The No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide (9-1) plays the North Carolina State Wolfpack tonight in Raleigh, NC hoping to show better on the road than in their first road game at South Bend, Indiana where they lost by 14-points to Notre Dame on Dec. 7. The Wolfpack would very much like for the Tide players to be thinking about Christmas Turkey rather than taking care of business in the hostile environment of the RBC Center. Tip-off time is 6:30 p.m. EST.
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“I think it’s going to be a great challenge for us to go on the road,” said Alabama coach Mark Gottfried. “I think our guys are anxious to go on the road. They want to go on the road and play a very good North Carolina State team. So we’ve got a full plate. I think they’re very, very good, and we need to play well.”
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Five of Gottfried’s players are averaging double-figures led by sophomore forward Alonzo Gee’s 15.4 points per game. But ‘Bama is certainly not a one-man show and on any given night, a number of players are capable of going off for big numbers. A week ago, power forward Richard Hendrix exploded for 34 points in a win over Alabama State. On Saturday, it was Jermareo Davidson’s turn to show the way in a 77-64 win over Southern Mississippi. Davidson, a 6-10 senior center, narrowly missed a triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high nine blocked shots.
The Wolfpack’s Ben McCauley is a big man who continues to put up some numbers that are normally associated with perimeter players. With 29 assists and only 13 turnovers this season, the 6-9 sophomore is ranked third in the ACC in assist to turnover ratio.
In Alabama’s second true road test of the season, the Tide is favored by a minus 3-point chalk against the Wolf Pack. While NC State has played eight games this season only four were board listed games. Of those four the Wolf Pack split ATS going 2-2. Most recently they lost SU 71-60 and failed to cover +5 ½ at West Virginia.
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The Crimson Tide has been over-favored in spite of their 9-1 SU record having failed to cover ATS in 5-of-7 games they have played. In the four games Alabama was favored by a double-digit chalk, the Tide is 0-4 in those games. The only other game Alabama failed ATS was at Notre Dame on Dec. 7 where the Tide lost SU and failed to cover as a +3-point road underdog.
