By Chris DePew
TideFans.com Staff
November 18, 2016
Where to watch: Ball State (1-1) at Alabama (1-1) – Today 8 p.m. Central, Coleman Coliseum, SEC Network
Who to watch: Braxton Key. The true freshman had a breakthrough game against Dayton (15 points, six rebounds) while playing 26 minutes, double the number from Shannon Hale. The more he can score down low, the more things will open up for Bama’s backcourt to get open for jumpers or find room to drive the lane.
What to watch for: Can the Crimson Tide get back to dominating on defense? Even when it was holding Dayton to a modest 31 first-half points, Bama wasn’t able to make the Flyers miss many shots. Dayton shot better than 54 percent for the game and put up 46 points after intermission. Ball State also looks potent on offense, with Tayler Persons (23.5 ppg) and Franko House (22 ppg) leading the way. The Cardinals notched 85 points in a blowout of Saint Louis and 74 in an overtime loss to Indiana State.
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