Men's Basketball Game Notes: at LSU
3/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
UPCOMING GAME: At LSU
Saturday, March 8, 2003
Pete Maravich Assembly Center (14,164), Baton Rouge, Louisiana
TIP-OFF TIME: 1:00 p.m. CT
TICKETS: Limited; $10, Call LSU Box Office at 1-800-960-8587 or 225-578-2184
TV: Jefferson-Pilot Sports with David Steele (play by play) and Barry Booker (color analyst)
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 http://www.markgottfried.com/ and http://www.crimsontradition.com/ (subscription site).
PROBABLE STARTERS: (Lineups subject to change)
Alabama Crimson Tide (17-9 Overall, 7-8 SEC)
| F-35 | Erwin Dudley | 6-8, 260, SR, Uniontown | 15.3 ppg/9.7 rpg |
| F-03 | Kennedy Winston | 6-7, 200, FR, Mobile | 11.4 ppg/4.6 rpg |
| C-42 | Kenny Walker | 6-9, 220, SR, Jacksonville, FL | 9.7 ppg/5.6 rpg |
| G-50 | Antoine Pettway | 6-0, 170, JR, Alberta | 6.4 ppg/2.6 rpg |
| G-25 | Mo Williams | 6-1, 195, SO, Jackson, MS | 15.6 ppg/4.0 rpg/4.2 apg |
Head Coach: Mark Gottfried (Alabama, 1987)
LSU Tigers (18-9 Overall, 7-8 SEC)
| F-12 | Ronald Dupree | 6-7, 209, SR, Biloxi, MS | 16.1 ppg/7.6 rpg |
| F-14 | Jaime Lloreda | 6-9, 246, JR, Colon, Panama | 12.0 ppg/8.4 rpg |
| G-03 | Torris Bright | 6-4, 204, SR, Slidell, LA | 11.2 ppg/3.3 rpg/4.9 apg |
| G-22 | Xavier Whipple | 6-2, 170, SO, McIntyre, GA | 2.5 ppg/1.1 rpg |
| G-41 | Collis Temple III | 6-7, 218, SR, Baton Rouge, LA | 10.7 ppg/3.9 rpg |
Head Coach: John Brady (Belhaven, 1976)
Alabama Head Coach Mark Gottfried
167-83 (.668%) in 8th season overall, 99-58 (.631%) in 5th season 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.
LSU Head Coach John Brady
188-156 (.546%) in 12th season overall, 99-79 (.556%) in 6th season at LSU; 2000 SEC Champions; 1 NCAA Tournament appearance (2000 Sweet 16); 1 NIT appearance (2002)
Key Game Notes
- Alabama can finish anywhere between 2nd through fourth in the SEC Western Division on Saturday; Alabama can clinch the West No. 2 seed with a win
- Game marks the regular season finale' for the Crimson Tide
- It's the 150th meeting between Alabama and LSU in a series that started in Baton Rouge in 1916 (87 years ago) with a 44-26 Alabama win
- Erwin Dudley comes into the game after back-to-back double doubles vs. Ole Miss and South Carolina and is averaging 19.1 points a game in his last eight straight games (all SEC games)
- Freshman Kennedy Winston is hot for the Tide with 20 points vs. Ole Miss & 22 vs. USC in his last two games
- Alabama's next win will be the 100th at Alabama for Mark Gottfried
Season Finale Is a "Wild West" Showdown
Saving the best for last might be the best way to describe "Super Saturday" in the Southeastern Conference's Western Division. That's because while the league's Eastern Division has it's SEC seeding all wrapped up, nothing has been settled in the West. All six seeds are up for grabs, making the three Western Division showdowns important matchups.
Alabama is among the teams fighting for seeding in next week's March 13-17 SEC Tournament in the New Orleans' Super Dome. The Crimson Tide, 17-9 overall and 7-8 in the conference lays LSU, also 7-8 in league play and 18-9 overall in both teams' regular season finale' on Saturday, March 8 in Baton Rouge.
The Tip-off, which was moved on Monday from a night game to an afternoon game, is set for 1 p.m. CT.
JP Was Right Picking Game As "Wild Card"
Jefferson-Pilot picked up Saturday's Alabama vs. LSU game as its "Wildcard" game this past Monday, and, given the excitement this one brings, the name fits. The game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday night but was moved to 1 p.m. for TV. Its inclusion on television means that every single one of Alabama's 27 games this season was on TV.
