The Alabama men’s basketball team will face Mississippi State Wednesday in Coleman Coliseum.
The Crimson Tide (17-8, 9-3 SEC) has won three consecutive games and five of its last six coming into the matchup.
Mississippi State (7-17, 2-10) has lost 10 straight contests, and the 10-game skid began with a 75-43 home loss to the Tide on Jan. 16 in Starkville, Miss. The Bulldogs are 0-14 on the season when trailing at the half and 0-13 when its opponents shoot 45 percent or better.
Head Coach Anthony Grant said his team needs to ignore the Tide’s margin of victory in its last meeting with the Bulldogs, considering Alabama only held a small lead at halftime.
“With Mississippi State, coming off a game that we played early in the conference season, obviously the final score was one that was one-sided,” Grant said. “But I think myself and our staff and hopefully our players understand that it was an eight-point game at the half. You’re dealing with a team that right now is going through some struggles but has guys that are capable.”
With a second win over Mississippi State, the Tide would claim its 10th league victory and secure a winning record in SEC play. It will mark the third straight season Alabama has a Southeastern Conference record over .500 – the first such streak since 1994, 1995 and 1996.
The Tide is in sole possession of 2nd place in the SEC – behind the Florida Gators – with six regular season games remaining. Grant said finishing the season strong is key to Alabama’s NCAA tournament chances.
“Every game is critical,” Grant said. “We’re excited to be in a position where we can control our destiny as we head to the conference tournament. The focus right now is to take it one game at a time.”
Senior guard Andrew Steele is listed as doubtful for the game against the Bulldogs with a nagging ankle injury. Grant said the team will manage the issue from a day-to-day, and possibly week-to-week, basis.
“We’re still monitoring [him],” Grant said. “He’s having some of the same issues that we talked about before, and it’s just going to be a deal where we get him as much rest as we can, try to get him to where he feels good and is as pain-free as possible.”
The Tide is 14-3 with Steele in the lineup and 3-5 when he is inactive.
Mississippi State’s record and recent struggles are easy to shrug off, but Grant was quick to remind his players of the Tide’s losses against inferior non-conference and SEC opponents.
“When you look at some of the losses we’ve had over the season, I don’t think we’re a team that can afford to take anyone lightly,” Grant said. “Obviously, any time you’re in the SEC, you’ve got to be ready to play.
“If we don’t show up prepared to play our best, we can get beat by anyone.”
Leading in today’s Crimson White:
Bama shortstop Mikey White named SEC Freshman of the Week
