‘Bama plays in another key game at Baton Rouge tomorrow night at 8 p.m. on ESPN. The Tide now 16-8 and 8-2 in conference. Playing for the conference title if they can keep it up. Will preview game tomorrow on blog. ‘Bama with an 85 RPI, but Joe Lunardi of ESPN has them in his bracket and he’s a pretty good forecaster. His success rate is very high for predicting the tournament. Play at home against Arkansas Saturday at 6 p.m. on Fox Sports Net.
Blazers travel to Memphis tonight for a 6 p.m. tipoff on CBS College Sports in a huge game for the Blazers’ tourney hopes. Memphis has been a major thorn in the Blazers’ side the last several years. They haven’t won against Memphis in their last 10 tries. Memphis is 31-10 against the Blazers all time. The last time the Blazers beat the Tigers was 2006 at UAB when Mike Anderson was the coach. Memphis won at UAB, 76-73, in overtime in January. Will Barton of Memphis had 17 points and eight boards.
Memphis has seven freshmen on their roster, many who play key roles on the team. Memphis is 19-6 overall and 7-3 in CUSA and are playing for a tourney berth as well so this game is big for them, too. Freshman Will Barton, a 6’6″ guard, leads the Tigers at 13.2 ppg and five rebounds. Junior Wesley Witherspoon, a 6’9″ power forward is next at 11.5 per game and 4.9 rebounds. Freshman point guard Joe Jackson, 6’1″, averages 9.3 ppg and has 89 assists but 84 turnovers. Six foot, eight forward Tank Black, another frosh, averages 9.1 ppg and 5.1 rebounds. Antonio Barton, a 6’2″ frosh guard and Will’s twin brother, averages 8.0 ppg.
The Blazers (18-6, 8-3) will once again be without Cam Moore, who is out for a couple of weeks with a broken hand, so guys like Ovie Soko (6’9″) and Anthony Criswell (6’10”) will have to step up for the Blazers. Moore had 24 points and 11 boards in the first meeting. Jamarr Sanders scored 15 against the Tigers in January, but was o for 10 from trifecta. He has to hit about four or five threes to keep the Blazers in this one. Jamarr is averaging 18.6 ppg and had 37 against Rice on Saturday,a 74-69 Blazers win. Sanders was 11-of-22 from the field, eight-of-14 from trifecta and seven-of-seven from the free throw line against Rice. Aaron Johnson will once again have to carry the team at the point. He has 179 assists (7.5 per game) on the season to 88 turnovers.
For the Blazers to win this game they will have to shoot the three well. Mike Davis will rely on Sanders and guys like Preston Purifoy, whom he says is an outstanding shooter. Dexter Fields will be a big factor. He is shooting 40 percent from trifecata (44-of-108). Criswell and Soko will have to hold their own in the middle and UAB will have to stay pretty even with the Tigers on the boards. If they get to the line, they need to shoot 70-75 percent from there. Threes and free throws are critical in road games. It’s a major challenge for the Blazers, which need this game desperately for their NCAA tourney hopes. The Blazers RPI is 35, but Cusa’s conference RPI is eighth in the country and there may only be two teams from the conference that get into the tourney even possibly one, so UAB has to win a game like this to get in the conversation for a tourney bid. If they win tonight and finish strong they could very well get in.
Auburn with a huge come from behind victory Saturday over Miss. State. Auburn was down 19 in the second half and came back and won, 65-62. The new Auburn Arena has everybody inspired. Now AU (9-15, 2-8) faces Ole Miss (16-9, 4-6) in a West showdown at Ole Miss. Earnest Ross was huge Saturday with 21 points. Kenny Gabriel added 18. Help is on the way next year with three, three-star signees and a couple of transfers, but Tony Barbee has the Tigers playing hard right now. Ross leads the team at 13.5 ppg and 6.9 rbg. He also shoots 76 % from the line. Gabriel is averaging 9,9 points and six boards, and Rob Chubb, back in the lineup Saturday after a suspension, averages eight points and four boards. Josh Wallace had a key three point play Saturday against State late in the game. The gritty point guard averages only 5.6 points but has 93 assists.
Ole Miss is led by point guard Chris Warren who averages 18.6 ppg. He was pretty quiet in a loss to Alabama on Saturday though. He is shooting 93. 8% from the foul line, best in the conference. He’s 122-0of-130 from the stripe. Warren also has 93 assists. Guard Zach Graham is averaging 14.2 points and 4.4 rebounds. Six-ten forward Terrance Henry is averaging 8.6 points and six boards. Reginald Buckner,a 6’9″ forward, averages averages 7.3 points and 6.5 boards. And 6’4″ guard Nick Williams, a transfer from Indiana who played at LeFlore in Mobile, averages 7.2 points and four boards.
For Auburn to win they just have to keep scrappin’. That’s the key to this Tigers team. They don’t have as much talent as Ole Miss, but they have proven they can beat teams with more talent as they beat SC on the road and State on Sat. Their game before State they lost to a good Georgia team in overtime at Athens. This is a team that plays with a lot of passion and they’re coming together and becoming a pretty decent basketball team. Ross will have to play big as will Gabriel and Chubb. Have to contain Warren. Whoever guards him, probably Ross or Gabriel, have their work cut out for them. If they do contain him and keep him off the line, they have a shot.
Auburn hosts Vandy Saturday at 3 p.m. on the SEC Network.Will have Alabama preview tomorrow.