By Chris DePew
TideFans.com staff
March 9, 2017
Where to watch: No. 12 Mississippi State (16-15) vs. No. 5 Alabama (17-13) – Today 2:30 p.m. Central, Bridgestone Arena (Nashville), SEC Network
Who to watch: Bola Olaniyan. For Alabama to get enough points to survive its SEC tournament opener, it needs to give itself as many second chances as possible to score. And a big key to that is offensive rebounds, which is where Olaniyan shines. The graduate transfer forward averages 6.4 rebounds per game (2.8 offensive rebounds per game) despite being the only one of the SEC’s top 20 rebounders averaging less than 19 minutes per game. A big factor that limits his playing time is frequent foul trouble, something that reared its head again Saturday when he had just four boards (and no points) in 14 minutes at Tennessee. Coach Avery Johnson would be much happier to see him duplicate his last game against MSU, when he had 11 rebounds and six points in a 71-62 victory.
What to watch for: If Johnson has any tricks left to get the offense back on track. The Crimson Tide struggles to score home and away, but things have been particularly putrid away from Tuscaloosa. Bama hasn’t scored more than 57 points in regulation away from home since Feb. 1, an otherwise forgettable 87-68 loss at Arkansas. March isn’t usually the time to reinvent a team’s offense, but with the better part of a week to address slow passes, poor spacing and general carelessness, hopefully Alabama can find a spark.
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