Tide faces big road game with Mizzou...
Bama opens at 5 point favorite...

 When Missouri was admitted to the SEC most fans thought the Tigers would bring some strength in the form of hoops. It hasn´t happened that way. The Tigers have fallen on some through times in basketball. They still are feeling the stinging effects of sanctions. Fan support has remained strong, however. Expect a sell out crowd to be on hand for the 7:30 tip. Johnson scoffs at the Tide being overconfident for the game. After watching the first 34 minutes of the Kentucky game should put any rest to that thought. The Tide turned over the ball 19 times, with 7 of those being unforced. I won´t mention that the Tideś free throw shooting was horrible. It was worse than horrible. Those two areas of the game caused the Tide to beat a Kentucky team was not playing very well. A win over Kentucky would have almost given the Tide a lock for the NIT. Now the Crimson needs to go on the road to knock off the Tigers. If the Tide is as sloppy as they were against the Wildcats, they will lose. If they make 30% of their free throws they will lose. Bama needs to play their best basketball of the season. The Tigers have some confidence and beating Alabama would be a big win for a team who has seen few wins this season. It would be a big win for Missouri but an even bigger win for the Tide. A win keeps the Tide in no worse than a fourth-place position in the league. Depending on tie breakers, a fourth-place finish might keep Bama from playing the first night of the SEC tournament.

 The  Tigers just knocked off Vandy by twenty. The score is misleading. I wasn´t that close.  Will the Tide win? I think this is going to be a close ball game. In order for Missouri to win the Tide needs to help make that happen. Iḿ saying the Tide has cleaned up their act since the Kentucky game and will beat the Tigers by 3.

How does Bama beat Missouri?
1. The Tide needs to control the boards and get multiple second-chance baskets from offensive rebounds.

2. Alabama needs to keep the turnovers under 12. That is an attainable number that they should be able to secure. Missouri doesn´t press that often.

3. The Elephant in the room - Bama needs to play in the paint and must make 70% of their free throws. That number is not too much to ask for a Division 1 team. The Tide has put extra practice at the line and from reports seem to be getting improvement.

4.  The Tide need to keep Dazon Ingram in the game for the majority of each half. Ingram is going to cause some major match-up problems if they man him with their starting point guard.  Same for Braxton Key.  The Tigers have a leaky interior and Key has the old school game to exploit that his penetration. The same can be said for Riley Norris.

5. The Tigers shut down Vandyś outside game with a two-three zone and what appeared to be a match-up zone at times.  Missouri is going to try to play the Tide man to man. Bama size can be crucial. It wouldn´t surprise me if the Tide played two bigs on the floor at times.

6. Whatever Mojo that Johnson uses for road games needs to be used to get the team ready for this key road game. Columbia can be loud and the Tiger fans love their hoops. The configuration of the seating makes it a hard place to play.

7.  Shoot 45% overall, and as close to 40% from downtown.