Alabama @ Vanderbilt preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 2, 2018 ) Alabama 75, Vanderbilt 76

Alabama begins the weekend clustered among a four-team logjam for fifth place in the SEC, and how it fares with three of its next four games on the road – starting Saturday at last-place Vanderbilt – will go a long way to determining seeding for next month’s SEC tournament. The three road contests come against teams with a combined 5-22 record in conference play, and Alabama enters this stretch after an impressive 89-74 victory Wednesday over Georgia.

Junior forward Tevin Mack and freshman guard Kira Lewis combined for 49 points against Georgia as the Crimson Tide earned their third victory in their past four conference contests, but Alabama clamped down defensively on the Bulldogs in the second half. “We were just really focused,” Alabama coach Avery Johnson told reporters after the Crimson Tide limited Georgia to 34.2 percent shooting from the field in the final 20 minutes. “It was crystal clear what the mission was at halftime.” The Commodores are the only team in the SEC winless in league play, falling 69-66 Tuesday at Arkansas after leading by 10 in the first half and by two with 40 seconds to play. “This has been a tough stretch, a tough stretch for a lot of reasons,” Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew told the media afterward. “Three of these games, in the last 1:30, just every break has gone against us.”

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network

ABOUT ALABAMA (14-8, 5-4 SEC): Mack scored a season-high 25 points against Georgia, hitting five 3-pointers and finishing 10-for-16 from the field, and Lewis shot 10-of-17 in scoring 24 points with seven assists. Lewis leads the Crimson Tide in scoring (14.1 points per game) and assists (2.7 per contest) while shooting 37 percent from 3-point range. Alabama’s defensive work in the second half against Georgia is even more impressive considering the Crimson Tide are last in the SEC in field-goal percentage defense (44.3 percent).

ABOUT VANDERBILT (9-13, 0-9): Senior guard Joe Toye snapped out of a shooting slump to lead the Commodores with 18 points against Arkansas, hitting 4-of-6 3-point attempts and 6-of-11 shots overall after scoring just six points in his past three games. Vanderbilt has struggled since losing Darius Garland to a season-ending knee injury after five games, averaging just 63.9 points per game in conference play. Sophomore guard Saben Lee ranks eighth in the SEC in assists per game (3.9) while leading the Commodores in scoring at 13.5 points per contest.

TIP-INS

1. Vanderbilt freshman F Aaron Nesmith scored eight points Tuesday after averaging 16.7 points in his previous six games.

2. Alabama shot 61.5 percent from the field in the second half Wednesday, the Crimson Tide’s best one-half shooting performance since beating Virginia Tech in last season’s NCAA tournament (60.9 percent).

3. The schedule gets no easier for the Commodores, with three of their next four games on the road, including a trip to top-ranked Tennessee on Feb. 19 and a rematch at Alabama four days later.

PREDICTION: Alabama 81, Vanderbilt 69