Alabama closing in on title

LITTLE ROCK — Alabama can clinch the SEC Western Division with a victory against Arkansas tonight at Coleman Coliseum.

“Any time you have a chance to play for a championship, that’s significant,” said Alabama Coach Anthony Grant, whose team is 13-0 at home this season. “We don’t take that lightly, but our focus is going to be on Arkansas.”

There are a couple of factors that could weigh in the Razorbacks’ favor. They’ve already beaten the Crimson Tide, coming from 10 points behind for a 70-65 victory Jan. 15 at Walton Arena.

Also, Alabama is coming off its second Thursday night road game in a row, having handled LSU 67-56 in Baton Rouge, so physical and mental fatigue could be an issue.

“It’s a big challenge,” Alabama guard Trevor Releford said. “Like coach told us, it’s going to come down to mental.”

The Crimson Tide had a less-stressful walk-through Friday instead of a normal gritty practice.

“The challenge of refocusing and preparing for an opponent in such a short period of time is challenging,” Grant said. “You look at last week. We had a very difficult game at Vanderbilt and then came back and played a team the caliber of Ole Miss. It was a very tough game [at LSU], and now we’re playing a very good team in Arkansas. There’s a lot that needs to go into it from a mental standpoint.”

Alabama (17-8, 9-2 SEC) has already equaled its victory total from last season, and the Crimson Tide’s SEC record is their best since the 2002 team opened 10-2.

The Razorbacks are technically still alive to win the West, and they’re in a dogfight with Ole Miss and Mississippi State for a bye in the SEC Tournament.

“We’re going to need to have an unbelievable amount of focus and readiness and energy,” Arkansas forward Michael Sanchez said. “We can’t let the environment, wherever we play at - even if it’s outer space - we’re going to need to have the same energy and focus.”