SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Alabama at Vanderbilt

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Alabama visits Vanderbilt on Wednesday 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
Alabama	0.439	0.358	0.719	194	704	244	108	75	261
Alabama OPP	0.409	0.308	0.732	200	667	198	141	72	245
Vanderbilt	0.446	0.347	0.674	162	567	218	121	69	231
Vanderbilt OPP	0.460	0.346	0.722	165	595	217	99	48	245

Statistical Leaders

Alabama Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Kira Lewis Jr.	Alabama	16.4	102	50	24
John Petty Jr.	Alabama	16.3	89	41	58
Jaden Shackelford	Alabama	12.2	63	46	35
Herbert Jones	Alabama	10.1	59	42	1
Alex Reese	Alabama	9.6	55	23	31
James Bolden	Alabama	8.9	41	29	23
Javian Davis	Alabama	6.5	37	36	0
Galin Smith	Alabama	2.7	19	8	0
Jaylen Forbes	Alabama	2.4	12	9	6

Alabama Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
John Petty Jr.	Alabama	25	97	122	7.2
Herbert Jones	Alabama	31	73	104	6.5
Kira Lewis Jr.	Alabama	18	77	95	5.6
Alex Reese	Alabama	17	65	82	4.8
Javian Davis	Alabama	28	43	71	4.2
Jaden Shackelford	Alabama	16	50	66	3.9
Galin Smith	Alabama	16	21	37	2.2
Jaylen Forbes	Alabama	10	25	35	2.2
James Bolden	Alabama	12	17	29	1.9
Tyler Barnes	Alabama	0	4	4	0.8
Adam Cottrell	Alabama	0	1	1	0.3

Vanderbilt Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Aaron Nesmith	Vanderbilt	23.0	105	52	60
Saben Lee	Vanderbilt	15.7	94	59	20
Scotty Pippen Jr.	Vanderbilt	11.1	50	73	15
Maxwell Evans	Vanderbilt	7.6	46	20	18
Dylan Disu	Vanderbilt	5.6	31	13	20
Jordan Wright	Vanderbilt	3.9	22	19	3
Ejike Obinna	Vanderbilt	3.8	26	9	0
Matthew Moyer	Vanderbilt	1.8	11	5	3

Vanderbilt Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Dylan Disu	Vanderbilt	18	78	96	5.6
Aaron Nesmith	Vanderbilt	11	57	68	4.9
Maxwell Evans	Vanderbilt	13	43	56	3.3
Ejike Obinna	Vanderbilt	25	31	56	3.5
Saben Lee	Vanderbilt	9	46	55	3.2
Clevon Brown	Vanderbilt	22	32	54	6.0
Scotty Pippen Jr.	Vanderbilt	11	40	51	3.0
Jordan Wright	Vanderbilt	15	24	39	2.3
Matthew Moyer	Vanderbilt	6	25	31	1.8
Oton Jankovic	Vanderbilt	3	4	7	0.8
Braelee Albert	Vanderbilt	3	2	5	1.0
Jon Jossell	Vanderbilt	0	2	2	0.7

NCAA RPI

Alabama: 42

Vanderbilt: 143

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

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

Scouting Report

Alabama (10-7, 3-2 SEC) defeated Missouri 88-74 on Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Missouri led this game through the first five minutes of the game but with 15:25 to play in the first half the Tide 8-7 lead and would never trail again. Bama led 47-40 at the half. In the second half Mizzou narrowed the Alabama lead to 63-60 with 11:39 to play but couldn’t retake the lead. Bama out-shot the Tigers from the field (45%-31%) and 3-point range (33%-25%). Alabama also made over 80% of its free throws. One bright spot for the Tigers, Mizzou hit 31 of 31 free throws. John Petty Jr. led the Crimson Tide in scoring with 20 points. Petty made 4 of 10 from 3-point range. Dru Smith paced the Tigers with 18 points.

Kira Lewis Jr. leads the Tide in scoring averaging 16.4 points per game. Petty, Jr. is not far behind Lewis at 16.3 points a contest. Petty leads the Tide in rebounding pulling down over 7 a game.

As a team, Alabama is No. 1 in the conference in scoring offense (83.5 ppg) and last in the conference in scoring defense (77.6 ppg). The Crimson Tide is first in SEC basketball in 3-point shooting making of 35.8% of shots. They make an average of nearly 11 threes a game. Bama ranks fifth in the SEC in assists (14.4 apg). The Tide is 10th in the league in field goal defense (40.9%) and 11th in steals (6.4 spg).

Vanderbilt (8-9, 0-4 SEC) fell to rival Tennessee 66-45 on Saturday in Nashville. This game was close at halftime (21-20) but in the second half the Vols ran away with it. They outscored Vandy 14-3 in the first 5:10 of the second half. Vandy was iced dead cold from the 3-point range with no makes in 25 attempts. It was the first time since the inception of the 3-point rule back in the 1980s that the Commodores didn’t score on at least one 3-point shot. The Vols also were cold but at least made one 3-pointer. Vandy not only struggled from 3-point range, they hit only 24% of their field goals compared to Tennessee’s 53%. Vandy did make 81% of its free throws but Tennessee also bettered the Commodores in that stat going 93% from behind the line. Tennessee’s Jordan Bowden led the Vols in scoring with 21 points. Vandy freshman Scotty Pippen Jr. tallied 16 points for the Commodores.

Vanderbilt recently lost leading scorer Aaron Nesmith indefinitely to injury. He was the leading scorer in the SEC. With Nesmith out, Saban Lee is the team’s second leading scorer (15.7 ppg). Freshman guard Scotty Pippen Jr is the team’s second leading scorer (11.1 ppg).

The Commodores are 12th in scoring defense allowing 72.8 points a contest. Vandy is seventh in the league in scoring (74.1 ppg). The Commodores shoot well from the 3-point range (2nd, 34.7%) but that percentage has dropped significantly since Nesmith’s injury. From field goal range (6th, 44.6%). Vandy is 13th in the league in rebounding margin (-1.5) but a better sixth in turnover margin (+0.8). Vandy sits at 10th in the league in assist to turnover ratio (0.9). Although the Commodores struggle at stopping opponents from scoring, they do get steals and are sixth in the SEC in that stat category (7.1 spg).

This is a battle of two teams headed in opposite directions this season. A lot of that has to do with Vandy’s key injuries but it’s still a hard fact for the Vandy supporters. Alabama should run away with this game. It might be fairly close in the first half but Alabama is deeper and has more weapons.

Alabama-Vanderbilt Prediction

Alabama 86, Vanderbilt 75

Wednesday‘s game tips off at 9:00 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT). TV: SEC Network.