With SEC play coming to a close, Alabama travels to Fayetteville to face Arkansas with a chance to clinch a share of their first SEC title since 2002.
TV: Wednesday, February 24, 9:00 pm ET on ESPN2
Location: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, AR
As the SEC regular season winds down, a highly anticipated Top 25 showdown in Fayetteville between the top two teams in the SEC takes center stage on Wednesday night.
The Alabama Crimson Tide is closing in on their first SEC regular-season championship since 2002. Sitting alone atop the SEC, Alabama has an overall record of 18-5, while also holding a 3.5 game lead in conference play.
Alabama has been one of the more complete teams in college basketball this season as the Crimson Tide are an elite team both offensively and defensively. The Tide can beat you in many different ways, and that only got tougher as Alabama saw the return of Jordan Bruner on Saturday, who played his first game since suffering an injury in early January. Winners of their last three, it appears that Nate Oats’ squad is back on track after suffering two road defeats, and has the Tide rolling going into March.
Meanwhile, it appears that the Arkansas Razorbacks are emerging as the second-best team in the SEC. After winning their last four games, the Hogs have risen up the SEC standings into a current two-way tie for second place.
The Razorbacks have put up some similar numbers to Alabama but just haven’t seen the same results as Arkansas has a 9-4 record in the SEC. The Hogs are averaging 82.5 PPG on 45% shooting, and have one of the best freshmen in college basketball in Moses Moody. Moody is averaging 16.2 PPG and 5.6 RPG, and has shown the ability to take over a game for the Razorbacks when needed this season. Can Moody carry Arkansas in one of their biggest games of the year?
If there is a game that is must-see on the remaining SEC schedule, it’s this showdown in Fayetteville. Yes, Alabama won the previous meeting in Tuscaloosa earlier this season 90-59, but you should expect a different Arkansas team in this game.
This game should be high-scoring and could be close throughout. The Razorbacks got a career-high 28 points from freshman Moses Moody in the previous meeting between the two, but not much production from anyone else as Arkansas only shot 33.3% from the field.
Alabama will be motivated as the Crimson Tide are looking to clinch the SEC for the first time since 2002 and on the verge of a 1 seed. Yes, Arkansas has emerged in recent weeks, but is a motivated Alabama team too much to handle for the Razorbacks?
Prediction: Alabama 86, Arkansas 79