Alabama Rings In the New Year Against Georgia Tech
1/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2009
Alabama (9-3) vs. Georgia Tech (8-4)
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Tipoff Time: 2 p.m. CST
TV: Fox Sports South (Play-by-play - Dave Neal; Analyst - Joe Dean, Jr.)
Radio: CTSN (Play by Play - Chris Stewart; Analyst - Bryan Passink)
Series: UA leads, 39-28
Saturday's Game
The University of Alabama men's basketball team ushers in the New Year Saturday afternoon when it plays host to Georgia Tech at 2 p.m. in Coleman Coliseum before a regional-television audience on Fox Sports South.
The game is the final installment of the Crimson Tide's eight-game homestand that began on December 2 ans is also the first of back-to-back games against Atlantic Coast Conference competition as the team faces Clemson on January 6. UA has gone 6-1 during the homestand and brings a 9-3 overall record into Saturday's matinee with the Yellow Jackets. The Tide has won four-straight games with an average margin of victory of 14.8 in those games.
In its last outing, UA handily beat Quincy, 86-58, with all five starters scoring in double figures. Georgia Tech is 8-4 this season but has dropped two of its last three games with losses at Southern California and against Virginia in its ACC opener. In their last game, the Yellow Jackets got back in the win column with a 63-58 win over visiting Tennessee State.
Who to Watch
• Senior Alonzo Gee leads the Crimson Tide with 14.7 points per game after scoring 14 points in the win over Quincy.
• In his last three outings, he is averaging 17.7 points with 7.0 rebounds and connecting on 52.6 percent of his attempts from the field.
• Last Sunday against Yale, he got his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
• That was his second-straight 20-point performance after scoring 20 points with four assists and two steals against Chattanooga.
• Sophomore guard Senario Hillman led UA against Quincy with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including two dunks, with four assists and a career-high six steals.
• In his last two games, Hillman is averaging 17.5 points on 15-of-29 shooting (.517) with nine total steals.
• Freshman forward JaMychal Green continued his strong play with 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks against Quincy.
• Green has now reached double-figures in each of his last three games and is averaging 8.0 rebounds in those games with 42 percent of them coming off the offensive glass.
Last Time Out
• Alabama got its ninth win of the season and sixth in the month of December with an 86-58 thrashing of visiting Quincy on December 30 at Coleman Coliseum.
• All five UA starters scored in double-figures with Senario Hillman's 17 leading the way.
• The Crimson Tide converted on 53.1 percent of its attempts from the field, its best percentage of the season against a Quincy team that featured six players that had transferred from a Division I institution.
• UA actually trailed for more than seven minutes in the opening half before taking a six-point lead into halftime.
• Things changed quickly after halftime with an 11-0 run in the first three minutes of the second stanza that helped the Tide outscore Quincy by a 51-29 margin in the half.
Scouting Georgia Tech
• The Yellow Jackets come to Tuscaloosa with an 8-4 record and a 2-1 mark in road contests.
• Tech has lost two of its last three outings, but won its most recent game, a 63-58 win over Tennessee State on Tuesday evening.
• The team is averaging 75.6 points per game on 46.3 percent shooting from the field.
• However, the team has struggled mightily from the free-throw line, converting on just 58.4 percent of its 310 free-throw attempts.
• Gani Lawal leads the team inside with 16.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.
• The 6-9 sophomore has seven double-doubles in 12 games this season.
• Lewis Clinch is also one of five Jackets averaging double-figures with 15.2 points in his five games this season since becoming eligible at the end of the fall semester.
• Alade Aminu joins Lawal in the paint with 13.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game to complement a rebounding effort that is tied for 10th in the nation with 42.5 rebounds per game.
• Tech and Alabama share a pair of common opponents this season in Mercer and Tennessee State.
• Both teams beat TSU, UA by a nine-point margin and GT by a five-point margin.
• UA fell to Mercer, 72-69, in the season opener. Six days later, Tech needed overtime to beat the Bears, 82-76.
Against the ACC
• Saturday's game is the first of two against ACC competition for the Crimson Tide.
• On January 6, the Tide will play its first true road game of the season at Clemson.
• UA is 75-72 all-time against current members of the ACC.
• That includes a 39-28 mark against Georgia Tech with the majority of those meetings coming while Tech was a member of the SEC.
• UA is 36-44 against all other ACC programs.
• UA head coach Mark Gottfried is 0-2 in his previous meetings with the ACC at Alabama in games against Clemson and Wake Forest.
Defense Keys Victories
• Alabama's staunch defense has been responsible for its early season 9-3 record with the Tide holding opponents to 62.7 points per game this season.
• Additionally, the Tide has held its opponents to just 37.3 percent shooting and 29.1 percent shooting from three-point range.
• Only three opponents (Oregon, Texas A&M, Quincy) have shot better than 40 percent against UA this season with UA going 1-2 in those games.
• UA has limited two opponents (Alabama A&M, Louisiana) to less than 30 percent shooting from the floor.
More on Defense
• UA is 17th in the nation in defensive field-goal percentage with opponents shooting just 37.3 percent from the floor against the Tide.
• The team is also 25th nationally in defensive three-point field-goal percentage at 29.1 percent.
• Breaking down the team's defensive prowess on a possession-by-possession basis, opponents are averaging just 0.85 points per possession against the Tide.
• That average is tied for 15th in nation and just 5/100ths behind Washington State, Purdue and Wake Forest's top national mark of 0.80 points allowed per possession.
