SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Auburn at Alabama

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Auburn visits Alabama 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
Auburn	0.466	0.321	0.657	207	630	213	99	91	193
Auburn OPP	0.402	0.302	0.668	168	527	150	103	40	218
Alabama	0.439	0.364	0.701	179	624	217	94	67	232
Alabama OPP	0.420	0.317	0.722	175	588	184	128	64	211

Statistical Leaders

Auburn Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Samir Doughty	Auburn	15.7	72	63	28
Isaac Okoro	Auburn	13.1	74	42	7
J’Von McCormick	Auburn	11.7	65	24	21
Austin Wiley	Auburn	10.7	50	61	0
Danjel Purifoy	Auburn	9.6	49	23	23
Anfernee McLemore	Auburn	7.7	43	16	14
Jamal Johnson	Auburn	5.1	22	13	20
Allen Flanigan	Auburn	3.5	23	3	4
Devan Cambridge	Auburn	3.3	20	3	7

Auburn Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Austin Wiley	Auburn	44	94	138	9.2
Danjel Purifoy	Auburn	23	56	79	5.3
Isaac Okoro	Auburn	30	38	68	4.5
Samir Doughty	Auburn	14	46	60	4.0
Anfernee McLemore	Auburn	17	43	60	4.0
J’Von McCormick	Auburn	16	43	59	3.9
Allen Flanigan	Auburn	11	26	37	2.5
Devan Cambridge	Auburn	8	18	26	1.7
Jamal Johnson	Auburn	8	17	25	1.7
Tyrell Jones	Auburn	4	6	10	1.1
Babatunde Akingbola	Auburn	1	3	4	0.4
Jaylin Williams	Auburn	1	3	4	0.6
Preston Cook	Auburn	0	1	1	0.5
Javon Franklin	Auburn	0	1	1	0.2

Alabama Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
John Petty Jr.	Alabama	16.7	81	35	53
Kira Lewis Jr.	Alabama	16.2	91	38	23
Jaden Shackelford	Alabama	12.1	55	39	32
Herbert Jones	Alabama	9.7	53	29	1
Alex Reese	Alabama	8.9	44	22	24
James Bolden	Alabama	8.8	38	18	21
Javian Davis	Alabama	7.1	36	35	0
Galin Smith	Alabama	2.9	19	5	0
Jaylen Forbes	Alabama	2.6	11	9	5

Alabama Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
John Petty Jr.	Alabama	24	85	109	7.3
Kira Lewis Jr.	Alabama	17	71	88	5.9
Herbert Jones	Alabama	25	55	80	5.7
Alex Reese	Alabama	17	57	74	4.9
Javian Davis	Alabama	27	40	67	4.5
Jaden Shackelford	Alabama	15	42	57	3.8
Galin Smith	Alabama	15	19	34	2.3
Jaylen Forbes	Alabama	9	24	33	2.4
James Bolden	Alabama	12	14	26	2.0
Tyler Barnes	Alabama	0	4	4	1.0

NCAA RPI

Auburn: 6

Alabama: 61

Auburn Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Tyrell Jones	G	6′-1″	170	FR	Chicago, IL
1	Jamal Johnson	G	6′-4″	195	SO	Birmingham, AL
2	Jaylin Williams	F	6′-7″	230	FR	Nahunta, GA
3	Danjel Purifoy	F	6′-7″	230	SR	Centreville, AL
4	Javon Franklin	F	6′-7″	218	SO	Little Rock, AR
5	J’Von McCormick	G	6′-0″	185	SR	New Orleans, LA
10	Samir Doughty	G	6′-4″	195	SR	Philadelphia, PA
12	Lior Berman	G	6′-4″	205	FR	Birmingham, AL
13	Babatunde Akingbola	C	6′-10″	236	FR	Ogun, Nigeria
14	Preston Cook	G	6′-4″	200	SO	Auburn, AL
20	Myles Parker	F	6′-8″	200	SO	Madison, AL
21	Will Macoy	G	6′-4″	200	SR	Birmingham, AL
22	Allen Flanigan	G	6′-5″	200	FR	Little Rock, AR
23	Isaac Okoro	F	6′-6″	225	FR	Powder Springs, GA
24	Anfernee McLemore	F	6′-7″	220	SR	Warwick, GA
33	Chase Maasdorp	G	6′-0″	175	SO	Lakewood Ranch, FL
35	Devan Cambridge	G	6′-6″	190	FR	Nashville, TN
50	Austin Wiley	C	6′-11″	260	SR	Hoover, AL
54	Thomas Collier	F	6′-9″	215	SR	Birmingham, AL