The broadcast team for Saturday's game will find David Steele on play-by-play and Barry Booker as analyst. Roger Roebuck is the telecast's producer and Dave Burchett the director.
Alabama has been televised on the JP network five times already this season in its games at Auburn, at Mississippi State, at Arkansas and at Tennessee and at home against Mississippi State.
Saturday's JP broadcast of the game includes:
In Alabama: WTTO Birmingham; WSFA Dothan/Montgomery; WZDX Huntsville; WJTC in Mobile
In Arkansas: KHBS in Fort Smith; KATV in Little Rock
In Mississippi: WXXV in Biloxi; WCBI in Columbus/Tupelo; WABG in Greenwood/Greenville; WHLT in Hattiesburg; WJTV in Jackson; WGBC in Meridian
In Florida: WOGX in Gainesville; WJXT in Jacksonville; WBFS in Miami; WRDQ in Orlando; WJTC in Pensacola; WPGX in Panama City; WTLH in Tallahassee; WTTA in Tampa; WTCN in West Palm Beach
In Georgia: WUPA in Atlanta; WBEK in Augusta; WGXA in Macon; WTOC in Savannah
In Indiana: WTVW in Evansville
In Kentucky: WNKY in Bowling Green; WAVE in Louisville
In Louisiana: WNTZ in Alexandria; WAFB in Baton Rouge; KLAF in Lafayette; WUPL in New Orleans; KPXJ in Shreveport
In Missouri: KCZ in Springfield
In North Carolina: WAXN in Charlotte; WKFT in Raleigh
In Oklahoma: KWHB in Tulsa
In Tennessee: WFLI in Chattanooga; WPTY in Memphis; WUXP in Nashville; WCYB in Tri-Cities
In South Carolina: WMMP in Charleston; WIS in Columbia; WIS in Florence; WBSC in Greenville/Spartanburg
In Virginia: WCYB Tri-Cities (Tennessee/Virginia)
In West Virginia: WVAH in Charleston
Other Outlets
FULL COURT: The telecast will NOT be available as part of ESPN's Full Court Package
Tickets in Limited Supply
As of Thursday afternoon, 2,500 tickets remained for Saturday's game at LSU's Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Tickets are $10, available through the LSU athletic ticket office at 1-800-960-8587.
Catch Bama Hoops on Radio or on 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 and on 99.5 FM in the Birmingham area. 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.
Tide's Finish Can Be Anywhere from 2-4
Saturday is judgment day in the SEC's Western Division as no team goes into the final day of league play with a secured seed. All six spots are up for grabs.
Meanwhile "back East", all six spots have been locked up in its standings. Kentucky, the league's overall champion at a so far perfect 15-0, finished first. Florida is second (12-3), followed by Georgia (10-5), Tennessee (8-7), South Carolina (5-10) and Vanderbilt (3-12).
But in the West....the division winner will be determined in Starkville, Miss., where the Mississippi State Bulldogs (8-7), host Auburn. Auburn is 8-7 as well. The winner of that game is the West's No. 1 seed.
Second place in the West is up for grabs between Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi State. With a win at LSU (7-8), Alabama (7-8) clinches the West No. 2 seed. If Alabama and Auburn are tied at 8-8, the tiebreaker goes into play. That includes season series (head to head) and division records. Both would then be locked again at 6-4. Alabama's 2-0 record compared to Auburn's 0-2 record against Mississippi State would be the deciding factor, making Alabama the two seed and Auburn the 3 seed.
If Alabama and MSU are tied at 8-8, again, the same exists. Split the season series and division records, and both teams are tied at 6-4. Alabama's 2-0 record compared to MSU's 1-1 record against LSU would be the deciding factor. Alabama would be the two seed and MSU the three seed.
LSU (7-8) will clinch the West No. 3 seed with a win against Alabama. If LSU and Auburn are tied at 8-8, working the tiebreaker, Auburn would have a 6-4 division record and LSU a 5-5 division record. Auburn would be the West No. 2 seed and LSU would be the West No. 3 seed.
If LSU and Mississippi State are tied at 8-8, the tiebreaker (series, division) would find Auburn at 6-4 and LSU at 5-5. Mississippi State would be the West No. 2 seed and LSU would be the No. 3 seed.
The loser of the Alabama vs. LSU game will be the West No. 4 seed. The winner of Ole Miss (3-12) at Arkansas (4-11) game clinches the West No. 5 seed. If Ole Miss wins, having swept the season series, they would be the West No. 5 seed and Arkansas would be the No. 6 seed.
