TUSCALOOSA ?? The No. 10 AP/No. 9 ESPN/USA Today Coaches ranked University of Alabama basketball team hits the road after having an open weekend. Alabama, 14-2 overall and 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference, travels to Nashville, Tenn., where it will play Vanderbilt, 11-6 overall, 1-2 SEC, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CST. Alabama has not played since its 71-61 home win against LSU on January 9.
There is no television for the Vanderbilt game. Crimson Tide fans can listen to it on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with the broadcast team of Chris Stewart, Tom Roberts and Bryan Passink. For a listing of network affiliates, visit Alabama's official website at www.rolltide.com. SIRIUS will carry CTSN's broadcast of the game on channel 147.
The game will find two brothers sitting on opposite benches, both wearing the jersey number 20. Greg Cage is a redshirt freshman for the Crimson Tide. Dan Cage is a senior starter for the Commodores.
"It's very different to have to play against your brother," said Greg Cage who had always teamed with his older brother Dan growing up and in high school at Indianapolis' Bishop Chatard. "I went to their game last week, and I was sitting there realizing I was rooting for them to do well, and I realized a week later I was going to have to be rooting against them. You know it's not just my brother: I'm close with a lot of his teammates. I know them from visiting Dan and a lot of them have come home to our house for Christmas and stuff like that. So it's different to have to be on the other side from them. But it's a lot of fun at the same time."
Wednesday night's game marks the 125th meeting between the Crimson Tide and the Commodores in a series Alabama leads 65-59. The first time these two teams played was in Nashville in 1924 and Alabama left with a 26-25 win. Wins in Nashville by the Tide have been fleeting of late however. In eight trips since, Alabama has not won at Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym since Wimp Sanderson's 1990 team beat the Commodores 65-56.
Last year Alabama defeated Vanderbilt in overtime in Tuscaloosa 77-74 to snap a four-game losing streak to the Commodores. Down 65-63 with eight seconds remaining in regulation, Alabama's Jean Felix made a 3-point shot to put Alabama ahead 66-65 only to have Vanderbilt's Shan Foster hit one of his six 3-point shots on the next position. Vanderbilt led 68-66 with 2.3 seconds remaining when Jean Felix launched a full court inbounds pass to then Alabama freshman Richard Hendrix. Hendrix tossed it to Alonzo Gee who slammed dunked the ball to send the game to overtime.
Alabama made seven free throws in overtime to out-score Vanderbilt 9-6 in the five minute span and win the game. In fact, Alabama was 18 of 19 from the free throw for the game, missing only its first attempt of the game and making its next 18. Ron Steele led the Alabama win with 22 points, and Jermareo Davidson had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Gee scored 17 points. Shan Foster led Vanderbilt and the game with 30 points, making 11 of 20 from the field including six of 13 3-point shots, all in the second half.
Hendrix, Davidson, Steele, Gee and Foster, among other returning veterans, will all factor again in Wednesday night's match up.
"We have a big challenge, obviously," said Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried who was 6-0 as a University of Alabama player against the Commodores. "Vanderbilt is a very good team, and it's a tough place to play. We know that. And I think the way that they are playing this year with the four perimeter players??they are really trying to stretch the floor out. They are shooting the ball extremely well. They're making a lot of three point shots. That's going to pose a lot of problems for us guarding them. They have great atmosphere there. They have great fans. It's a tough place to play. And our guys are excited about that type of a challenge that we're looking at on Wednesday night."
Steele says he has great respect for this Vanderbilt team and knows he and his teammates will have their hands full when they play the Commodores Wednesday night.
"Vanderbilt is really tough to guard because they run a different style. I know they're playing a little different this year than what they were playing when we played them last year, but it's not anything normal in the SEC??a different style. They can really shoot the ball and they are really well coached, so it's just tough to guard them."
Alabama will return from the Vanderbilt game to host Georgia on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. CST. Tickets to that game are sold out. CBS will televise the game with Kevin Harlan and Bill Raftery calling the game for the network.
