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Alabama vs. Baylor: 2018-19 College basketball game preview, TV schedule

By Austin Walther

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 19: John Petty #23 of the Alabama Crimson Tide drives past Jordan Bone #0 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of their game at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 19, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 19: John Petty #23 of the Alabama Crimson Tide drives past Jordan Bone #0 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of their game at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 19, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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The SEC/Big 12 Challenge comes at us again mid-conference and for Alabama and Baylor, this is a battle of strong bubble teams. The Crimson Tide is trying to ride it out in conference play while the Bears have won it last four out of five games.

TV Schedule: Saturday, Jan. 26. Noon EST ESPNU

Arena: Ferrell Center, Waco, TX

Baylor couldn’t repeat their 2017 three seed, Sweet 16 run last year after being ranked for eight weeks. So there weren’t many expectations coming into this season. There have been some questionable losses. Texas Southern was the first. Ole Miss did turn out to be better than expected. Wichita State isn’t that great this season and the Stephen F. Austin loss put them at rock bottom. They did pick up wins at Arizona and Oregon, but the Pac-12 is struggling hard.

Conference play started for the Bears and things turned around. At first they lost at TCU, but managed to knock off Iowa State. They lost to Kansas which a lot of teams do, but then the winning streak started. Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and West Virginia all fell victim. Baylor now has three top-50 wins despite the three bad losses.

Alabama had a rough non-conference as well. They went to a Tournament full of land mines. There were no opportunities for good wins, only bad losses. So they fell to Northeastern, but won the next two. They lost at UCF and then home against Georgia State. The Crimson Tide also beat Arizona and then took down Kentucky at home. They couldn’t ride any momentum as they lost to LSU and Texas A&M. They won at Missouri and then fell in a heart breaker to Tennessee. But then Alabama responded with a beat down of Ole Miss.

The biggest thing for Baylor has been keeping all their guys on the court at the same time. Senior King McClure and sophomore Mark Vital are the only two Bears to play and start in all 18 games. Leading scorer Makai Mason has missed three games. Top-50 recruit from a couple years Mario Kegler has missed six and leading rebounder Tristan Clark is out for the year.

Baylor was about as healthy as they were going to be without Clark against West Virginia and they steam rolled the Mountaineers. It was only a 12-point win, but the Bears were in control the entire game.

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Nothing seems to be bothering Mason right now. He did miss six three-pointers, but he made seven at the line and found other ways to score. Mason is a great athletic guard. He doesn’t have the height that you would expect, but when he draws the right match up, he can score form anywhere on the court.

It was a total home-court advantage for Alabama in their win over Ole Miss. They have a new sixth man that prove why he’s still one of Alabama’s most explosive players. John Petty went off in the first half. This guard has some height to him. He goes six-foot-five and can score from anywhere on the court as well. He knocked down three three-pointers and came up with some explosive dunks.

Petty did get cold in the second half. He really didn’t impact the game much more than just points. Donta Hall is the beast in the middle for the Tide. He recorded his 10th double-double with 11 points and 10 boards while picking up three blocks. Galin Smith added a spark off the bench with 10, but by the middle of the second half, the game was just about done.

Alabama won’t be playing a team that’s in a transition year. Scott Drew in his 16th season at Baylor. He has seven NCAA Tournament appearances including four in his last five seasons. He has done a nice job finding ways to win without Clark.

Kegler was a guy they were hoping to get going and he did just that against West Virginia. He’s the long athletic guard who can score just about anywhere. Shot a three-pointer, made all five free throws and made all five of his two-point field goals. When McClure had an off night shooting, Jared Butler came up with a pair of timely three-pointers and Devonte Bandoo scored 13 off the bench.

Petty will more than likely match up with Bandoo. Both guys add three-point shooting off the bench for their teams. Petty was the only three-point threat against the Rebels. Kira Lewis Jr. is the only other three-point threat for the Tide while Mason and McClure have the distance for the Bears.

Next. 2019 Big 12/SEC Challenge Preview. dark

Both teams are going to match up really well. The Tide and the Bears knows what is at stake. They have one more chance for a good non-conference win. It would help Alabama since it would be a top-50 road win. But the Bears are higher up on the bubble and the home court is going to help along with riding a nice three-game winning streak.

Prediction: Baylor 73, Alabama 68

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