SEC Tournament: Alabama Crimson Tide vs Tennessee Volunteers prediction and college basketball game preview.
Alabama vs Tennessee Broadcast
Date: Saturday, March 13
Game Time: 1:00 ET
Venue: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Network: ESPN
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Alabama (22-6) vs Tennessee (18-7) Game Preview
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Why Tennessee Will Win
Tennessee got tough.
It beat Florida 78-66 by getting nasty on the boards and doing a great job of getting to the basket with lots and lots of good ball movement. The Vols had 21 assists and the Gators had just seven – that has to continue against the Bama D.
The Crimson Tide are great at forcing steals and mistakes, but if Tennessee can keep the turnovers to under 15, the other parts should work. In the first and only meeting – a 71-63 Tide win in early January – Tennessee only turned it over nine times, so it’s possible. If it can just shoot a little better than 32% – that was an anomaly – it can hang around.
Why Alabama Will Win
That’s what’s called a statement performance.
Alabama ripped off a 47-19 first half run against Mississippi State on the way to a 85-48 victory, forcing a ton of Bulldog mistakes, hitting 49% from the field, and keeping the pressure on with great ball movement all game long.
Tennessee might have the ability and upside to keep up if this gets into a high-scoring fight, but its way too flaky – it’s just as likely to hit just 35% from the field as it is to make half of its shots.
To harp on this, it’s going to come down to mistakes. Bama has come up with double-digit steals in each of its last four games, but …
What’s Going To Happen
Tennessee leads the SEC in fewest turnovers.
Bama took its game to a whole other level against Mississippi State, but it’s generally not that strong a shooting team and it’s more prone to turnovers than the Vols are.
Can Tennessee ramp up the intensity like it did against the Gators? It’s got the ability to match Bama on the boards and play just enough defense to pull it off. It’ll shoot better than it did back in January.
Alabama vs Tennessee Prediction, Line
Tennessee 72, Alabama 69
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Line: Alabama -3, o/u: 137.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1
Must See Rating: 4
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