Alabama has rolled through its first two conference games of the season, and are currently one of five unbeaten teams in the SEC. However, Saturday, the Crimson Tide’s weekend road trip might not be as easy as they thought.
Facing a team that just came off a major upset, Alabama will travel to Starkville to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Humphrey Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. CT.
The Crimson Tide are coming off a commanding 74-47 victory against a one-loss South Carolina Gamecocks squad. Though the first SEC matchup against Vanderbilt could’ve gone better, Alabama appears to be on the right track.
However, after knocking off the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers in their last game, the Bulldogs will be defending its home court once again. With Alabama’s recent struggles on the road this season, the matchup in Starkville will be no easy task.
How to watch
Who: Alabama (10-5, 2-0) vs. Mississippi State (12-3, 1-1)
When: 7:30 p.m. CT
Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Mississippi
Watch: SEC Network
Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink, Engineer: Tom Stipe)
Alabama’s projected starters
Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, junior
Stats: 20.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.7 apg, 54.8% FG, 49.4% 3-pt
Aaron Estrada: 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, Graduate Student
Stats: 13.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.1 apg, 45.8% FG, 39.4% 3-pt
Rylan Griffen: 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 9.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.9 apg, 48.4% FG, 35.7% 3-pt
Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, senior
Stats: 12.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.3 apg, 44.4% FG, 26.2% 3-pt
Nick Pringle: 6-foot-10, 230 pounds, senior
Stats: 5.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.5 apg, 73.8% FG
Mississippi State's projected starters
Dashawn Davis: 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, senior
Stats: 8.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.5 apg, 35.4% FG, 34.8% 3-pt
Shakeel Moore: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, senior
Stats: 7.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 50.7% FG, 36.0% 3-pt
Cameron Mathews: 6-foot-7, 230 pounds, senior
Stats: 9.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.1 apg, 60.0% FG, 6.3% 3-pt
D.J. Jeffries: 6-foot-7, 215 pounds, senior
Stats: 6.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.1 apg, 35.8% FG, 22.6% 3-pt
Tolu Smith: 6-foot-11, 245 pounds, senior
Stats: 17.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 0.3 apg, 76.2% FG
Top offense vs. Top defense
Though the Bulldogs just knocked off one of the best teams in the country, it’s no surprise that they can win big games. An even bigger part of that is, they have the team stats to back it up as well.
While Alabama boasts the third highest scoring offense in the country, putting up over 90 points per game, Mississippi State has the best scoring defense in the SEC and only allows 63.7 points per game.
“Teams don’t score much on them,” said head coach Nate oats. “I think they got the lowest scoring defense in the league right now. They’re going to play tough, play physical, they’re going to rebound, they’re going to play hard.”
Fortunately for Alabama, its last matchup was against the South Carolina Gamecocks who also allow just 63.7 points per game. Though the Gamecocks came out of the gate limiting the Crimson Tide from scoring, eventually Nate Oats’ squad prevailed and put up 74 points for the win.
This time, facing a similar defensive threat, Alabama has already been battle tested against a tough, competitive squad before.
“I thought we showed some toughness in the second half against South Carolina,” Oats said. “We’re going to have to improve even more this game to do it on the road. But, I’m looking forward to it.”
Paint Battle
Alabama has seen its share of talented big men around the country this season. Having already gone against Purdue’s Zach Edey, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, and Clemson’s PJ Hall, the Crimson Tide have had its work cut out for them down low this season.
This time, Alabama will be facing the 6-foot-11, 245 pound scoring machine out of Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. In his first return to the starting lineup, following his foot injury in October, Smith scored 23 points off of 7-for-10 shooting, along with sinking nine free throws as well.
If Mohamed Wague is unable to play because of his foot injury, this could be a major problem defensively for Alabama.
“Tolu is one of the best bigs in the league, and they give it to him,” Oats said. “He’s out there getting the ball, he posts up strong, he puts your guys in a bind. You know, We’ve had issues with fouling in the frontcourt. If Mo can’t play, our depth is really taking a hit there.”
Not only will the Crimson Tide have to attempt to limit Smith from scoring, it also needs to limit foul trouble as well. Usually Wague and Pringle split minutes in the frontcourt, however, with Wague’s injury it will be up to Pringle and freshman Jarin Stevenson to take on the tough matchup.
“It’d be great to have Mo Wague,” Oats said. “Just to make sure we have some depth up there to deal with Tolu.”
Passing the torch
This season, Alabama’s roster went through several changes from top to bottom. After losing Brandon Miller, Noah Clowney, and Charles Bediako to the draft, along with transfers such as Jaden Bradley and Nimari Burnett, the Crimson Tide had to overhaul the majority of the roster except for a few pieces.
Among the prominent returners were Mark Sears, Nick Pringle, and Rylan Griffen who were all members of one of the most successful teams in Alabama basketball history last year. With a load of new freshmen and incoming transfers, the veterans have had the task of showing the new arrivals what blue-collar basketball is truly like.
“We got those three returners that went through a lot of winning last year,” Oats said. “I think you’re seeing it start to merge. Nick [Pringle] has a bubbly personality and a persona about him that he’s a great leader and people want to follow him.”
As the season progresses and conference games start to get tougher, the leadership from the players who were a part of an SEC Championship run last season will play a huge role to the other members of the squad.
“I think all three of them in their own way have put a stamp on how to win at a really high level here,” Oats said. “They’re a big part of what we did last year. With the changeover every year now and the way that college athletics is, it’s nice to have some holdovers from year to year and those three guys are doing a good job for us right now.”
