Faced with a start to the conference schedule that included a stretch of three games in six days and two games against undefeated No. 1 Kentucky in two weeks, the Crimson Tide floundered, finishing the month with five losses in six games.
Now, Alabama returns home to face the lowest-ranked team in the SEC, a Missouri team with a 7-14 record, ranked 165th in the ESPN BPI.
“I’ve been impressed with Missouri, watching them on film,” Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. “They’re a deep team. They’ve played a schedule very similar to ours. I think six of their eight opponents have been common to us. They’ve had opportunities [to win] in the majority of their games. I think they have a good mix of young guys and veterans. They play really hard. Like I said, they’re a deep team, so it should be a challenge. Our guys are looking forward to getting back on the court.”
The Missouri game marks the midpoint of a conference slate that has seen the Crimson Tide’s tournament stock fall from the third-ranked team in the SEC to well outside any expert’s tournament consideration. Grant said he has high hopes for the remainder of the SEC schedule.
“Eight games in, we are 3-5,” he said. “We have 10 games left. I think we’re all excited about the possibilities. As we move forward into halfway through the SEC season, this game will be the halfway mark. I think we’re looking forward to the opportunities that lie ahead of us.”
Alabama will hit the last 10 games of its regular season schedule without its starting point guard, junior Ricky Tarrant, who injured his lower leg in the Crimson Tide’s loss to Florida last week. According to Grant, Tarrant will be out “indefinitely” as the team evaluates his status.
“The thing we’ve talked about all year is we feel like we have a team,” Grant said. “We feel like we’ve got a variety of guys that can step in and fill the void. Obviously, Ricky is an extremely important part of our team. We’d love to have him out there with us, but injuries are a part of the game. Unfortunately for Ricky, he’s had to miss last game and this game. But I think our guys are all confident in each other, they trust each other and they’ll be able to go out there and get the job done.”
Without Tarrant, the Crimson Tide will look to sophomore Shannon Hale to shoulder more of the on-court burden, following a 13-point performance against Kentucky.
“I think, when I look at the [Kentucky] game, not just from a scoring standpoint, but from an effort standpoint, I think it was a very good showing by Shannon,” Grant said. “We all know that he’s very capable from an offensive standpoint of putting up good numbers. It was good. Like we always talk about, sometimes as a player you need to have some success offensively to get your confidence and get your rhythm back.”
