SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Missouri at Alabama

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Missouri visits Alabama on Saturday 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
Missouri	0.429	0.327	0.736	192	687	223	100	44	180
Missouri OPP	0.412	0.356	0.665	177	652	203	88	48	222
Alabama	0.439	0.360	0.710	185	665	226	101	70	247
Alabama OPP	0.414	0.312	0.709	188	631	192	134	71	232

Statistical Leaders

Missouri Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Dru Smith	Missouri	11.4	61.0	48	12
Mark Smith	Missouri	11.1	56.0	27	39
Jeremiah Tilmon	Missouri	9.0	42.0	23	1
Javon Pickett	Missouri	7.8	51.0	14	9
Xavier Pinson	Missouri	7.3	38.0	32	9
Kobe Brown	Missouri	6.3	40.0	10	11
Torrence Watson	Missouri	4.8	25.0	6	20
Mitchell Smith	Missouri	4.5	24.0	10	10
Reed Nikko	Missouri	2.8	17.0	8	0
Tray Jackson	Missouri	2.5	10.0	10	2

Missouri Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Mark Smith	Missouri	6	69	75	4.7
Jeremiah Tilmon	Missouri	23	28	51	4.3
Dru Smith	Missouri	19	48	67	4.2
Javon Pickett	Missouri	24	39	63	3.9
Mitchell Smith	Missouri	12	42	54	3.6
Kobe Brown	Missouri	19	30	49	3.1
Reed Nikko	Missouri	17	17	34	2.3
Xavier Pinson	Missouri	8	23	31	1.9
Tray Jackson	Missouri	5	18	23	1.8
Torrence Watson	Missouri	2	23	25	1.6

Alabama Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Kira Lewis Jr.	Alabama	16.8	99.0	46	24
John Petty Jr.	Alabama	16.1	83.0	37	54
Jaden Shackelford	Alabama	11.9	58.0	42	32
Herbert Jones	Alabama	10.0	57.0	35	1
Alex Reese	Alabama	9.2	49.0	22	27
James Bolden	Alabama	9.0	40.0	24	22
Javian Davis	Alabama	6.8	36.0	36	0
Galin Smith	Alabama	2.9	19.0	8	0
Jaylen Forbes	Alabama	2.4	11.0	9	5

Alabama Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
John Petty Jr.	Alabama	24	92	116	7.3
Herbert Jones	Alabama	27	65	92	6.1
Kira Lewis Jr.	Alabama	18	73	91	5.7
Alex Reese	Alabama	17	60	77	4.8
Javian Davis	Alabama	28	42	70	4.4
Jaden Shackelford	Alabama	15	48	63	3.9
Jaylen Forbes	Alabama	9	25	34	2.3
Galin Smith	Alabama	15	19	34	2.1
James Bolden	Alabama	12	16	28	2.0

NCAA RPI

Missouri: 75

Alabama: 46

Missouri Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Torrence Watson	G	6′-5″	205	SO	St. Louis, MO
1	Xavier Pinson	G	6′-2″	170	SO	Chicago, IL
2	Tray Jackson	F	6′-8″	215	FR	Detroit, MI
4	Javon Pickett	G	6′-5″	220	SO	Belleville, IL
5	Mitchell Smith	F	6′-10″	221	JR	Van Buren, AR
10	Evan Yerkes	G	6′-3″	187	SO	Tinley Park, IL
11	Mario McKinney Jr.	G	6′-2″	185	FR	St. Louis, MO
12	Dru Smith	G	6′-3″	203	JR	Evansville, IN
13	Mark Smith	G	6′-5″	220	JR	Edwardsville, IL
14	Reed Nikko	F	6′-10″	240	SR	Maple Grove, MN
15	Axel Okongo	F	7′-0″	240	JR	Saacy-sur-Marne, France
23	Jeremiah Tilmon	F	6′-10″	260	JR	East Saint Louis, IL
24	Kobe Brown	F	6′-7″	240	FR	Huntsville, AL
25	Brooks Ford	G	6′-0″	187	SO	St. Louis, MO
42	Parker Braun	F	6′-8″	217	FR	Overland Park, KS

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 (9-7, 2-2 SEC) upset rival Auburn 83-64 on Wednesday in Tuscaloosa. This is a game in which the Crimson Tide led from start to finish. In the first half other than the opening moments, the closest the score would be is 11-10 with 12:56 remaining in the half. With 2:07 remaining in the first half a Javian Davis made free throw put the Tide up by double-digits, 32-22. At halftime Auburn still wasn’t totally out of the game trailing 36-27. In second half Auburn again narrowed the Bama lead to 42-40 on a free by Isaac Okoro with 14:50 to play. A 17-8 run over the next seven minutes put Auburn up 59-48 with 7:03 remaining in the game. The Tide team then made their free throws down the stretch to extend the lead and get the victory. Alabama essentially won this game at the line. The Tide hit 78% (29/37) of its shots while Auburn made just 17 of 30 (56%.7). Alabama out-shot the Tigers from field goal range 31.7% to 42.9%. Guard Lewis Jr. led Bama with 25 points. Okora was the Tiger’s leading scorer with 13.

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).

Missouri (9-7, 1-3 SEC) fell to Mississippi State 72-45 on Tuesday night in Starkville. The Bulldogs shut down the Tigers defensively and didn’t allow a score until nearly five minutes into the game. State led 26-9 with 7:27 remaining in the first half and would lead 40-20 at the half. In the second half, after a Missouri mini-run, the lead hit 20 again at 51-31 on a Tyson Carter 3-pointer. The deficit bulged to 30 points at 66-36 with 5:13 to go on a Carter jump shot and the Bulldogs would glide on to a 27-point victory. Reggie Perry led the Bulldogs in scoring with 23 points. Carter added 15. Foward Kobi Brown paced the Tigers with 14. Brown was the only Missouri player to reached double digits. The Bulldogs won this game with a stifling defense and by outshooting the Tigers. MSU outshot Mizzou 54.5% to 34.7% from the field and 38.5% to 20% from 3-point range. The Bulldogs also won the rebounding war 36-24.

Guard Dru Smith leads the Tigers in scoring (11.4 ppg). He also is No. 1 in the SEC in steals with 37 and is over 87% for his free throws. Another Smith, guard Mark Smith, is the second leading scorer (11.1 ppg). Mark also is the rebounding leader of the team (4.7 rpg). Yes, there is a third Smith on the team, forward Mitchell Smith. Missouri is among the worst teams in the SEC in scoring offense averaging just 66.9 points per contest. However, the Tigers are the best team in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 59.7 points a game. Mizzou is No. 4 in the SEC in field goal defense (38.8%) and No. 3 in 3-point defense (29.3%).

You have here a high scoring, poor defensive team coming off a win against a low scoring, very good defensive team coming off a loss. We go with the home team here, the Crimson Tide.

Missouri-Alabama Prediction

Alabama 73, Missouri 70

Saturday‘s game tips off at 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 CT). TV: SEC Network.