Alabama will be facing an upset-minded Hofstra team in the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon.
The Crimson Tide have not had a good week. After bowing out of the SEC Tournament this past weekend, point guard Aden Holloway was arrested for felony marijuana possession on Monday morning and is not expected to be available for this game.
Hofstra, led by former NBA player Speedy Claxton, has won 7 games in a row and cruised to the CAA conference title.
Alabama vs. Hofstra picks
Here are a couple of picks on Dabble Fantasy to consider for this game:
Latrell Wrightsell, Alabama: Higher than 13 points
With Aden Holloway out, Alabama will need to find additional offense from somewhere. Wrightsell is a strong candidate to get more usage as he’s Alabama’s best 3-point shooter and is a very efficient player overall. Wrightsell is averaging more than 14 points per game during SEC play, so this already seems like a projection that’s a touch too low. But then you account for Holloway’s 11 shots per game that need to be replaced and the edge gets meaningfully bigger. A lot of those extra shots will probably go to Labaron Philon, but if Wrightsell gets a couple more looks than normal, this is an easy pick.
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Silas Sunday, Hofstra: Lower than 9 rebounds
Silas Sunday is Hofstra’s top rebounder by a good margin. He’s top 50 nationally in rebounding rate on both the offensive and defensive side of the glass, per KenPom. Still, I think this projection is quite high. Sunday only averages 7.3 rebounds per game. Even if he plays a few more minutes than he typically does (21.7 in conference play) he still might not get to 9 boards. Alabama’s pace may not have a big impact either, as Hofstra likes to play slow (334th in average possession length).
Sunday has 11+ rebounds in 3 straight games with a higher minute total, which is likely why this projection is so high. But those performances came against CAA teams who struggled to hit 1.05 points per possession. Alabama is going to score a lot more than that (a 1.2 wouldn’t be surprising) which should put a ceiling on Sunday’s defensive rebounding opportunities.
Here’s what the current Kalshi market looks like for this game:
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
