Arizona Vs Alabama 🏀 Game Preview/Discussion Thread 12/20/23 At 9pm ESPN

No. 4 Arizona (8-1 SU, 8-1 ATS) meets Alabama (6-4 SU, 5-5 ATS) from Phoenix at the Footprint Center at 11pmET in Jerry Colangelo's Hall of Fame Series.

Not meeting expectatons
Alabama had two starters returning from a 31-win team. They lost star forward Brandon Miller to the NBA, but did return guard Mark Sears (12.5ppg LY), adding Hofstra transfer Aaron Estrada (20.2ppg LY) and North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson (17.9ppg, 9.3rpg LY), but there have been growing paints. The Tide have lost three of their last four games to Clemson, Purdue and Creighton, while beating Arkansas State by 24 on Dec. 4.

In their last game, they fell at No. 8 Creighton 85-82 as a 7-point dog. Sears scored 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting to lead Alabama, while Nick Pringle (6-10, 230) added 15 points and seven rebounds before fouling out. Alabama shot 47% from the floor, but just 18% from long range (4 of 23). Creighton shot 56% from the field and 21 of 29 from the line (72%).

Alabama is ranked 9th according to KenPom and is first in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency. Sears leads the team with 21.2 points per game and 3.6 assists on 56% shooting (48.1% 3pt). Estrada adds 14.4 points and 3.0 assists on 44.7% shooting (40 3pt). The defensive part of the game is where Alabama has struggled. They allow 77.6 points per game (315th) on 45.1% shooting (292nd) and 33.6% from long range. Offensively, they average 92.1 points (3rd) on 49% shooting (30th) and 39.1% from long range (18th).

Wildcats finally lose a game
Arizona had won their first eight games before losing to No. 3 Purdue 92-84 last Saturday from Indianapolis. They dropped them from first in the nation to No. 4. Arizona struggled against 7-4 Zach Edey, who scored 22 points. North Carolina transfer Caleb Love led the Wildcats with 29 points with six boards on 9-of-19 shooting, while Keshad Johnson, a San Diego State transfer, added 24 points and eight rebounds on 8-of-13 shooting. Shooting was not a problem for Arizona, who shot 52% from the field and 6-of-16 (38%) from long range. But the Boilermakers made 54% of their shots and 42% (10 of 24) from three-point range.
The Wildcats rank 4th in the KenPom rankings, sixth in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and third in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency. Their strength of schedule is a little less according to KenPom (48 to 20) than Alabama's.

Love leads Arizona with 15.8 points with 4.3 assists on 42.5% shooting (32.2% 3pt). Johnson (6-7, 210) adds 13.9 points and 7.0 rebounds on 56.8% shooting (34.6% 3pt). Overall, AU ranks second in the nation in points per game (92.9), eighth in field goal percentage (51.5%) and 20th in three-point shooting (38.9%). They are allowing 67 points per game on 40.7% shooting (34.3% 3pt).


Arizona is favored at -6.5 and the Over/Under is 173.5

Let's talk about the Wildcats Vs Tide!

BEARDOWN!!!

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Fun game and a great win, #BearDown

Quote from: CactusCat on December 21, 2023, 01:01:01 AMFun game and a great win, #BearDown

Thanks for representing, Bus !