Alabama vs Auburn: 2022-23 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Joey Loose
An SEC rivalry clash ensues as Alabama heads over to Auburn; will the Crimson Tide roll to another big win or can the Tigers get their season back on track?
TV schedule: Saturday, February 11, 12:00 pm ET. ESPN
Arena: Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama
Alabama (21-3) seems to be full steam ahead in recent weeks, ignoring a rough performance at Oklahoma from two weekends ago. The Crimson Tide have won their first eleven conference games and have a healthy lead atop the SEC standings. This Alabama team is smothering the opposition on both sides of the ball and have a plethora of fantastic wins, including a road affair at Houston back in December. Do they have another road win in them this weekend?
The story for the Crimson Tide has been the play of freshman forward Brandon Miller (19.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg), who just might be the nation’s best freshman. He led the team with 24 points in a recent blowout win over Florida and has made 44% of his 3-pointers this season. Fellow freshman forward Noah Clowney (10.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg) has been phenomenal recently as well, including 16 points and 11 rebounds in that upset against Houston two months ago. Junior guard Mark Sears (13.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg), a former start at Ohio, has fit in well in Nate Oats’ system.
Alabama sits #3 in the AP Top 25 but sit 2nd in both KenPom and the NET rankings, behind only that Houston team in both metrics. Alabama plays at the fastest tempo in the nation and play elite-level offense and defense in the process. They’ve had some incredible shooting performances this season, including a 59% mark in a huge blowout over Vanderbilt. Suffice to say, the Crimson Tide is firing on all cylinders and coming together in a major way.
Across the court, things are less impressive for Auburn (17-7), who desperately need a big win to jumpstart their season. The Tigers got the season off to a solid start, but have now dropped four of their last five games, including a sweep at the hands of Texas A&M. Last weekend, they scored just 43 points in a tough loss to Tennessee.
But there’s no shortage of talent at Auburn, starting with junior guard Wendell Green Jr. (13.9 ppg, 4.4 apg), fresh off a 20-point performance against the Aggies. Last year, Auburn had two fantastic pieces in the frontcourt, but this year’s replacements haven’t been bad, led by sophomore forward Johni Broome (13.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg). Broome, a former star at Morehead State, has paired nicely with senior forward Jaylin Williams (10.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg) at the back end for the Tigers.
Auburn is currently unranked in the national polls, but are still 27th in KenPom and 32nd in the NET. The defense (14th in efficiency) plays really well, especially at defending and rim protection, but it’s the offense that’s let the Tigers down more times than not. We already mentioned that poor effort against Tennessee; this is one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the country and the offense is like pulling teeth at times.
Clearly, Auburn needs a win pretty badly, but what they need is a change of direction and momentum. A victory over their bitter rivals at home is exactly the kind of medicine to that kind of run, but is this a possibility? Broome is fantastic in the frontcourt and the Tigers do defend the 3-ball quite well. Alabama is going to put up a lot of long-range shots and more than likely make a ton, but can Auburn keep their offense at bay for long enough?
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This seems like a trap game for an Alabama team that’s looked invincible at times this season. Nobody expected their lousy performance against the Sooners and it would be less surprising to blow it against their rivals in this one. However, the way Miller and the rest of this offense is playing is just at another level. Auburn will slow them down, but we don’t expect them to be able to keep up, especially if the Crimson Tide get off to a hot start.