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BYU Cougars (26-9, 15-7 Big 12) vs. Alabama Crimson Tide (27-8, 14-6 SEC)
Newark, New Jersey; Thursday, 7:09 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Crimson Tide -5.5; over/under is 176.5
BOTTOM LINE: No. 7 Alabama and No. 17 BYU play in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
The Crimson Tide are 14-6 against SEC opponents and 13-2 in non-conference play. Alabama has a 1-2 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Cougars are 15-7 against Big 12 opponents. BYU is fourth in the Big 12 with 24.2 defensive rebounds per game led by Keba Keita averaging 5.1.
Alabama makes 48.6% of its shots from the field this season, which is 5.7 percentage points higher than BYU has allowed to its opponents (42.9%). BYU averages 81.2 points per game, 0.2 more than the 81.0 Alabama gives up to opponents.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mark Sears is scoring 18.6 points per game and averaging 3.0 rebounds for the Crimson Tide. Aden Holloway is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Richie Saunders is shooting 51.1% and averaging 16.3 points for the Cougars. Egor Demin is averaging 9.4 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Crimson Tide: 6-4, averaging 91.9 points, 36.3 rebounds, 17.7 assists, 6.2 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 50.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 85.6 points per game.
Cougars: 9-1, averaging 84.9 points, 33.6 rebounds, 18.1 assists, 7.2 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.4 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
