Memphis was a Top 15 team in the preseason polls, but the Tigers have disappointed so far. They still are mega-talented and very capable of upsetting No. 6 Alabama in the college basketball game of the night Tuesday. The Tide are short favorites on the NCAAB odds.

How to Bet Alabama at Memphis NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

• When: Tuesday, 9 PM ET
• Where: FedExForum, Memphis
• TV: ESPN
• Stream: ESPN app
• Radio: Tunein.com
• Opening NCAAB Lines: Alabama -3.5 (total 155.5)

Series History

Memphis leads the all-time series 5-3. Alabama won the last meeting 82-70 in November 2017 at a neutral site. The last time Alabama played the Tigers in Memphis was in December 1964. That same year Tiger assistant coach Larry Brown won a gold medal playing with Team USA in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Why Bet on Alabama?

Alabama (8-1) comes is coming off back-to-back games over top-15 programs when it defeated then-No. 3 Gonzaga (91-82) on Dec. 4 followed by a narrow win over then-No. 14 Houston 83-82 on Saturday Dec. 11 in Tuscaloosa. It is the first time since February of 2000 that the Tide has achieved the feat (defeated then-No. 11 Auburn, 68-64, on Feb. 22, followed by an 80-75 win over then-No. 7 Tennessee on Feb. 26 in 2000).

In Saturday’s win over Houston, sophomore Juwan Gary scored a career-high 19 points.  Freshman JD Davison nearly had his second double-double of the year, finishing with 10 points and nine boards, including his offensive rebound and dunk to give the Tide the lead in the final seconds. Jaden Shackelford finished with 18 points and eight rebounds while Jahvon Quinerly added 17 points and matched his season high with eight assists.

Alabama won its 29th straight game when scoring 80 or more points. The contest featured 15 lead changes and 11 ties, 14 lead changes and eight ties came over the final 20 minutes.

The Tide are off to their best start to a season since beginning the 2006-07 campaign with a 13-1 record. It’s the first time Alabama has been inside the AP Top-10 in the month of December dating back to the 2006-07 season when the Tide rose to No. 4 nationally the week of Dec. 4, 2006.

Alabama is ranked No. 11 according to the most recent NCAA NET and Ken Pomeroy rankings. According to the NET rankings, UA owns a perfect 2-0 record vs. Quad 1 opponents while its average opponent NET ranking is No. 1 in the nation. The Tide are the only team ranked among the top 190 of the latest NET Ranking that has yet to play a game against a Quad 4 opponent.

The Tide enter ranked No. 1 in the SEC and No. 7 in the nation in scoring offense at 86.0 points per game. UA also leads the league and ranked No. 31 in the nation in threes made per game (9.9). Shackelford leads the SEC in threes made per game (4.0), total threes made (36) and three-point field goal percentage (.456) coming into the Memphis game. Nationally, those numbers rank fifth, 11^th and 28th, respectively.

Why Bet on Memphis?

For the second time in three seasons, Coach Penny Hardaway welcomed the nation’s top recruiting class. Along with five-star, top-five recruits Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren, the Tigers added four-star recruits John Camden, Johnathan Lawson, Josh Minott and Sam Onu. In all, the Tigers return seven letterwinners from last season’s NIT championship team, including three starters.

However, Memphis is just 5-4 with all that talent. The Tigers are off a 74-72 loss last Friday vs. Murray State, blowing a 14-pont halftime lead. The loss snapped Memphis’ 11-game home winning streak dating back to a 56-49 loss to Tulsa on Dec. 21, 2020. The Tigers have lost four-straight games. Memphis had not lost four-straight games since Feb. 2017.

Tyler Harris led the Tigers with 15 points on 3-of-6 3-point shooting, and he also had a team-high four assists. Duren added 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. Bates, Lester Quinones and DeAndre Williams all had nine points for the Tigers.

Memphis comes in as one of the better defensive teams in the country. According to the latest KenPom rankings, the Tigers ranked 29th in the nation in defensive efficiency and second nationally in blocked shots per game (7.7). Memphis it outscoring the competition by an average of 7.9 points per game (76.1-68.2) while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from deep.

With a win, the Tigers would avoid their first five-game losing streak since Jan. 29-Feb. 16, 2000. The last time Memphis defeated a top-10 team was vs. No. 7 Louisville in March 2014. The Tigers have lost eight-straight games against top-10 opponents.

Tuesday’s game is a White Out with the Tigers wearing Memphis State uniforms.

Expert Prediction

• Alabama 75, Memphis 73

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