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

Alabama (8-7, 1-2 SEC) fell to Kentucky 76-67 on Saturday in Lexington. In that game the two teams played close for the first seven minutes of the game. However, with 12:19 remaining in the first half forward Nate Sestina made a 3-point shot to put Kentucky up 16-10. Kentucky led at halftime 45-35. In the second half with 5:02 remaining in the game, Kira Lewis’ free throw narrowed the UK lead to just 63-60. In the final minutes of the game Immanuel Quickley made a 3-point shot and two free throws which sealed the victory for the Cats. Kentucky was led in scoring by Quickley with 19 points. Quickley led the Wildcats from the arc making 5 of 6 3-point attempts. Herbert Jones led the Tide with 18 points. Alabama 3-point shooting specialist John Petty Jr. was limited to just 16 points on 3 of 8 shooting from 3-point land. Alabama as a team made just 4 of 21 shots from beyond the arc. Kentucky, which is normally not very active from 3-point range, made an impressive 9 of 15 3-point shots.

Guard John Petty Jr. leads the Tide in scoring averaging 16.7 points per game. Another guard, Kira Lewis Jr., is not far behind Petty at 16.2 points a contest. Petty also leads the Tide in rebounding pulling down over 7 a game.

As a team, Alabama is No. 1 in the conference in scoring offense (83.2 ppg) and last in the conference in scoring defense (78.7 ppg). The Crimson Tide is second in SEC basketball in 3-point shooting making of 36% of shots. They make an average of nearly 11 threes a game. Bama ranks fifth in the SEC in assists (14.5 apg). The Tide is 11th in the league in field goal defense (42.0%) and 12th in steals (6.6 spg).

Auburn (15-0, 3-0 SEC) defeated Georgia 82-60 on Saturday in Auburn. As in other games this season, Georgia led early by as many as eight points. However, a Samir Doughty layup with 8:20 remaining in the first half gave Auburn its first lead at 18-16. Auburn would go on to lead 35-24 at the half. In the second half things got really uglier quickly with Auburn out-scoring the Bulldogs 11-5 to start the second stanza and give the Tigers a 48-29 lead with just under 16 minutes to play in regulation. The lead grew to 20 with 12:47 remaining on two Doughty free throws. Auburn led by as much as 26 points on the way to the Tigers’ third SEC victory in three tries. Georgia’s Anthony Edwards led all scorers with 18. Doughty’s 17 points led the Tigers. The Bulldogs struggled from both field goal (38%) and 3-point range (26%). Meanwhile, Auburn hit 53% from the field and 38%) from the arc. The Tigers also out-rebounded UGA 41-33.

Guard Samir Doughty leads the Tigers in scoring (15.7 ppg). Okoro is the next leading scorer with 13.1 points a game. Center Austin Wiley is the top Tiger in rebounds, bringing down over 9 per game. Auburn is second in the SEC in scoring offense (82.1 ppg) and first in the conference in scoring margin (+15.8). The Tigers are also second in the league in rebounding margin (+7.1) and first in blocked shots (6.1 bpg).

This game should be a high scoring affair between two rivals. Auburn looks like the clear favorite with their undefeated record and high ranking. However, Alabama playing at home could mount a threat. They are a little like Vandy was before they lost Aaron Nesmith and the Commodores nearly knocked off Auburn in Auburn last week. The Tigers are the favorite though to win.

Auburn-Alabama Prediction

Auburn 87, Alabama 84

Wednesday‘s game tips off at 9:00 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2.