Men's Basketball Game Notes: Auburn
2/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
UPCOMING GAME: Auburn
Saturday, February 15, 2003
Coleman Coliseum (15,316)
TIP-OFF TIME: 7:30 p.m. CT
TICKETS: Sold Out
UA HOME TICKETS: $17 adults/$8 youth; Buy at UA box office in Coleman Coliseum; or 205-348-BAMA; or http://www.rolltide.com/; (February 15 Auburn home game is sold out)
TV: Pay per view with Andy Burcham and Bryan Passink
UA WEEKLY TV: "The Mark Gottfried Show" on CSS with host Tom Roberts, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. CT
"Crimson Tide This Week" with host David Crane: Check local listings on CSS
RADIO: Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Tom Roberts (color)
105.5 FM in Tuscaloosa & 99.5 in Birmingham (complete list on http://www.rolltide.com/)
WVUA (University of Alabama campus station), 90.7 FM (when classes are in session)
INTERNET: Live audio of CTSN's radio broadcast is available on the internet on http://www.rolltide.com/; UA basketball is also featured on on http://www.markgottfried.com/ and http://www.crimsontradition.com/ (subscription site).
Alabama Crimson Tide (13-7 Overall, 3-6 SEC)
| PF-35 | Erwin Dudley | 6-8, 260, SR, Uniontown | 14.5 ppg/10.0 rpg |
| F-02 | Emmett Thomas | 6-4, 205, JR/TR, Birmingham | 6.8 ppg/2.3 rpg |
| C-42 | Kenny Walker | 6-9, 220, SR, Jacksonville, FL | 10.9 ppg/5.9 rpg |
| G-14 | Terrance Meade | 6-2, 190, SR, Scottsboro | 4.1 ppg/2.7 rpg |
| G-25 | Mo Williams | 6-1, 195, SO, Jackson, MS | 15.1 ppg/4.0 rpg/4.1 apg |
Head Coach: Mark Gottfried (Alabama, 1987)
Auburn Tigers (17-5 Overall, 6-3 SEC)
| F-03 | Marquis Daniels | 6-6, 200, SR, Orlando, FL | 18.4 ppg/6.5 rpg/3.5 apg |
| F-04 | Marco Killingsworth | 6-7, 234, SO, Montgomery | 14.2 ppg/6.8 rpg |
| F-13 | Brandon Robinson | 6-8, 215, SO, Huntsville | 11.0 ppg/5.2 rpg |
| G-11 | Derrick Bird | 6-4, 195, SR, Ypsilanti, MI | 10.1 ppg/3.4 rpg |
| G-22 | Lewis Monroe | 6-5, 190, SO, Madison, WI | 5.9 ppg/2.6 rpg/3.5 apg |
Head Coach: Cliff Ellis (Florida State, 1968)
Alabama Head Coach Mark Gottfried
164-81 (.669) in 7 complete seasons overall, 95-56 (.629%) in 5th season (4 completed) at Alabama; 2002 SEC Coaches & AP SEC "Coach of the Year"; three total NCAA tournament appearances, one at Alabama (2002, 2nd round), 2 (1997 & 1998) at Murray State; 3 NIT appearances (1996 at MSU, 1999 & 2001 at UA); One SEC Championship (2002) at Alabama; three conference championships at Murray State; Four 20-win seasons (out of 7) as a head coach; Assistant for UCLA's 1995 NCAA Champions team; three NCAA Sweet 16 appearances as a UA player 1985-86-87; Academic All-SEC as a player at Alabama...Coached Bama to its 1st No. 1 ranking...Born January 20, 1964 in Crestline, Ohio.
Auburn Head Coach Cliff Ellis
515-316 (.620%) in 28th season overall, 167-104 (.616%) in 9th year at Auburn; ; 1999 AP National Coach of the Year; 1995 & 1999 SEC Coach of the Year; 1987 & 1990 ACC Coach of the Year; 4 NIT & 2 NCAA trips at Auburn & 7 overall as a head coach; 11 NIT trips overall.