Gee Leaps Up All-Time List
• Alonzo Gee needed just 13 points against Quincy to jump four spots on UA's all-time scoring list into a tie for 19th with current UA's women's coach Wendell Hudson with 1,326 points.
• With one more point, he'll join Richard Hendrix in 18th place in the UA annals.
• Next up for Gee on the scoring list is Mike Nordholz's 1,394 points in 17th place.
A December to Remember
• After opening the season with six points in the first two games, Alonzo Gee got back on track and just wrapped up an outstanding December.
• During the year's final month, the senior averaged 18.1 points per game on 52.3 percent shooting with three 20-point performances in seven games.
• He complemented his scoring with 7.0 rebounds per game with 43 percent of them coming off the offensive glass.
• Gee also chipped in with 12 assists, six blocks and eight steals on the month.
20-Point Scorers = Wins
• Among current players on the Alabama roster the Crimson Tide has had an individual score 20 or more points 28 times.
• UA sports a 21-7 overall record when the Tide has a 20-point scorer over that span.
• Alonzo Gee leads the team with 17 20-point performances. In those games the Tide is 14-3.
• Ronald Steele closely follows with 10 20-point games. In those contests UA is 6-4. • Senario Hillman tallied his first 20-point game with 22 points in a win against Chaminade.
Double-Doubles = Wins
• Among current players on the Alabama roster the Crimson Tide has had an individual record a double-double 13 times, going 11-2 in those games.
• Senior guard Alonzo Gee leads the way with nine double-doubles. In those games the Crimson Tide is 8-1 overall.
• Demetrius Jemison has tallied two double-doubles and in those games UA is a perfect 2-0.
• JaMychal Green tallied a double-double in a loss against Mercer.
• Junior Yamene Coleman record his first double-double with a career-high 14 points and 14 rebounds in the win against Tennessee State.
Steele Makes History
• Alabama senior point guard Ronald Steele eclipsed the 1,000-point mark by scoring 11 points against Alabama A&M.
• Steele became the 42nd player in Alabama history to record 1,000 points as he enters the game against Georgia Tech with 1,075 career points.
• In addition to joining the 1,000-point club, Steele is only the second player in school history to record more than 1,000 points and 400 assists, joining Robert Scott (1,321 points and 444 assists from 1977-80). Steele has 437 assists coming into the Tech game.
Steele In The Record Book
Ronald Steele has etched his name prominently in the Crimson Tide record book. Steele has made his mark in the assist categories where he ranks sixth in career assists (437), first in assists in a single game (18) and fifth in assists per game in a career (4.37 average).
• The Birmingham, Ala., native is first in free throw percentage for a career (.871) and a season (.892), and ranks third in career three-point field goal percentage (.410) with head coach Mark Gottfried (1985-87) holding the all-time mark with a .485 clip.
Gottfried Among Winningest SEC Coaches
• Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried, in his 11th season at the Capstone, has had great success while directing the Crimson Tide.
• Gottfried is one of only two coaches to have taken his SEC squad to the NCAA Tournament five times since the 2001-02 season.
• At Alabama, Gottfried has averaged 20 wins per season to rank second behind only Wimp Sanderson (22.3 in 12 seasons) in the UA record books.
• Throughout his 13-year coaching career Gottfried has averaged 21 wins per season.
Gottfried Gets 200th Win at UA
• The win over Chaminade on November 25 was Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried's 200th victory at Alabama.
• Gottfried now has a 207-127 record in his 11th season with the Crimson Tide.
• With his 200th win at Alabama, Gottfried joined an exclusive club of 200-game winners at Alabama. Wimp Sanderson (267), Hank Crisp (264) and C.M. Newton (211) are the only other coaches in school history to reach the 200-win mark with the Tide.
Alabama Picked to win the West
• In a poll by both national and SEC media the Crimson Tide were selected to win the SEC's Western Division as selected by a 30-member voting panel.
• Alabama received 11 first-place votes and earned a total of 151 points. LSU had 147 points and also received 11 first-place votes. Tennessee was selected to win the conference.
Gee and Steele Garner Preseason Honors
• University of Alabama senior guards Alonzo Gee and Ronald Steele were selected to the Second Team of the 2008-09 Preseason Southeastern Conference All-Conference team as voted by the league's coaches.
• Gee was third on the team with 14.5 points per game and second on the team with 6.8 rebounds per game.
• He led the Tide in scoring in 10 games last season. Steele was a Preseason All-American in 2007-08 before an injury forced him to sit out the 2007-08 season.
• Alabama's all-time leader in free-throw accuracy (.868), Steele has started 98-of-100 games he has been in a Crimson Tide uniform.
UA Basketball: A Historical Perspective
• 7 SEC regular season championships
• 6 SEC tournament championships
• 19 NCAA Tournament Appearances (2004 NCAA Elite 8)
• 8 NCAA Tournament "Sweet 16" advancements
• 5 NIT Final Four Trips
• 40 NBA Players (5 current NBA players)
• 19 First Team All-Americans
• 48 Academic All-SEC players
• Ranks 20th in NCAA tournament appearances since 1984
• 126 All-SEC players
• Ranks second all-time in SEC wins behind Kentucky
Next Time Out
• The Crimson Tide hits the road for its first true road game of the season at Clemson on January 6.
• The game will be UA's second-straight against ACC competition.
• Alabama is 3-4 all-time against the Tigers.
• The game will also be broadcast by Fox Sports South.
