Men's Basketball Opens Up Tourney Play Against Vanderbilt
3/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2009
ALABAMA (17-13, 7-9 SEC) vs. VANDERBILT (19-11, 8-8 SEC)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tipoff: 6:30 p.m. (CST)
TV: Raycom Sports
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network
Game Notes in PDF Format 
The University of Alabama men's basketball team enters a new phase of its season Thursday evening with its first Southeastern Conference Tournament game in Tampa, Fla.
The Crimson Tide, which earned the West's No. 4 seed by virtue of a 70-67 buzzer-beating win at Tennessee to end the regular-season, will face the East's No. 5 seed, Vanderbilt. Tipoff between the cross-divisional foes is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT at the St. Pete Times Forum. The winner of Thursday's contest will face Tennessee, the East's No. 1 seed, on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
However, interim head coach Philip Pearson and the Crimson Tide aren't considering a rematch with the Vols, instead their focus is primed solely on Vanderbilt.
"The championship game for Alabama is Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. versus the Vanderbilt Commodores," said Pearson. "If you don't win that game, it doesn't matter what happens after. That first game is the championship game."
Vanderbilt makes the trek to Tampa with a 19-11 overall record and an 8-8 mark in league play. The Commodores closed out their regular season with a 75-58 drubbing of Arkansas in Nashville, Tenn. for their third straight win. However, UA enters the game with similar recent success after rattling off four wins in its last five outings.
Alabama is led, as it has been all season, by senior Alonzo Gee with 14.8 points per game to earn second-team all-SEC honors from the league's coaches. Gee is truly trying to end his career in grand fashion as he's averaging 17.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and converting on 44.4 percent of his three-point attempts in his last five games.
JaMychal Green, a unanimous SEC all-freshman selection, continues to solidify his standing as one of the top freshman in the SEC with 11.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in SEC contests this season. Since the start of SEC play, Green has scored in double-figures 10 times with five double-doubles, the second-most in SEC action this season.
Point guard Mikhail Torrance's steady play has been a cornerstone of the team's recent success with the junior averaging 10.5 points and 3.7 assist since interim head coach Philip Pearson took over. The junior has scored in double figures in four straight games, seven of the last nine and has a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in the last month.
Alabama is 37-29 in the Tournament since it was reinstituted in 1979 and overall, the Tide is 56-42 in SEC Tournament action. UA's 56 SEC Tournament victories are the second most in the SEC behind only Kentucky. Alabama has been the No. 4 seed in the West four times since divisional seeding began in 1992 and is 3-4 as the West's No. 4 seed.
The last time UA was a No. 4 seed, it also faced Vanderbilt and fell, 82-69, in the 2003 Tournament. Vanderbilt and UA have met in tournament play eight times with Vanderbilt holding a 5-3 advantage.