The loser of the Ole Miss (3-12) and Arkansas (4-11) game will be the West No. 6 seed.
And So the Tourney Matchups Would Be
Once the seeding is set, the match ups for the March 13-16, 2003 Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament in the Louisiana Super Dome would go as follows:
Thursday, March 13
Game 1 at noon: West No. 5 vs. Tennessee (to play West No. 1)
Game 2 at 2:15: West No. 3 vs. Vanderbilt (to play Florida)
Game 3 at 6:30: West No. 4 vs. South Carolina (to play Kentucky)
Game 4 at 8:45: West No. 6 vs. Georgia (to play West No. 2)
The top two seeds in each division receive first round byes and don't begin play until Friday, March 14th's quarterfinal round. Kentucky and Florida have byes as the No. 1 (Kentucky) and No. 2 seeds (Florida) in the East.
Tide Fans Can Still Purchase Tourney Tickets
Ticket books for the SEC Tournament are now available through the Superdome for $205 each. Seats are located on the Loge Level - Section 331 and 303. Log on to the Louisiana Super Dome's website at http://www.superdome.com/ or the SEC website at http://www.sec.org/ for where to call.
Tigers are Hot
On Thursday, a day after LSU beat Ole Miss 77-64 in Oxford, the LSU ticket office reported that it sold 900 tickets that day for Saturday's Alabama game. The Tigers have won their last four straight games with home wins against Arkansas and Auburn and road wins at Tennessee and at Ole Miss. LSU has won six of its last eight games, this coming straight on the heals of losing five straight between January 22 and February 1st.
Alabama has won its last two games, both at home, including a 23 point win against Ole Miss on March 2 and a a 23 point win against South Carolina on Wednesday, March 5. After opening the season 9-0 and then winning 12 of its first 14 games, Alabama skidded to lose three straight games (at Auburn, at Ole Miss and home vs. Kentucky. It snapped that three-game losing skid with a 75-66 win against LSU in Tuscaloosa on February 1. Alabama has now won three of its last four games.
Saturday afternoon will be "Senior Day" for LSU's six senior basketball players. They'll all be honored in a pre-game ceremony. The senior class includes Collis Temple III, Ronald Dupree, Torris Bright, Brad Bridgewater, Brian Green and Thomas Davis.
Both Teams Coming off Wins
Alabama comes into Saturday's game after playing in its home finale' on Wednesday, taking a 52-59 win against South Carolina on its "Senior Night" for Terrance Meade, Kenny Walker and Erwin Dudley.
Two Crimson Tide players mirrored the leading scorer totals as sophomore Mo Williams scored 22 points and freshman Kennedy Winston scored 22. Erwin Dudley collected career double double number 43 with his 17 points and 13 rebounds, 11 of those defensive rebounds. And senior Kenny Walker had 10 rebounds in the game. Alabama shot 50.0 percent for the game, making 29 of 58 shots attempted, including a second half performance that saw the Tide shooting 69.2 percent by making 18 of 26.
It was the second game in a row and the fourth time in the last six games that Alabama shot 50 percent or better from the field. (It's best was 58.5% against Ole Miss on march 2).
LSU shot 54.5% (22-44) in its 77-64 win at Ole Miss on Wednesday night, powered by 18 of those points coming from 3-point range (6 of 13). Torris Bright led the charge with 22 points. Ronald Dupree had 18, Jaime Lloreda 13 and, off the bench, Antonio Hudson (a 16-game starter this season) jumped in and scored 10 points.
One Coach Will Get 100th Win on Saturday
Alabama's next win with be the 100th for its coach. This is Mark Gottfried's fifth season as the Tide's head coach, and he's coming into the LSU game with a 99-58 (.631%) record at Alabama. (He coached at Murray State for three seasons in his first head coaching stint and has a career record of 167-83 for .668%).
Meanwhile LSU head coach John Brady also just won his 99th game as his team's head coach. He's 99-79 (.556%) in his sixth season as LSU's coach. Brady is 188-156 (.546%) overall in 12 seasons as a head coach.
Teams Have Home Success In Common
Alabama finished its 2003 home season with a 13-2 home record. The Tide's home losses were to Kentucky and Georgia. LSU is 15-2 at home this year. It's home losses in 2003 are to Ole Miss and Florida.
