The Vanderbilt Commodores and the Alabama Crimson Tide meet in college basketball action from the Amalie Arena on Thursday night.
The Vanderbilt Commodores come into the conference tournament as the #11 seed in the SEC tournament, ending the year with a record of 16-15 overall including a 7-11 mark in conference play this season. Scotty Pippen Jr. leads the Commodores in scoring with 20.5 PPG with 3.6 RPG and a team-high 4.2 APG to also lead Vandy in assists while Jordan Wright has 11.7 PPG with a team-high 6.3 RPG to lead the Commodores on the glass as the other double-digit scorer for Vanderbilt so far this season. Quentin Millora-Brown also has 5.7 RPG of his own this season. As a team, Vanderbilt is averaging 69.5 PPG on 42.3% shooting from the field, 33.6% from three and 69.2% from the foul line while allowing 67.5 PPG on 42.5% shooting from the field and 30.4% from three this season.
The Alabama Crimson Tide will try to advance as the #6 seed in the SEC to finish with a record of 19-12 overall including a 9-9 record in conference. Jaden Shackelford leads the Tide in scoring with 16.6 PPG along with 5.4 RPG while Jahvon Quinerly has 14.3 PPG with 3 RPG and a team-high 4.3 APG to lead the Tide in assists. Keon Ellis has 12.1 PPG with a team-high 6 RPG to lead the Tide on the glass and to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Alabama so far this year. As a team, Alabama is averaging 80.1 PPG on 44.4% shooting from the field, 31.1% from three and 73.8% from the foul line while allowing 76.2 PPG on 43.6% shooting from the field and 33.1% from three this season.
Vanderbilt is 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games overall and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 neutral site games while the over is 6-1 in their last 7 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600. Alabama is 5-17-1 ATS in their last 23 games overall and 5-13-1 ATS in their last 19 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 neutral site games.
I get the case to be made for Vanderbilt here as the Commodores have been on a tear ATS down the stretch and added another rout in a win over Georgia. However, Alabama may have stumbled down the stretch, but the Tide are still a loaded team that’s well coached and is capable of giving any team in the SEC a run. It’s a decent number to pass up with Vandy, but that’s how highly I think of Alabama. Give me the Tide in this one.