Alabama and Auburn to Meet in Home Finale
3/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2009
ALABAMA (16-12, 6-8 SEC) vs. AUBURN (19-10, 8-6 SEC)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Tipoff: 8 p.m. (CST)
Tickets: 1-877-TIDETIX or rolltide.com
TV: ESPN
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network
Pregame: Senior Night
Halftime: Presentation of the ODK Sportsmanship Trophy
Game Notes in PDF Format 
The University of Alabama men's basketball team returns to campus for its final home game of the season when it hosts in-state rival Auburn on Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. before a national television audience on ESPN.
In addition to the matchup between two of the Southeastern Conference's hottest teams, Tuesday evening will also be 'Senior Night' at Coleman Coliseum as the Crimson Tide honors its two seniors, Alonzo Gee and Brandon Hollinger prior to the game.
At halftime, the University of Alabama will recieve the ODK Sportsmanship Trophy, given annually to the winner of the Alabama-Auburn gridiron rivalry.
On the court, Alabama brings a three-game win streak back home after a 90-69 thrashing of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. on Saturday to improve to 6-8 in the SEC. On the other bench, Auburn has reeled off six wins in their last seven tries for an 8-6 record in league play.
"I think Auburn is obviously playing very well, as well as anybody in the league, maybe with the exception of LSU," said UA interim head coach Philip Pearson. "They are a very difficult team to play, a little bit like Mississippi State in the fact that a lot of times they have four perimeter players, undersized type guys that can shoot the ball from the perimeter on the floor at one time around [Korvotney] Barber, who has been really good in the post for them as well."
Alabama continues to be led by senior Alonzo Gee's 14.9 points per game this season and 7.3 rebounds per game. Despite, being held to a relatively quiet 10 points at Mississippi, he is averaging 20.3 points over the past three games and has hit double-figures in 24 of his 28 games this season.
Inside, JaMychal Green continues to solidify his standing as one of the top freshman in the SEC after scoring nine points, four rebounds and a career-high four assists in 22 minutes at Mississippi. Green is averaging 11.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in SEC contests this season. Since the start of SEC play, Green has scored in double-figures nine times with five double-doubles, the most in SEC action this season.
Further out on the perimeter, Anthony Brock showed his range at Mississippi coming off the bench to score a career-high 17 points in 20 minutes on 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range. At the point, Mikhail Torrance has continued his steady play with 14 points and four assists at Mississippi. The junior has scored in double-figures in two-straight games, five of the last seven and has had four assists in each of the past three outings.
For Auburn, Korvotney Barber has averaged 12.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game and has been even more effective in SEC games, averaging a double-double with 12.6 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Overall, DeWayne Reed leads the team in scoring with 13.2 points per game and a team-high 111 assists.
Tay Waller, who had 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting from three-point range in the first meeting this season, remains the team's top marksman, converting on 36.8 percent of his 228 three-point attempts.
Following Alabama's home finale, the team will make one final road trip to Tennessee on March 8 to close out the season against the Volunteers before joining the rest of the league in Tampa for the SEC Tournament.
