One Win Away ...

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Wednesday night's meeting between the University of Alabama and Arkansas on the hardwood is the Crimson Tide's biggest game in almost two decades.

After LSU's loss to Georgia on Tuesday night, No. 6 Alabama can clinch the outright Southeastern Conference regular-season title with a win over the 20th-ranked Razorbacks inside Bud Walton Arena (8 p.m, ESPN2)

It would be the Crimson Tide's first conference title since 2002.

"This is the toughest game we have left on the schedule," Alabama coach Nate Oats told the media via Zoom on Tuesday morning. "Arkansas is playing great. Seven straight wins in the SEC. They are the hottest team in the SEC. We are in first place and they are in second. This is really a game for the conference championship. That's what we have told our guys and it really is. We win it and we are conference champions. If they win it, they are still in the hunt. That's the appropriate approach we need to have toward this game."

Last time these two teams met on Jan. 16, Alabama won in dominant-fashion, 90-59. The Crimson Tide was led by senior guard John Petty Jr.'s 17 points and five three-pointers.

But since then, Arkansas has hit its stride and won seven of its last eight games, including wins over then 10th-ranked Missouri and Florida.

"They are playing harder," Oats said of what's been working for the Razorbacks of late. "That's the biggest thing to me. They also got healthy. I think some guys are looking better now than they were the first time against us. Their rotation is a little different. Some guys are playing more minutes. I think they have a little bit of a swagger about them now..."

One of the few bright spots for Arkansas in its 31-point loss to the Crimson Tide last month was freshman phenom Moses Moody. He dropped a game-high 28 points on 10-of-25 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.

"They have him going in the lottery and I can definitely see why," Oats said. "He's super talented. He scores it every possible way you can. It's a whole team effort to stop him. I didn't think we did a very good job on him the first time. The rest of the team we did a pretty good job on, but not him. He killed us. We gotta have some guys step up and meet the challenge."

Arkansas forward Justin Smith's first game back from ankle surgery was that blowout to Alabama and he is another player that Oats noted his team must keep an eye on. He has scored in double-figures in seven of the last eight games and is leading the Hogs in rebounds with 6.4.

The Razorbacks are 16-2 with him in the lineup and 1-3 without him.

"He plays hard and he's their second-leading scorer in their last five games," Oats said. "He brings the energy and gets to the offensive glass, attacks the rim and gets out in transition. He's good. He wasn't close to 100 percent when we first played them. He's gotten a lot better than that game. He is a big reason why they are on a run like this. We are going to have to match his energy."

While Arkansas has steadily improved since then, Alabama guard Jahvon Quinerly says the Crimson Tide has as well.

"I feel like the first time we played, we were two different teams," Quinerly said. "They have gotten much better. I feel like we have matured a lot as a group since then. We are trying to focus on the task at hand and go out there and do what we do and make sure we try to repeat what happened the first time. But obviously, both teams are different and we gotta stay locked in."

Including Wednesday's game, three regular-season contests remain for the Crimson Tide including a trip to Starkville to face Mississippi State this weekend and a home-finale versus Auburn next Tuesday.

So it isn't do-or-die for Alabama just yet, but a win to lock down the conference title this early would also mean that the SEC wouldn't likely schedule the make-up game with Texas A&M, or another opponent, the weekend before the SEC tournament gets underway.

It would just give the Crimson Tide more time to rest up for the event in Nashville.

"That would be a big deal," Alabama forward Alex Reese said of winning the conference championship. "That's one of the goals we set out before the season and to accomplish that would be very big for us. Big for the school and program. We just gotta handle business the rest of the year and make sure we are playing our best basketball as we finish up."

However, if Oats' squad isn't careful against Arkansas, then the pressure to clinch could considerably rise over the coming days.

"if we don't bring our A-game, then the large margin we beat them by at home could flip on us fairly easily if we don't bring great effort," Oats said. "I think we have the senior group that understands that. I think we will bring the appropriate effort and I think it's going to be a great game there."

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