SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Vanderbilt at Alabama

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Vanderbilt visits Alabama on Tuesday in a key SEC basketball matchup. Look inside for a preview of the game along with a prediction of the game’s final score.

By 14Powers Hoops

Team Statistical Comparison

	FG%	3PT%	FT%	ORB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
Vanderbilt	0.425	0.331	0.689	255	929	331	202	95	371
Vanderbilt OPP	0.455	0.358	0.692	284	1100	420	197	85	448
Alabama	0.441	0.355	0.693	337	1160	421	185	132	431
Alabama OPP	0.421	0.304	0.739	359	1156	344	247	117	401

Statistical Leaders

Vanderbilt Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	GP	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	GP	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Saben Lee	Vanderbilt	29	17.5	170	135	32
Scotty Pippen Jr.	Vanderbilt	29	11.5	97	108	32
Maxwell Evans	Vanderbilt	29	8.0	79	35	39
Dylan Disu	Vanderbilt	29	6.8	68	19	42
Jordan Wright	Vanderbilt	29	5.6	54	47	8
Ejike Obinna	Vanderbilt	28	4.0	43	26	0
Matthew Moyer	Vanderbilt	25	2.0	17	10	5

Vanderbilt Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Dylan Disu	Vanderbilt	25	132	157	5.4
Ejike Obinna	Vanderbilt	47	70	117	4.2
Maxwell Evans	Vanderbilt	20	80	100	3.4
Saben Lee	Vanderbilt	15	81	96	3.3
Jordan Wright	Vanderbilt	26	54	80	2.8
Scotty Pippen Jr.	Vanderbilt	14	63	77	2.7
Aaron Nesmith	Vanderbilt	11	57	68	4.9
Matthew Moyer	Vanderbilt	10	45	55	2.2
Clevon Brown	Vanderbilt	22	32	54	6.0
Braelee Albert	Vanderbilt	15	12	27	1.6
Oton Jankovic	Vanderbilt	5	12	17	0.9
Jon Jossell	Vanderbilt	0	5	5	0.6
Isaiah Rice	Vanderbilt	2	0	2	0.2

Alabama Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	GP	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	GP	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Kira Lewis Jr.	Alabama	29	18.1	190	92	53
John Petty Jr.	Alabama	28	15.0	139	57	85
Jaden Shackelford	Alabama	29	15.0	137	82	79
Alex Reese	Alabama	29	9.3	94	31	50
Herbert Jones	Alabama	25	8.4	74	61	1
James Bolden	Alabama	26	7.8	61	46	35
Javian Davis	Alabama	29	6.2	59	61	2
Galin Smith	Alabama	29	3.0	35	17	0
Jaylen Forbes	Alabama	28	2.9	24	20	12

Alabama Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
John Petty Jr.	Alabama	38	147	185	6.6
Herbert Jones	Alabama	49	113	162	6.5
Kira Lewis Jr.	Alabama	24	120	144	5.0
Alex Reese	Alabama	31	106	137	4.7
Jaden Shackelford	Alabama	36	94	130	4.5
Javian Davis	Alabama	42	71	113	3.9
Galin Smith	Alabama	36	38	74	2.6
Jaylen Forbes	Alabama	18	44	62	2.2
James Bolden	Alabama	21	35	56	2.2
Tyler Barnes	Alabama	0	4	4	0.6
Adam Cottrell	Alabama	0	1	1	0.3

NCAA NET

Vanderbilt: 170

Alabama: 40

Vanderbilt Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Saben Lee	G	6′-2″	183	JR	Phoenix, AZ
1	Dylan Disu	F	6′-9″	220	FR	Pflugerville, TX
2	Scotty Pippen Jr.	G	6′-1″	170	FR	Los Angeles, CA
3	Maxwell Evans	G	6′-2″	190	JR	Houston, TX
4	Jordan Wright	G	6′-5″	226	FR	Baton Rouge, LA
5	D.J. Harvey	G	6′-6″	235	SO	Bowie, MD
10	Drew Weikert	G	6′-0″	170	SO	Nashville, TN
13	Matthew Moyer	F	6′-8″	229	JR	Gahanna, OH
14	Isaiah Rice	G	5′-11″	195	JR	Indianapolis, IN
15	Clevon Brown	F	6′-8″	232	SR	San Antonio, TX
20	Trace Arbuckle	G	6′-2″	170	JR	Carmel, IN
21	Jon Jossell	G	5′-9″	160	SR	Arcadia, OK
24	Aaron Nesmith	F	6′-6″	213	SO	Charleston, SC
42	Quentin Millora-Brown	F	6′-10″	229	FR	Lorton, VA
50	Ejike Obinna	F	6′-10″	243	SO	Enugu, Nigeria
55	Oton Jankovic	F	6′-10″	212	FR	Napa, CA

