A pair of top 15 programs square off tonight in the SEC when the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide (17-3, 6-1 SEC) travel to Starkville to take on No. 14 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs (16-4, 4-3 SEC).
Alabama has won 11 of its past 12 games, including victories over fellow SEC Top 25 programs like Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Kentucky. The Crimson Tide program is leading the nation yet again in scoring, averaging just over 90.4 points per game thus far.
Mississippi State is finding life rough in the SEC thus far, dropping three of their past five games. The Bulldogs have lost to the top 10 teams, and Kentucky, Auburn, and Tennessee have all posted victories over Mississippi State in the past two weeks.
Will Alabama become the latest top 10 team to beat Mississippi State, or can the Bulldogs pull off the upset over the Crimson Tide? We’ll cover that and our three favorite player prop bets for tonight’s matchup.
Since transferring to Alabama, Mark Sears has been a dominant force in the SEC. Last season, the 6-foot-1 guard averaged 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.6 steals to help the Crimson Tide reach the Final Four.
This season, he’s averaging less in multiple categories as teams have keyed in on the senior star. Still, he’s capable of hitting long-range shots at a high clip. Despite having only one trifecta in the past two games, bettors should expect him to hit at least three triples in tonight’s game to cover this player prop bet.
Mississippi State sophomore Josh Hubbard has been a standout for the Bulldogs thus far. The 5-foot-11 athlete is averaging a team-best 16.3 points for Mississippi State, and he’s contributing 2.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists as well for the SEC squad.
But as the competition he’s faced stiffened, his point production has decreased. In the past six games, he’s failed to reach the 18-point mark in a single contest for the Bulldogs while they’ve played four games against top 25 teams.
With Alabama’s up-tempo style, bettors could project all of the Mississippi State players to have above-average nights. Unfortunately, that won’t apply to this Bulldog star, and the smart money is on the under for this player prop bet.
Senior forward Grant Nelson has been dominant on the glass this season, posting seven games with 10 or more rebounds for the Crimson Tide. He’s averaging near a double-double, collecting 12.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
His last outing against LSU was one of his worst this season as he collected only three rebounds against the Tigers. Still, bettors should expect him to eclipse this player prop mark as Nelson has in 14 of his team’s 20 contests this year.
Mississippi State is 8-1 in home games this season as the Bulldogs have defeated every team except Kentucky inside The Hump this year. It’s a raucous environment that can be intimidating for opposing players.
Alabama has proven it can go into any stadium and win this season, and their only loss on the road this year came to Oregon in a neutral-site game. Expect the Crimson Tide to pull this game out and continue rolling toward the SEC Tournament.