Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
The Vanderbilt Commodores (9-8, 2-2) will host the Alabama Crimson Tide (15-2, 5-0) on Tuesday night SEC showdown. Last season, these two teams split the head-to-head meetings straight up, but Vanderbilt covered the number in both games.
The Crimson Tide have been having an outstanding season. They look to be a national title contender, ranking fourth according to KenPom, and they have faced the second-strongest schedule in the country. Alabama is 5-2 against Top-25 teams this season, with the wins coming against Michigan State, North Carolina, Houston, Mississippi State, and Arkansas. The losses have been to UConn and Gonzaga. The Tide are on a six game winning streak after beating LSU 106-66 on Saturday.
Let's Geaux Bama??#RollTide | #BlueCollarBasketball pic.twitter.com/B9mCSVyAj8
— Alabama Men's Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) January 14, 2023
Alabama is eighth in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency and 12th in adjusted offensive efficiency. Leading the way for the Tide is a potential future lottery pick 6'9 freshman Brandon Miller, averaging 19.5 ppg, 8.2 rebounds, down 46% of his shots from three, and 84% of free-throws. Mark Sears, a 6'1 transfer from Ohio, has added 15.2 ppg, shots 41% from three, and 80% from the line.
There is a dark cloud bigger than basketball hanging over the Alabama program going into this game. Forward Darius Miles has been dismissed from the team after being charged with capital murder. Although Miles only appeared in six games this season and was not a substantial contributor on the court, the situation is still tragic.