Tide Freshman is Feeling At Home on the Floor
Alabama freshman Kennedy Winston became eligible to play for the first time after sitting out Alabama's first 11 games and there was an adjustment stage while he got used to playing college ball and to his new teammates and his coaches and teammates got used to playing with him and learning his tendencies in game situations.
The Mobile native's first game was against Arkansas on January 8. He played 12 minutes and scored 6 points. He started in his second career game, this at Vanderbilt. In 31 minutes, he was 6 of 18 from the floor and ended the game with 14 points. After playing his next six games coming in off the bench, Winston started his first of what is now six consecutive starts in the February 15 Auburn game. He got his first collegiate career double double in that Bama win with his 15 points and 10 rebounds.
In his last six games, he is averaging 18.2 points a game. In his last two games, he's scored 42 points, 20 of those against Ole Miss and 22, his season high, against South Carolina on Wednesday.
He goes into the LSU game with a 11.4 points per game average after his first 14 games of college ball.
Dudley's Averaging 19.1 in His Last 8 Games
One of the downsides of a team experiencing a slide as Alabama did in late January when it dropped the four straight games was that the play of Erwin Dudley, the 2002 SEC Player of the Year, wasn't noticed.
But Dudley has led the SEC all season in rebounding. He was the only player in the league to average a double double, a stat he held 21 games into the season. After 26 games the Uniontown senior forward is averaging 15.3 points a game and 9.7 rebounds, and his numbers keep growing stronger and stronger.
The leader in the SEC in that stat with nine double doubles this season, Dudley has collected back-to-back doubles with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Ole Miss and 17 points and 13 rebounds against South Carolina.
In his last eight games, Dudley is averaging 19.1 points a game. Five of his double doubles have come in SEC play. He scored a career high 29 points at Arkansas on February 5.
But Wait, There's "Mo"
Alabama's success is a team effort, and in addition to Dudley and Winston and crew contributing, there's also the play of one of the country's best point guards, Mo Williams. (Some seem confused as to Williams' role on the floor. Alabama plays with two point guards on the floor at times)...
Williams leads Alabama in scoring at 15.6 points a game. He also leads the Tide in assists at 4.0 a game this season. Williams has scored 20 points or more in seven games this season, including the 22 he had against South Carolina on Wednesday. In his last five games, he's averaging 17.4 points a game, including 22 versus Georgia, 17 at Tennessee, 10 at Mississippi State, 16 against Ole Miss and the 22 against USC.
He's had the hot hand in feeding his teammates the ball as well. The Jackson, Miss., native had 7 assists against Ole Miss and six assists against South Carolina.
Speaking of Hot, How About This Tide Hoops Fan
Alabama learned Thursday that it has a Bama Hoops fan among the world of music recording artists. Singer Tim McGraw was scheduled to perform in Birmingham on Friday night, March 7. A staff member of the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center called the Tide's media relations office and said McGraw had inquired about how he might obtain an "authentic" Alabama basketball jersey. (A second phone call came requesting eight so that all of his band members could sport Tide basketball jerseys, but, seeing as the players need to wear those jerseys when they perform, that wasn't possible).
McGraw has been sent a crimson (road) number 35 jersey that was signed by its original "owner" on Thursday afternoon before it was shipped, although while he was signing it, Erwin Dudley suggested he'd much rather see McGraw's wife, Faith Hill, wearing his clothing on stage.
It's the 150th Meeting For LSU & Alabama
As both compete in the SEC's Western Division, meetings between Alabama and LSU come at least twice every year. Saturday afternoon's game marks the 150th time the two programs have met on the basketball court.
Alabama has won the last five straight games in this series with its last loss coming during the freshman season of Erwin Dudley, Kenny Walker and Terrance Meade when Alabama lost both games against the Tigers that season. Its most recent win, then, in Baton Rouge was last season when it won 57-48 there to sweep the series for two straight seasons after being swept by LSU in 2000.
Following is a quick series breakdown:
Series Record: UA 90 wins, LSU 59 wins
Streak: Alabama has won the last five
In Tuscaloosa: Alabama leads 57-17
In Baton Rouge: Alabama leads 38-27
Neutral Sites: Alabama leads 6-4
The game is the second of two regularly scheduled meetings this season. The first took place in Tuscaloosa on February 1, 2003. Alabama won the game 75-66 in front of a sold out Coleman Coliseum crowdin a win led by Mo Williams' 27 points, six rebounds and 5 assist and Kenny Walker's 16 points and 10 rebounds. Erwin Dudley came one rebound short of a double double that afternoon as he had 14 points and 9 rebounds.
