On the surface, the Crimson Tide does not seem threatening to Kentucky. The Tide have lost six of their last eight contests and are currently mired in the lower half of the conference standings with a weak 3-6 record.
Alabama, however, has the second best scoring defense in the SEC and three of their six SEC losses were all by a single point, against Florida, Auburn and Vanderbilt. While they haven’t won a lot of games, they have generally been no pushover. Only one of their losses, a road loss to Arkansas, has been a double digit loss.
The Tide is fairly solid defensively – they are third in the SEC in 3-point defense and 3rd in rebounding defense. They are also 4th in the SEC in steals, averaging nearly eight per game.
MATCHUP TO WATCH: JaMychal Green of Alabama against DeMarcus Cousins. If the Tide are to have any chance at all against the Cats, that chance may ride on the shoulders of JaMychal Green, a 6-9, 220 lb foul-prone sophomore. Green will have a tough time going up against the front line of Kentucky, who can rotate Cousins, Patrick Patterson and Daniel Orton on JaMychal. If the Alabama big man can play effectively and stay out of foul trouble, it would not be surprising to see the Tide stay within shouting distance of the Cats. If JaMychal gets into early foul trouble however, it could be a very long night for Alabama.