College basketball on Wednesday night and we will see the Alabama Crimson Tide take on the Duke Blue Devils in the NIT Season Tip-off Semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York. The game has a start time of 9:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN 2. Current odds have Duke listed as 8 point favorites, while the total sits at 148.
Analysis: Alabama, which is 3-7 against Duke, has won three straight since a season-opening loss to Oklahoma. The Tide made light work of both Stillman (102-65) and Georgia State (75-58) in regional action of this event. Trevor Releford leads four players in double figures at 18 ppg. Relaford is the first Alabama player to record at least 1,000 points, 300 assists and 200 steals. Retin Obasohan adds 15.5 points after four straight games of tying or breaking his career high and Algie Key is averaging 10.3 points on 78.9 percent shooting. For the season, Alabama is shooting the ball very well, converting 52.4 percent overall, despite a modest 32.8 percent effort from behind the arc, while allowing 67.2 ppg on just 41.8% shooting. Coach Anthony Grant is 23-6 in the month of November since 2009.
The Duke Blue Devils are 5-1 on the young season, with the lone loss coming to Kansas (94-83) in the Champions Classic on Nov. 12. Since then they have won 4 in a row, including a 91-90 nail-biter against Vermont last time out. Duke is now 19-2 in the NIT Season Tip- Off, including 13 consecutive victories. Jabari Parker has exceeded expectations early on, as he leads Duke in both scoring (23.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.8 rpg). Mississippi State transfer Rodney Hood (21.8 ppg) is a force as well up front, while perimeter depth comes in the form of Rasheed Sulaimon (9.6 ppg) and Andre Dawkins (8.0 ppg). Overall, Duke is averaging an impressive 92.7 ppg on the year and shooting a blistering .550 from the field.
Pick: Going with the Blue devils in this one. Alabama usually fields a solid team and this year is no exception, but they are not at the class level of Duke, just yet. The Blue Devils had a scare vs Vermont in their last game, but that will only motivate them more in this one as they chase their 5th Pre-Season NIT title. Duke has really played well in this tourney, going 19-2 SU, they have a big edge in depth and in the frontcourt, with Parker and Wood and I just don't see Alabama being able to put up enugh points to keep this one close. Duke by at least 12 here.
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