By Chris DePew
TideFans.com staff
March 11, 2017
Where to watch: No. 5 Alabama (19-13) vs. No. 1 Kentucky (27-5) – Today noon Central, Bridgestone Arena (Nashville), ESPN
Who to watch: Donta Hall. Despite coming off the bench, the sophomore center from Luverne has had back-to-back solid games at the SEC tournament. After scoring 10 points in a blowout of Mississippi State he came with seven points and five rebounds in a quarterfinal victory against South Carolina. But the Wildcats, ranked eighth in both major polls this week, present a much bigger challenge, one Hall hasn’t come close to meeting. In four career games against the Wildcats, Hall has a total of 13 points. Last month at Coleman Coliseum he was held to four points and three rebounds in a 67-58 UK victory while his counterpart, Bam Adebayo, had 14 and seven before fouling out as the Cats controlled the paint.
What to watch for: A turnaround in the turnover column. The Crimson Tide quite literally gave away the first meeting, to the tune of 16 turnovers. Freshmen Dazon Ingram and Braxton Key each had five giveaways, the exclamation point on a season-long trend. Bama outshot the Cats from the floor but had 11 fewer attempts thanks to all the turnovers (and possessions that ended in mostly futile trips to the foul line). Upsetting the Wildcats will be hard enough without squandering precious possessions.
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