are going to have to attack the glass as a team to contend with Tshiebwe. Ellis is the team’s third-leading scorer at 12.0 points per game.
Wildcats Earn Road Win
Alabama is playing at home and is capable of a big performance, but Kentucky won easily in one of the most difficult venues to play in — Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse — just last weekend. The Wildcats are rolling right now, and Tshiebwe should have a big game in a Kentucky victory.
When making your college basketball picks, take Kentucky to get the win on the road.
