After starting the Southeastern Conference schedule with two wins followed by four straight losses, the Crimson Tide basketball team seems to be righting the ship. The Tide is on another two-game winning streak and looking to continue that streak with a road trip to Auburn Arena.
The game comes at a bad time for Alabama, just three days after being forced to double overtime with Ole Miss, a game that proved physically taxing for the Tide.
While many coaches would be concerned, head coach Anthony Grant has the utmost confidence in his team’s physical conditioning after such a hard-fought game and a quick turnaround.
“We’ll do what we need to do to get prepared, as always,” Grant said. “I think our strength and conditioning coach and trainer have done a really good job of doing their job and making sure our guys understand what lies ahead.”
It certainly helps that Alabama was able to spread the workload against the Rebels by playing 11 men.
“I think it gave us a good situation to use our depth, especially with how we want to play,” redshirt junior guard Andrew Steele said. “I think it may be able to cut down on fatigue a little bit.”
Auburn had a tough season in the SEC last year, but head coach Tony Barbee has turned the Tigers around, bringing them just one spot behind the Tide at 3-6 in conference play.
“I’m impressed watching them on film,” Grant said. “I think they’re doing a really good job defensively of mixing up their defenses. Their defense creates offense for them. They have a variety of guys that can score the basketball.”
Steele added, “I think they’ve improved a lot. They’ve added some players, and it’s going to be tough to win in that environment.”
Scoring threats for the Tigers include Frankie Sullivan, averaging 12.1 points per game, and Varez Ward. Sullivan and Ward combined with Kenny Gabriel to score 62 of Auburn’s 88 points in the Tiger’s loss to Mississippi State. Auburn’s main threat to the Tide will be Gabriel, who recorded his team’s first-ever triple-double earlier in the season.
The personnel Auburn has can create problems for the Tide, but what will be even more difficult is the atmosphere created in the new Auburn Arena.
“They play very well at home,” Grant said. “They’ve only lost once at home, so it will be a challenge to go in their building and come out with a win.”
In order to come out with the win, Alabama will do as it always does: Rely on its stifling defense, which is holding teams to 58.3 points per game and making teams score on average 26 points below their season average against the Tide.
“[Defense] has really been our savior,” Grant said. “Our defense gives us a chance, that’s what we always talk about. I think Ole Miss shot 56 percent against us in the first half and was able to build a lead and at halftime. I thought we needed to do better from a defensive standpoint. I thought our defense got better in the second half, and it gave our guys a chance. Defense is always going to be a focal point for us.”