Key Game Notes
- Both teams have no mid-week games this week; 2nd meeting of the two teams this season as Auburn won 77-68 in Auburn on January 18; Alabama leads the series 76-50; Bama leads 36-7 in Tuscaloosa
- SEC Player of the Year & All-America candidate Erwin Dudley averages the double double, 14.5 ppg & 10.0 rpg
Tide At Home For Next Two Games
After playing both its games last week on the road, the University of Alabama men's basketball team, 13-7 overall, 3-6 in the Southeastern Conference, will play its next two games at home in Coleman Coliseum.
The two-game home stand begins with cross state rival Auburn on Saturday night, February 15th. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. CT. Auburn is 17-5 overall and 6-3 in league play.
Alabama follows that game with a Tuesday night ESPN game against Georgia. The Tide and the Bulldogs tip at 8 p.m. CT on February 18. After Tuesday night, Alabama hits the road again for a pair of games against first Tennessee in Knoxville on February 22 then in Starkville at Mississippi State on February 26.
Pay-Per-View Available For Those Without Tickets
Saturday night's Alabama's Auburn game is, as has been the norm for years now, a sell out. But fans in Alabama who don't have a ticket to the game can still watch the action on pay-per-view television. Fans should contact their local cable service to pick up the game. It will be 460 on the DISHNETWORK, and those with C Band satellite dishes should call 1-800-TVStARS.
Andy Burcham will be the broadcast's play-by-play man and former Crimson Tide player Bryan Passink will be the analyst.
Here's Where to Buy Tide Home Tickets
Tickets for Alabama's home games against Georgia (February 18), Ole Miss (March 2) and South Carolina (March 5) are on sale at the Athletic Ticket Box Office in Coleman Coliseum and may be purchased at the ticket window, by phone at 1-877-TIDETIX (877-843-3849) or 205-348-BAMA (2262), or on the Crimson Tide's official website, http://www.rolltide.com/.
Ticket prices are $17 adults/$8 youth age 15 and under. Box office hours are from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and phone hours are from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets may be charged to MasterCard, VISA or Discover.
Fans Can Catch All Tide Games on the Radio or Internet
All University of Alabama men's basketball games are broadcast on the radio on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart and Tom Roberts calling the action. Fans can listen locally on 105.5 in Tuscaloosa or 99.5 in Birmingham. Fans from around the country or around the world may listen to Alabama Basketball radio broadcasts on the internet. There's an audio link on Bama's official website, http://www.rolltide.com/.
"Mark Gottfried Show" Every Tuesday Night
"The Mark Gottfried Show" airs each week on CSS. The 30-minute show stars Tide basketball coach Mark Gottfried and is hosted by Tom Roberts of the Crimson Tide Sports Network. A new show airs each Tuesday night at 10 p.m. CT.
Fans Entering Coliseum Subject to Search
Because of the heightened national security alert, extra security measures will be in place at Coleman Coliseum this weekend. All bags, including purses, backpacks, briefcases, etc., will be searched upon entry to the coliseum. Fans are encouraged to arrive a tad earlier than they might normally arrive as the security checks will slow the lines into the coliseum.
Dudley Should Tie All-Time Starts Lead Saturday
Should he start, as expected on Saturday night against Auburn, senior power forward Erwin Dudley will tie with Eddie Phillips for first in all-time career starts at the University of Alabama with 121.
Dudley currently has 120 career starts at Alabama which places him 2nd all-time at Alabama. Dudley has started in every game Alabama has played in since he arrived four years ago. At R.C. Hatch High School, the Uniontown native's alma mater, he also started in every career game. That means he has now started in 200 consecutive games between high school and college.
UA All-Time Career Starts Records
1. Eddie Phillips (1979-82) 121
2. Erwin Dudley (2000-03) 119
3. Reggie King (1976-79) 119
Ken Johnson (1978-81)
5. Gary Waites (1988-91) 116
6. Melvin Cheatum (1988-91) 114
7. T.R. Dunn (1974-77) 111
8. Mike Davis (1980-83) 110
9. Buck Johnson (1983-86) 109
Leon Douglas (1973-76)
Game Pits Two Favorite Rivals
Alabama and Auburn make up one of college athletics greatest rivalries, and proof is in the ticket sales. While Major League Baseball has its "Subway Series" with the Yankees and the Mets, Alabama and Auburn basketball have the "Sellout Series." Saturday night marks the tenth consecutive sellout for the Alabama-Auburn men's basketball game.
