Tide Hosts Ole Miss on Wednesday
2/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA ?? The first of two regular season match-ups between Southeastern Conference Western Division teams the University of Alabama and the University of Mississippi takes place in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, February 13. The Crimson Tide, 13-11 overall and 2-7 in the SEC, plays host to Ole Miss at 7 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum.
There is no live television for the Alabama vs. Ole Miss game. Tickets are available and can be purchased online through Alabama's official website, www.rolltide.com, by calling 1-877-TIDETIX, or at the Athletic Ticket Box Office in the main entrance to Coleman Coliseum. Tickets are $18 for adults but only $8 for youths.
Fans are encouraged to take the free Crimson Ride shuttle bus to the game. Fans can park in the Soccer Lot located off University Boulevard (there are signs that direct to the lot) and ride the shuttle which begins one hour before tip-off of each Tide home game and drops fans off at the front entrance steps to the coliseum. It returns the fans to the lot after the game as well.
The Ole Miss game brings the Tide home after playing back-to-back road games last week. Alabama's last home game was on Saturday, February 2 when it defeated LSU 81-72. The Ole Miss game marks the first of the final three home games Alabama has remaining on its schedule as four of its next seven games are on the road. Alabama hosts Ole Miss on Wednesday, Arkansas on Wednesday, February 27 and, in the regular season's final game, Vanderbilt on Saturday, March 8.
"When you watch Ole Miss on tape you learn very quickly that they are very good," said Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried. "They're a very talented team. Inside they've got two seniors in (Kenny) Williams and (Dwayne) Curtis, and Curtis is a guy in the SEC that has been a very dominant interior guy. And I think on the perimeter with (Eniel) Polynice, who I think is a terrific wing player, and then Chris Warren as a point guard, I think those guys are as good as any in the league as well. Warren has had a phenomenal freshman year for them. It's a very talented team. It's a good basketball team. And our guys obviously have a lot of respect for what they've done this year."
Expected to return to the lineup for the Tide will be All-SEC forward Richard Hendrix. Hendrix continues to average the double-double in scoring and rebounding 24 games into the season with his averages of 19.0 points and 10.3 rebounds, stats that rank him among the top three in the league in scoring and at the top of the league in rebounding. Hendrix missed last Saturday's road game at Kentucky because of a flu-like illness. It snapped his streak of 76 consecutive starts for the Tide, dating to his freshman year.
Wednesday night's match-up will feature two league players who co-share the lead in double-doubles produced this season. Ole Miss's Dwayne Curtis had 24 points and 11 rebounds in the Rebels' 66-55 win Monday night at home against Presbyterian College to tie Hendrix for the SEC's lead in most double-doubles this season. Both now have 12. Hendrix has had 32 for his career.
"They have very good players, particularly Chris Warren at point guard," said Alabama junior starting guard Brandon Hollinger. "He's a freshman. He's probably going to be freshman All-SEC point guard. They have Dwayne Curtis, a big post presence on the inside. They just have a good team. They have a good coach who is in his second year there and he's been coaching those guys well. They started the season 15-0. They gave Clemson its first loss and, as you know, we lost to Clemson, so it's going to be a tough game coming up. But we've got the home advantage, so I think we can pull this game off. We're going in it to win it."
The series dates to Tuscaloosa in 1921 when Alabama and Ole Miss first played one another in men's basketball. Though Ole Miss won that first game 87 years ago by a 22-18 score, Alabama has since controlled the series, winning 112 times to 48 by Ole Miss. Last season the two teams split with Ole Miss winning in Oxford 75-69 but Alabama winning 69-58 in Tuscaloosa. It was the opposite two years ago with Ole Miss winning 71-61 in Tuscaloosa and Alabama winning 64-50 in Oxford in 2006.
Following Wednesday night's game, Alabama hits the road again, travelling to Columbia, S.C., where it will play at the University of South Carolina on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.
