The first leg of Alabama’s redemption tour begins now. After knocking off Kentucky in Friday night’s quarterfinal, the Crimson Tide is one of four teams remaining in this year’s SEC Tournament. The other three teams — Auburn, Florida and Tennessee — all have one thing in common: a win over Alabama in the regular season.
“We’re just worried about the next game,” Alabama forward Mo Dioubate said following Friday night’s win over Kentucky. “If we play a team that beat us or a team we haven’t played already, it doesn’t matter. It would be good to get our redemption against the teams that beat us though.”
Alabama’s next game will be against Florida, as the two teams tip off in the second of the two semifinal matchups inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday. The Gators beat the Tide, 99-94, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama earlier this month. Florida also eliminated Alabama from last year’s SEC Tournament.
Here’s everything you need to know about Saturday’s matchup.
How to watch
Who: No. 5 Alabama (25-7) vs. No. 4 Florida (28-4)
When: Saturday, March 15 (25 minutes after Auburn vs. Tennessee at noon CT)
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Watch: ESPN
Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink)
Alabama’s projected starters
Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate
Stats: 19.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.0 apg, 40.6% FG, 34.4% 3-pt
Chris Youngblood: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman
Stats: 9.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 44.4% FG, 37.5% 3-pt
Labaron Philon: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman
Stats: 11.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.5 apg, 46.8% FG, 30.6% 3-pt
Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, graduate
Stats: 11.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.6 apg, 52.7% FG, 27.2% 3-pt
Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-11, 250 pounds, graduate
Stats: 7.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 0.9 apg, 74.0% FG
Florida's projected starters
Walter Clayton Jr.: 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, senior
Stats: 17.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 4.4 apg, 44.7% FG, 37.0% 3-pt
Alijah Martin: 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, graduate
Stats: 14.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, 45.1% FG, 36.0% 3-pt
Will Richard: 6-foot-4, 206 pounds, senior
Stats: 13.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 49.4% FG, 35.7% 3-pt
Alex Condon: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 11.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.3 apg, 51.4% FG, 33.3% 3-pt
Rueben Chinyelu: 6-foot-10, 255 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 6.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 0.8 apg, 59.7% FG
Will Alabama show more muscle?
The loss to Florida is still a sore subject for Alabama. It’s not just that the Tide ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard, either. Alabama was manhandled by the Gators on its own court, losing the rebounding battle 50-35 while giving up 16 offensive boards in the defeat.
“It was embarrassing," Alabama forward Grant Nelson said Friday night. "We got out-rebounded by like 15 or something. So, I mean, that sat with us. We’ve got a competitive group, and we came in that next week in practice and we were saying, we’ve got some non-negotiables. We’re not going to get out-toughed ever again for the rest of the season, and we’re going to let the rest control itself.”
So far, so good.
Since being bullied by Florida, Alabama outrebounded both Auburn (41-33) and Kentucky (41-34) in its last two games. As for what it’s going to take to continue that trend against the Gators, Nelson has a few plans for improvement.
“I think it just starts with hitting them early,” Nelson said. “And then I think if we just crash harder. Because last time I feel like we weren’t crashing (to) our full potential, it kind of looked like we were a little slow out there the whole night, so I think just being active on the boards will help a lot, and then hitting their bigs early, crash pretty hard.”
Alabama’s big boost
One of Alabama’s bright spots from its loss to Florida was the play of Aiden Sherrell. The freshman forward recorded 10 points over just 10 minutes before leaving the game with an injury to his face. Sherrell shot 4 of 4 against the Gators, knocking down a pair of 3s in the process.
Sherrell had just 2 points against Kentucky Friday but finished second on the team with seven rebounds. That came after he recorded 8 points and seven boards during Alabama’s overtime win at Auburn last weekend.
Sherrell is averaging 3.3 points and 2.8 rebounds over 8.4 minutes per game during his 31 appearances this season. The former McDonald’s All-American has logged double-digits in four of his last five outings.
“I feel like I’ve been improving in every area,” Sherrell said Friday night. “It’s a great feeling for sure. I’m just going to continue to stick to my work.
No. 1 seed on the line?
The stakes will be high for Saturday’s semifinal. Along with the opportunity to punch a ticket to the SEC Tournament championship game, Alabama and Florida could be competing for a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Currently, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projects Florida as the final No. 1 seed behind Auburn, Duke and Houston. Meanwhile, Alabama is his highest-rated No. 2 seed.
Does that give the Tide a chance to jump the Gators with a win Saturday?
“For sure,” Nelson said when asked Friday night. “I think this shows a lot. It’s been us and Florida, neck-and-neck. Because it’s what? They’re four and we’re five in the AP [poll]? So this game is huge and I think it’s going to be big for all our guys, especially since we lost to them earlier in the season, so I think we all got something to prove.”
The NET rankings used by the NCAA selection committee currently have Florida at No. 4 and Alabama at No. 6. The Gators are 8-4 in Quad 1 games, while the Tide is 10-7.