# 25 Crimson Tide Downs # 18 Kentucky

TUSCALOOSA, AL In a game that both teams needed to keep pace in the SEC and help build its NCAA resumes, #25 Alabama defeated # 18 Kentucky 72-61 Saturday afternoon in Coleman Coliseum.

The Crimson Tide(19-7, 6-6) never trailed in the game and built double digit leads multiple times only to see Tubby Smith's crew fight back every time. Alabama finally pulled away hitting clutch free throws down the stretch to finally put away the Wildcats.

Kentucky(18-8, 7-5) has now lost three games in a row and falls to third place in the SEC East. Joe Crawford led UK with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Senior Randolph Morris chipped in 15 points and 8 rebounds for the 'Cats.

Richard Hendrix led Alabama with another double-double totaling 16 points and 10 rebounds. Junior point guard Ronald Steele, who has looked much better on the court the last two games, scored 15 for the Tide. Junior Mykal Riley hit multiple three pointers to finish with 12 points. Alabama shot 45% as a team from the field in front of the sellout home crowd.

Alabama heads north Wednesday night to Knoxville, TN to take on Bruce Pearl and the Tennessee Volunteers at 7pm CT.

Basketball Preview: # 18 Kentucky

'Cats Come to T-Town In Huge SEC Showdown

# 25 Alabama played the # 1 team in the land, Florida, to the wire Wednesday night in Gainesville, but came up short. They do not have much time to reflect on the tough loss though as the #18 Kentucky Wildcats invade Tuscaloosa Saturday afternoon at 2pm CT in a giant SEC matchup.

Alabama (18-7, 5-6) needs a signature win over a quality opponent for its NCAA resume. A win over the Wildcats would be a huge help for the Tide come Selection Sunday. The Crimson Tide have four players averaging double digit points a game and are led by sophomore Richard Hendrix's 15 a night average. He has been the one constant for Alabama every game offensively.

Kentucky(18-7, 7-4) is coming off a 4 point loss at Tennessee on Wednesday night and a 3 point home loss to Florida last Saturday, and will be looking to rebound against Alabama, with both teams desperate for a win. UK is led by big man Randolph Morris and his 15.6 points a game. Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley also average over 14 a game for Tubby Smith's crew.

This game could go either way and features two very talented teams trying to improve their stock both in the SEC standings but also trying to build NCAA resumes. In my opinion, the Tide needs this win to feel good about its NCAA tournament chances. They have 5 games left in the regular season, 2 being on the road, and only Tennessee that would be considered a big time win, and the game is in Knoxville. They lack a win over a top notch opponent and a "signature win" over a good UK team would certainly bolster their chances not only with the selection committee but also to keep pace with Ole Miss, who has a one game lead on Alabama in the SEC West standings. Alabama needs this game bad, and I think they find a way to get it done.

Nick's Prediction: # 25 Alabama 74 # 18 Kentucky 72

Baseball Series Preview: Canisius

VS.

Golden Griffins Visist Tucaloosa For Season Opener

TUSCALOOSA, AL| It is tough to get ready for a college baseball season in late fall/early winter when your in Buffalo, NY. It is also tough when the season starts in February and you can't see the grass on your field because it is covered by a foot of snow. That is why the Canisius College Golden Griffins are heading south to Tuscaloosa to open their baseball season against the # 24 Alabama Crimson Tide.

On paper Alabama(3-1) should have no problem with the Golden Griffins, but it is going to be cold this weekend and the advantage of playing in freezing temperatures has to go to Canisus. Friday nights game begins at 6:30pm and the high in Tuscaloosa today is expected to be in the mid 40's and will drop as the games goes on. That might seem cold for the Tide players but it will feel like Miami Beach to the Golden Griffins, as the current temperature in Buffalo is 17 degrees with a wind chill of zero.

The cold weather has also forced the Tide to make changes this weekend. Alabama coach Jim Wells has opted to make a change in his pitching rotation from last weekend -- keeping left-handed Brandon Belcher off the mound after Belcher felt tightness in his left forearm last Saturday.

“We want to be careful in the cold weather," Wells said, adding that Belcher will be available to play left field or serve as the designated hitter. Sophomore right-hander Casey Kebodeaux will open the series on the mound tonight. All-American sophomore Tommy Hunter, who pitched 3 innings on Wednesday, will start Saturday and sophomore left-hander Miers Quigley is slated to start Sunday’s series finale.

Canisius will find out about its 2007 club, picked to finish sixth in the MAAC, as they open the season tonight and return a team with experience. Offensively, the Golden Griffins should be strong as five of their top nine hitters return. Defensively, six starting position players and eight pitchers, including two of the three weekend starters, are back.

“Last season was really a learning process for a lot of our guys in terms of getting a feel for baseball at the collegiate level,” said Canisius coach Mike McRae. “We had seven freshman get 70 or more at bats, and five freshman pitchers get 20 or more innings last year. So a lot of players got a good taste of collegiate baseball, and we’re hoping that quality experience pays off.”

If #24 Alabama plays well they should not have problems this weekend with the Golden Griffins.


Nick's Prediction: Alabama sweeps the series, 3-0.

# 25 Bama Baseball Falls in 12 Innings

TUSCALOOSA, AL| In a game that was moved up to 2 pm to avoid freezing weather, it almost lasted into the evening. The Troy Trojans topped Alabama 7-5 in 12 innings yesterday as the Tide squandered a 4-1 lead in the 8th inning.

