By Chris DePew
TideFans.com staff
Feb. 23, 2017
Where to watch: Georgia (15-12, 6-8 SEC) at Alabama (16-10, 9-5) – Today 6 p.m. Central, Coleman Coliseum, ESPN2
Who to watch: Dazon Ingram. While several players had breakout games in last month’s 80-60 Crimson Tide upset in Athens, the freshman from Theodore struggled, missing much of the first half with foul trouble and failing to hit a shot from the field while collecting just one assist against three turnovers. But his biggest mission tonight is helping lock down Georgia’s J.J. Frazier. The 5-foot-10 senior point guard is the Bulldogs’ last reliable scoring threat after Yante Maten injured his knee last weekend and could be out for the season. Frazier (17.3 ppg) is bound to do better than his four-point night in the first meeting, but if Bama can keep him contained it greatly improves the odds of victory.
What to watch for: How the Tide handles the weight of expectations. Entering the first matchup with UGA, Bama was just looking to erase the stench of an awful loss at Auburn while the Bulldogs were scrambling to stay on the NCAA tournament bubble. Now it is Alabama that has March Madness hopes, however faint, while Georgia plays the spoiler role. And the Tide probably can’t count on another night where it makes more than half its field goals or is gifted three technical fouls against UGA. It will have to earn this win, and in the bigger picture needs to win a minimum of three out of these last four games to have any shot of playing for an at large bid during the SEC tournament.
Follow Chris DePew on Twitter @TideFansChris