The Missouri Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa. Here’s an Alabama vs Missouri prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Alabama vs Missouri pick.
Missouri Tigers Betting Preview
The Tigers kicked off the season with a nice eight-game win streak, then took three losses in the next five games. Those defeats came versus Notre Dame, Kansas and Illinois. After wins over Florida and Kentucky it’s been a 2-3 stretch for the Tigers. The losses in that time have come courtesy of Ole Miss, LSU and Georgia. Across the first 20 games of the year that makes for a 14-6 record for Missouri.
In the Oklahoma game over the weekend, the Tigers were in the locker room looking up at a one-point deficit 37-36. Missouri managed to tie it up by the end of regulation with 45 second-half points. After a 7-6 overtime advantage, the Tigers eked out a nice victory at home 88-87. Mark Mitchell doubled up on 25 points with 10 rebounds and four assists while TO Barrett put up 21 points with six boards.
Alabama Crimson Tide Betting Preview
Over on the Alabama side, they opened up this year with a 7-3 run over their first 10 outings. The losses in that time came versus Purdue, Gonzaga and Arizona—all ranked teams. The Tide have since gone 6-3 with losses to Vanderbilt, Texas and Tennessee. Otherwise it’s been wins over South Florida, Kennesaw State, Yale, Mississippi State and Oklahoma in that stretch, giving the Tide a 13-6 overall run in the books across their first 19 outings this year.
In the Tennessee matchup back on Saturday, the Tide were up by three points 39-36 going into the second half. Alabama was outscored 43-34 the rest of the way however, ultimately leading to a 78-73 loss at home. Topping the scorers in the losing effort was Labaron Philon with 26 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Latrell Wrightsell added 14 points in 32 minutes while Charles Bediako had 13 points with three boards.
Why the Alabama Crimson Tide will win
- Alabama has won 42 of its last 45 games at Coleman Coliseum against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Missouri has lost each of its last four night games after coming off overtime.
- Alabama has won the first half in 10 of its last 11 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Why the Missouri Tigers will win
- The road team has won each of Alabama’s last four games.
- Alabama has lost each of its last three night games against Conference opponents at Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama vs Missouri Prediction
I’m going to stick with Alabama. The Tide need a good bounce-back effort here after a tough home loss to Tennessee, though. Alabama shot 43.1 percent from the field in that one with 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from outside and a 36-28 deficit on the boards. The Tide gave up 46.7 percent shooting to the Vols as well. Alabama has now lost three of the last five games, with two of those losses coming to unranked (but very good) teams in Texas and Tennessee—and both were at home.
As for Missouri, they were able to eke one out against a pretty decent Oklahoma team last weekend. The Tigers shot 44.6 percent from the field with a dominant 40-12 edge on points in the paint but also coughed up 12 turnovers and shot a tepid 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from 3-point range. Missouri has won just two of their last five games though, and they’ve got a tough road matchup looming here.