Alabama Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Javian Davis	F	6′-9″	242	FR	Canton, MS
1	Herbert Jones	F	6′-7″	205	JR	Greensboro, AL
2	Kira Lewis Jr.	G	6′-3″	165	SO	Meridianville, AL
3	Alex Reese	F	6′-9″	245	JR	Pelham, AL
4	Juwan Gary	F	6′-5″	215	FR	Columbia, SC
5	Jaden Shackelford	G	6′-3″	195	FR	Hesperia, CA
11	James Bolden	G	6′-0″	160	SR	Covington, KY
12	Jaylen Forbes	G	6′-4″	186	FR	Florence, MS
13	Jahvon Quinerly	G	6′-1″	175	SO	Hackensack, NJ
15	Tyler Barnes	F	6′-8″	201	JR	Louisville, KY
21	Britton Johnson	G	6′-4″	183	SO	Mountain Brook, AL
23	John Petty Jr.	G	6′-5″	184	JR	Huntsville, AL
25	Adam Cottrell	G	6′-3″	185	FR	Flowery Branch, GA
30	Galin Smith	F	6′-9″	240	JR	Clinton, MS
33	James Rojas	F	6′-8″	215	JR	Jamestown, NY
34	Sam Okauru	G	6′-5″	200	FR	Raleigh, NC
35	Raymond Hawkins	F	6′-9″	240	FR	Oakland, CA

Scouting Report

Vanderbilt (9-20, 1-15 SEC) fell to Ole Miss 86-60 on Saturday in Oxford. Devontae Shuler led the Rebels with 18 points. Vandy Ejike Obbina topped the Commodores with 13. It was his first time ever leading the Commodores in scoring. The Rebels won this game inside hitting 54% of field goals to Vandy’s 34%.

Vandy as a team has struggled all season. Even when they had the SEC’s top scorer (Aaron Nesmith) playing Vandy struggled to defeat low rated non-conference teams. They have ended the SEC losing streak but seem to have started another streak (7). In the past two games Vandy has looked less motivated and burnt out. They are sloppy and miss open shots and struggle at the free throw line. Statistically, Vandy scores about 70.8 points a game and allows 74.5% points per contest. Guard Saben Lee (17.2 ppg) is Vandy’s best player. He likes to drive to the basket but also is effective from 3-point range.

Alabama (16-13, 8-8 SEC) defeated South Carolina 90-86 on Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Bama trailed at the half but took control in the second half, fending off several Gamecock attempts to re-take the lead. Kira Lewis Jr. paced the Crimson Tide with 25 points. Keyshawn Bryant was the Gamecock’s top points producer with 22 points. Bama used its 3-point shooting prowess to win this game taking 10 more attempts and making four more treys than the Gamecocks.

Bama’s philosophy is to shoot, shoot and shoot some more. They believe if they take a massive number shots, way more than their opponents, that they can win even without superior shooting accuracy. John Petty Jr and Jaden Shackelford are Bama’s two top 3-point threats. The two have combined for 164 made 3-point shots. That’s two players with a combined more 3-point makes than the entire Kentucky (143 made) and Mississippi State (154 made) teams.

Alabama’s almost certain to win this game. The Tide is the best 3-point shooting team in the conference while Vandy is dead last in 3-point shooting defense. To make matters worse for Vandy, they are playing this one in Tuscaloosa. Teams generally shoot better at home. Keep in mind that Vandy did beat LSU. However, that was a home game for Vandy. The Commodores haven’t won a road game this season.

Vanderbilt-Alabama Prediction

Alabama 88, Vanderbilt 76

Tuesday‘s game tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET (7:30 CT). TV: SEC Network.