TUSCALOOSA ?? Two Top 25 ranked teams will face off in a Southeastern Conference Western Division showdown in Tuscaloosa when the No. 14 ranked University of Alabama basketball team plays host in a sold-out Coleman Coliseum to No. 13 ranked LSU.
Alabama brings a 13-2 overall record and 0-1 SEC mark into the game. LSU is 11-3 overall and will make its 2007 SEC debut against the Crimson Tide. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. CST.
Tide fans attending the game are asked to wear white to the game which will feature two of the five AP preseason All-Americans on the floor in Alabama’s junior point guard Ronald Steele and LSU’s junior forward Glen Davis. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 as part of ESPN’s “Super Tuesday” lineup of college basketball.
“I hope everybody participates and puts on white shirts and wears them to the game to make a big presence,” said Alabama coach Mark Gottfried. “We should have a great atmosphere. I know people are excited with a great LSU team coming in here and the game on national television on ESPN2. Our players are excited, and, hopefully the fans will get into that, too and participate in the fun by wearing white to make it lots of fun in here. The game itself is going to be a great challenge. We’re playing an unbelievably good LSU basketball team here on Tuesday night.”
LSU is the SEC’s defending regular season champion and features the 2006 SEC Player of the Year in Davis. This game will find three players who are John Wooden candidates in Davis and Alabama’s Steele and senior center Jermareo Davidson.
“We have a lot of respect for their program,” said Gottfried. “John Brady is a terrific coach. He’s got them playing at a high level like he does every year. I think nationally there’s a great amount of respect for Glen Davis and what he’s done to make himself a great player. And then the players that are around him: Garrett’s (Temple) improvement since his freshman year has been fun to watch. He’s a very, very good player. And you can go right down the line with all of them. So we’ve got a lot of respect for them. They do a great job. They’ve got a great program. We’ve had some great games against LSU since my time here, over the last eight or nine years.”
The game marks the 157th meeting between Alabama and LSU in basketball. Alabama leads the series 92 win to 64 series wins by LSU. Last season the two teams split the series with LSU winning 68-57 in Baton Rouge and Alabama winning 67-62 in Tuscaloosa. Tuesday night’s game is the first of two regular season meetings between Alabama and LSU. Alabama travels to Baton Rouge, La., for a January 31st date at LSU.