Alabama was led by freshman Jake Smith's 3 hit, 3 RBI performance and a decent start by Miers Quigley who gave up a run on four hits, and four walks in 5 innings of work. The bullpen could not hold the lead for the Tide, however, as Troy scored 3 in the eighth inning to tie the game and then the Tide bats went as cold as the temperature in Tuscaloosa.

Troy scored three runs in the top of the 12th inning and the Tide could only muster one run in the bottom half to end the game. Troy improved to 2-2 on the year and Alabama fell to 3-1.

Alabama stays at home this weekend with a three game set against Canisius. Friday nights game scheduled for 6:30 pm has been moved to 3 pm to avoid the freezing weather.

#25 Bama Basketball Falls at # 1 Florida

# 25 Tide Blows 18 Point Lead

Gainesville, FL| Alabama came out ready to play on Wednesday night and jumped out to a big early lead over the #1 Florida Gators, the only problem is that NCAA games are 40 minutes long. Florida used a ferocious comeback to beat the Alabama 76-67.

The Tide(18-7, 5-6) lead 22-4 early in the first half, lead by 11 at halftime, and led most of the second half but that could not withstand the Florida runs. Taurean Green scored 20 points in the second half for the Gators as they improved to 24-2 overall this season and 11-0 in the SEC.

Alabama was led by Richard Hendrix's 16 points and 8 rebounds. Alonzo Gee added 15 for the Tide. Alabama made 10 of its first 12 shots and finished the first half with five 3-pointers -- nearly as many as the team averaged in its first 10 conference games.

Alabama returns home to Coleman Coliseum Saturday to take on the # 18 Kentucky Wildcats at 2 pm CT.

Tide's Belcher SEC Pitcher of the Week

BIRMINGHAM, AL| Alabama senior left handed pitcher Brandon Belcher was named SEC Pitcher of the Week, the SEC office announced Monday.

The Ruston, LA native who was not able to pitch last season due to Tommy John surgery threw 5 1/2 scoreless innings against Georgia State this past Saturday. He gave up only one hit and added six strikeouts throwing an economical 70 pitches for the win. It was his start since May 21, 2005 against Auburn where he suffered the injury.

This is the second time Belcher has won the honor in his career, winning his first award March 15, 2004 after posting wins over Southern Miss and Southeast Missouri State during his freshman season.

# 24 Alabama returns to action Wednesday night at 6:30pm CT against a very good Troy Trojan team at "The Joe".

Mens Basketball Preview: # 1 Florida

# 25 Crimson Tide Visits "O-Dome" To Take on # 1 Gators

TUSCALOOSA,AL| Defending National Champions. Currently ranked number 1 in the country. 16 straight wins. Have not lost since December 3, 2006. 23-2 overall this season. 10-0 in the SEC. Playing at home in front of one of the rowdiest crowds in America where they are 15-0 this year. 6 straight wins over Alabama in Gainesville. To say the Alabama basketball team is walking into a bad situation Wednesday night in Gainesville would be the understatement of the century.

Alabama (18-6, 5-5) is in the middle of a brutal three game stretch where they play at Ole Miss, at Florida, then have Kentucky at home. Ole Miss is by far the most winnable game in that mix and we lost. The top ranked Gators (23-2, 10-0) are coming off a huge win at Kentucky Saturday night and that might be the Tide's best chance, hope for a Gator letdown.

All five of Florida's starters average double figures led by Tauren Green's 13. 6 a game. They also play great defense as the Gators have limited their last five opponents to shooting 19.1% from three point range. The Gators might be the most complete and experienced team in the nation starting four juniors and a senior. They have great guards in Green and 3 point specialist Lee Humprhey, current SEC player of the week Corey Brewer and star Joakim Noah at forward, and 6-10 Al Horford at center. If those names sound familiar they were the same starting five on last year's national championship team.

Alabama will need to play its best game of the year by far to keepthe game close, it might need a miracle to win. While this is a talented Alabama team there seems to be a problem that has not been solved yet and the season is winding down. Alabama is on the NCAA Tournament bubble and needs to turn it on here during the home stretch of the SEC race. I just do not see it happening Wednesday night at 8pm ET in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. This one could get ugly....


Nick's Prediction: # 1 Florida 82 #25 Alabama 61

# 25 Tide Baseball Sweeps Georgia State

Crimson Tide Moves to 3-0 on Season After Sweep

Playing a double header on Saturday after Friday night's game was postponed due to weather, Alabama defeated Georgia State 12-3 and 7-0 in front of 5,000 fans at "The Joe". On Sunday, Alabama defeated GSU 9-3 .

Alabama was led on offense in games 1 and 2 Saturday by SS Greg Paiml who was 6-8, 1 HR, and 4 RBI. Sophomore OF Kent Matthes was 4-8, 2 runs, 4 RBIs, and 3 stolen bases. 2B Jeff Texada was 5-9, 1 HR, 3 Runs, 3 RBIs.

The Tide was led on the mound by two great starts. Game 1 starter Tommy Hunter pitched 6 scoreless innings, scattering 6 hits and striking out 5. Game 2 starter Brandon Belcher pitched 5.2 innings, giving up no runs, only allowing 1 hit, and striking out 6 Panther hitters.

On Sunday starter Casey Kebodeaux picked up his first victory on the season in the 9-3 win. The Tide was led on offense by preseason All-American Emeel Salem who hit 2 home runs and went 3-4 on the day. Alex Avila added another home run on Sunday hitting a 3 run shot in a 5 run inning for Alabama.

Alabama(3-0) remains at home this Wednesday night as they take on the Troy Trojans at 6:30 pm CT at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.