Alabama (20-10) vs. Kentucky (20-10)
GAME NOTES: Opening round action of the SEC Tournament begins with a matchup between the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Western Division's fifth seed, and the Kentucky Wildcats, the fourth seed from the Eastern Division. The winner of this game will move on to face top-seeded Mississippi State in Friday's quarterfinal round. Alabama has won the SEC Tournament six times, second only to Kentucky's 25 titles, but the last championship for the Tide came way back in 1991. The Crimson Tide lost five of its final seven regular season games, and the club's 7-9 SEC record clearly overshadows a 20-10 overall mark. Kentucky has appeared in the title game in 12 of the last 15 years, winning on 10 occasions. Just like Alabama, the Wildcats lost five of their last seven games to close out their schedule, and they need to turn things around in a hurry beginning this afternoon. The Tide beat the Wildcats by a 72-61 final in the only regular season meeting between the teams, but Kentucky still owns a dominant 95-35 series lead over Alabama.
Alabama point guard Ronald Steele has failed to live up to expectations this season, and injuries have his status for this tournament up in the air. Still, the presence of standout frontcourt performers Richard Hendrix (14.6 ppg, 8.8 rpg) and Jermareo Davidson (14.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg) make the Tide a legitimate title threat. Alonzo Gee adds 12.5 ppg for Alabama, which is getting 12.2 ppg from Mykal Riley. The fact that the Tide ranks ninth out of 12 SEC teams in scoring margin has to be viewed as a failure, as the club is certainly among the most talented in the league. On a positive note, Alabama is second in the conference in free throw percentage and tops in rebounds per game.
Kentucky relies heavily on the trio of Randolph Morris (15.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg), Ramel Bradley (14.1 ppg) and Joe Crawford (14.0 ppg), three of the league's top 17 scorers. The Wildcats are ninth in the league in scoring offense with 73.1 ppg, but they can feel better about the fact that they rank fourth in scoring defense (66.8 ppg). The Wildcats are shooting 48.3 percent from the floor, second only to Florida's 52.8 percent, but they are tied for last in turnover margin with Alabama. With that in mind, we may be in for a sloppy display of basketball this evening.
It is tough to get excited about either of these teams, as both are painfully inconsistent. Give a narrow edge to the Wildcats, who will avenge the loss to the Tide during the regular season.
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