Alabama Basketball Back Home v. Vanderbilt Tonight

Alabama basketball returns home to Coleman Coliseum tonight for what is expected to be a tough contest against the Vanderbilt Commodores.

The Crimson Tide hoops squad is riding a four-game win streak and bested LSU 66-49 on the road last weekend in the conference opener. Alabama's 11-4 record has been fueled primarily by defense which as seen the last three opponents held under 40 percent shooting from the field.

On offense the Tide have been led by JaMychal Green and Mikhail Torrance who have averaged 15.6 and 15.5 points per game respectively. Senario Hillman has been in double-digits regularly as well and leads the team in assists with 4.7 per game.

The game will mark the 218th time the teams have played  each other and Alabama has a 65-62 advantage in the series.The most recent meeting between was last March when the Crimson Tide knocked the Commodores out of the SEC Tournament with an 82-75 victory.

This season Vanderbilt boasts a strong squad which has earned a solid 12-3 record and garnered a number of votes in the polls. The Commodores haven't lost in more than a month and have scored 80+ points five times in that stretch. Their average margin of victory is an impressive 25.8 points.

Vanderbilt topped Florida 95-87 last week presenting the Gators with their first loss in a conference opener since 2001. A.J. Ogilvy led the Commodores with 24 points. He is one of four Vanderbilt players with a points-per-game average in double figures for the season.

The game will be at 8 p.m. tonight in Coleman Coliseum. Tickets are still available.

As always, we urge you to head over to the unmatched Alabama Basketball Blog for all your Crimson Tide hoops needs (Bama07 has also posted an excellent preview over in the Fanposts). The SB Nation Vanderbilt site, Anchor of Gold, has also whipped up a rather detailed pre-game analysis that has all the detail we're too stupid lazy busy to do ourselves. Check it out.