Coming off a disappointing loss at Texas A&M, Auburn wraps up the regular season with the Iron Bowl of basketball, round two. This game again is one of the most anticipated games in not only the state of Alabama but in college basketball especially with both teams coming off of ranked losses.
Alabama sits at 23-7 (12-5) on the year and is looking to bounce back after a disappointing home loss on senior night to No. 5 Florida. The Tide have now lost four of their last six games and need a big win before the SEC tournament and eventually March Madness. The Tide are now a projected No. 2 seed in most brackets after suffering back-to-back losses by a combined eight points.
The Tide had a heartbreaking loss at Tennessee and followed it up by not looking as sharp against Florida. The Tide were even down 14 points with just under six minutes left before losing 99-94. Alabama did have two bright spots in this game in guard Labaron Philon and backup big Aidan Sherrell.
Alabama is relentless on offense and loves playing fast which is led by senior guard Mark Sears who will more than likely be a first team All-American at the end of the year. Sears is getting hot at the right time, with three 30-point games in his last five appearances, even though the Crimson Tide are losing as of late. He is averaging 19.5 points on the year with 5.0 assists. In the last matchup, Sears struggled with the on-ball pressure from Auburn and the individual defense of Denver Jones.
Along with Sears, Bama counts on Philon who is coming off one of his best games of his early career with 19 points, shooting 8-for-13 from the field and 3-of-4 from three. He does most of his work in the midrange and on floaters but if his three ball keeps falling Alabama becomes even more dangerous.
As well as Philon, the Tide have a bigger guard in Chris Youngblood who has been very streaky this year. He has had multiple games with seven-or-more threes and is averaging 10.0 points on 37.5% shooting from three.
At last, their sixth man and final guard in their rotation is Aden Holloway who will be making his much-anticipated return to Neville Arena after transferring this offseason. Holloway is averaging 11.7 points per game while shooting 47.3% from the field and just under 42% from three. Holloway will be looking to get going with his shot from deep but has added a nice driving ability to his game as well.
In the frontcourt Alabama is big and loves to crash the glass which has been problematic for teams that Auburn has faced. Their starters are a pair of fifth year seniors in Grant Nelson and Clifford Omoruyi. Nelson is averaging 11.7 points per game but has not shot well from three at just under 25%. Nelson loves scoring in the post and off the pick and roll.
The Tides' rotation is filled out by a pair of forwards in Mo Dioubate and Jarin Stevenson and freshmen big man Sherrell — who played arguably his best game of his career versus Florida finishing with 10 points, shooting perfect from the field.
Overall, this is the same Tide team that Auburn saw earlier in the year and will not be an easy matchup. The Tide love to shoot 3-pointers and love to rebound the ball. Their defense is very shaky as it has been in years past but is still no easy matchup with their length in the frontcourt.
Tipoff of the top-10 matchup between the Tide and the Tigers is set for 1:30 p.m. CST on Saturday, March 8 on ESPN inside of Neville Arena.
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Jack is a sophomore majoring in sports production. He started with The Plainsman in the fall 2024.