These two teams play one another twice during each regular season, one home game, one away. The tickets to all these games have been sold out in Tuscaloosa and Auburn in every campus game since 1999.
Saturday night's game marks the 20th Auburn game sellout in Coleman Coliseum since 1975. Tickets to this weekend's game in Tuscaloosa have been sold out since December.
Series is 79 Years Old
It is easily the favorite and the most heated series on the schedules of both Auburn and Alabama whenever these two in-state schools go head to head. This Alabama vs. Auburn men's basketball series dates to 1924 when the very first of the 126 games that have been played took place in Atlanta at the Southern Conference Championships. Hank Crisp Coached the Tide to a 40-19 win against Wilbur Hutsell's Tigers.
The first game on either team's campus was played at Auburn in 1949. Alabama left the "Loveliest Village" with a 45-38 win. That same year, Alabama hosted Auburn for the first time and got another win, this time by a 39-37 margin.
Since those early days in the series, Alabama has a 26-game lead in the series, having won the game 76 times to 50 wins by Auburn.
Following is a quick series breakdown:
Series Record: UA 76 wins, AU 50 wins
Streak: Split home & away last season
Auburn won in Auburn in 2003
In Tuscaloosa: UA leads 36-7
In Auburn: AU leads 22-21
Neutral Sites: AU leads 21-19
This season's first meeting took place in Auburn on January 18. Auburn won 77-68. Alabama and Auburn played one another twice last season, first in Auburn and then in Tuscaloosa. The teams split with Auburn winning in Auburn 59-56 on January 12, 2002 and Bama winning in Tuscaloosa 73-68 on February 27, 2002. Alabama had won at least a share in the 2002 SEC regular season championship the game before against Florida, but its win against Auburn in the home finale' won the title outright for the Tide.
He Who Hosts Wins?
This has been a series, of late, where he who hosts wins. Auburn has lost the game in five of its last six trips to Tuscaloosa. Alabama hasn't won in Auburn in the last seven tries (counting this season). Auburn's last win in Tuscaloosa was in 1999. Prior to that Alabama won 14 straight against Auburn in Tuscaloosa beginning with a 74-72 double overtime victory in 1985.
The largest (overall) string of wins in the series for either team includes Alabama's 11 straight wins against Auburn from 1976-1981. Auburn's longest win streak against Alabama is eight games, from 1958-61.
A Tale of Two Thomas's...
The Alabama-Auburn game takes on extra intensity in the Emmett Thomas---senior that is---household. Not only did both of the junior JUCO transfer's parents graduate from Auburn BUT his father, Emmett, Sr., played basketball at Auburn, officially lettering in 1975.
When Alabama played at Auburn on January 18, it was the son of the former Tiger who led the Tide in scoring. Thomas scored his (so far) UA career high, 20 points, against Auburn. He was 8 of 11 from the field (.727%), including making 3 of 5 (.600%) from 3-point range. He also attempted on free throw that afternoon-and made it.
Gottfried Was 6-4 vs. Tigers as Alabama Player
During Mark Gottfried's 1984-87 (3 seasons-he was a transfer from Oral Roberts) playing career at Alabama, the Tide went 6-4 against the Tigers. Alabama lost both games Gottfried's sophomore season in 1984 then won both games in 1985, including a two overtime 74-72 win in Tuscaloosa. The teams split in 1986 with Alabama winning in Tuscaloosa and Auburn winning in Auburn. And Gottfried's senior year Alabama swept the series, going 3-0 against the Tigers, including a 87-68 SEC tournament game win en route to Bama's 1987 SEC tournament (and regular season) championship.
Both Teams Had Week Off Leading to Saturday
In an unusual twist in this series, both Alabama and Auburn have had a full week to prepare for this game. Due to the conference office's scheduling, neither Alabama nor Auburn played a mid-week game this week.
Having a seven day break in play leading into this game has occurred three times in series history. In 1972 (game date January 22, 1972 when Alabama's last game had been Vanderbilt on January 15, 1972), 1957 (game date was January 19, 1957, Alabama broke after a January 12, 1957 game against LSU) and in 1949. Alabama and Auburn played, according to Alabama records, on January 6, 1949 (Auburn has the date as January 4). Alabama's preceding game that year was against Texas on December 29, 1948.
