No. 17 Auburn (16-1, 4-0) travels to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday for a pivotal matchup against Alabama.
Amazingly, the Tigers currently hold college basketball’s longest win streak at 14 games after starting SEC play 4-0.
If the NCAA Tournament were held today, Bruce Pearl’s squad would be a 4-seed, according to noted ESPN expert Joe Lunardi.
Alabama (11-6, 3-2) meanwhile has had two solid wins in a row, knocking off South Carolina at home and LSU on the road last week to advance its SEC record to 3-2.
Every game matters for Avery Johnson’s team, who likely need to win at least half of their 18 SEC games to make the NCAA Tournament, but a win in this game against their hated in-state rival may mean just a little bit more.
Let’s take a look at what Alabama needs to do to secure the victory.
Attack the basket
In its last two SEC wins, Alabama has started to settle into an identity that resembles Johnson’s first couple of teams in Tuscaloosa.
On offense that identity dictates that Alabama is a fast, downhill team, using the size of its long wing players and the speed of Collin Sexton to attack the rim off the dribble.
Getting to the bucket may be a bit more difficult against Auburn however because Donta Hall will remain out while recovering from wrist surgery.
Missing Hall won’t be the only obstacle for Alabama’s lane-driving desires. Auburn has one of the best shot-blockers in the nation in sophomore Anfernee McLemore, who has great timing to go along with insane bounce. That’s why at only 6’7, he leads the SEC in blocks per game and is second in the country in block percentage.
Incredibly, McLemore does this while playing less than 20 minutes per game.
Regardless of McLemore and fellow springy center Horace Spencer, Alabama should stick to its identity and drive to the basket seeking layups and free-throw attempts. The Crimson Tide have been impressive from the charity stripe lately, finishing a perfect 18 of 18 in the win at LSU.
Dazon Ingram (10 of 10 from the charity stripe vs. LSU) will be the linchpin of success in Alabama’s lane-driving attack.
Sexton needs to come out of his funk
Before Collin Sexton had aspirations of being an NBA lottery pick, he had more simple goals–earn a starting point guard position over Jared Harper.
Harper, Auburn’s diminutive sparkplug point guard, and Sexton were teammates at Pebblebrook High School in Georgia. Harper was a class older than Sexton and maintained a stronghold on the starting point guard job.
Now, the former teammates will turn go to battle against one another in one of the biggest rivalries in sports.
Harper is a good athlete who has used his small size to his advantage on offense to draw fouls at a high rate all season. He’s a quick release shooter who has drained almost 43 percent of 3-point attempts.
On Wednesday night, Sexton will be looking to turn around two of his worst offensive outings of his college career. Over the last two games, Sexton is shooting a terrible 25 percent from the field.
Additionally, against LSU he was careless with the basketball, turning it over an absurd nine times.
It’s difficult to keep a talent like Sexton contained for long, and if you have followed his career arc for long, you know that he has had his best performances in the rowdiest environments.
With Auburn coming to Coleman Coliseum, there will be no doubt that the crowd will be raucous.
Sexton plays with a swagger that can sometimes border on maniacal, but hopefully the energy in Tuscaloosa will positively propel him to one of his biggest outings of the year.
Keep Bryce Brown and company off the 3-point line
I heard a coach once complain that he had a lot of 3-point shooters, but he didn’t have any 3-point makers.
Bruce Pearl doesn’t have that problem.
Last season, when Auburn beat Alabama in Coleman Coliseum to complete a season sweep, the Tigers nailed 15 3-pointers with Bryce Brown connecting on 4 of his 5 attempts.
This season, six Tiger players make better than 37 percent of their 3-point attempts.
However, Brown takes the majority of those attempts. He’s launched 145 shots from deep which is almost double that of any other Auburn player.
If the Crimson Tide want to avenge their demoralizing losses to Auburn from last season, then they are going to have to know where Brown is at all times.