Bama meets Ole Miss in SEC tourney
No. 10 seed Alabama (17-14, 8-10) vs. No. 7 seed Mississippi (20-11, 10-8)
Southeastern Conference Tourney Second Round, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee; Thursday, 6 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Alabama is set to face Mississippi in the second round of the SEC tournament. The only regular season meeting came on Jan. 22, when the Crimson Tide forced 16 Mississippi turnovers and turned the ball over just nine times en route to a 21-point victory.
VETERAN PRESENCE: Senior leadership has been on display for both of these teams. Breein Tyree, Terence Davis, Devontae Shuler and Bruce Stevens have combined to account for 69 percent of Mississippi’s scoring this season. For Alabama, Kira Lewis Jr., Donta Hall and Dazon Ingram have combined to score 43 percent of the team’s points this season.
KEY CONTRIBUTOR: Tyree has accounted for 41 percent of all Mississippi field goals over the last three games. The junior guard has 20 field goals and 11 assists in those games.
WINLESS WHEN: Alabama is 0-7 when scoring fewer than 64 points and 17-7 when scoring at least 64.
PERFECT WHEN: The Rebels are 9-0 when they record nine or more steals and 11-11 when they fall shy of that mark. The Crimson Tide are 7-0 when they hold opponents to 64 points or fewer and 10-14 when opponents exceed 64 points.
LESS INTENSITY: Mississippi’s defense has forced 14.5 turnovers per game this season, but is averaging 10 turnovers over its last three games.