Alabama Closes Three-Game Homestand Thursday Night vs. Southern Miss
11/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama will play its final game of three-game homestand to begin the season when it welcomes the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to Coleman Coliseum on Thursday at 8 p.m. CT.
Thursday night's contest will be televised on the SEC Network, with Doug Bell (play-by-play) and Joe Dean (analyst) on the call. The game can also be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network, with Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) calling all the action. There will be live updates throughout the game available on Twitter @AlabamaMBB.
promotions
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Diabetes Awareness Night
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HB Gaming on concourse: Free video game play from pre-game to start of second half.
The series
Thursday's contest marks the 26th meeting in series history between the Tide and Golden Eagles, with Alabama holding a 20-5 lead in the all-time series. Thursday marks the first time since the Nov. 23, 2007 that the two squads will meet on the hardwood. In that contest, the Tide captured a 79-77 victory in Coleman Coliseum. UA, which has won four straight and six of the last seven in the series, owns a 13-3 record when playing the Golden Eagles in Tuscaloosa, including a 5-2 record under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum.
the coaches
Alabama head coach Anthony Grant is in his sixth season at the helm of the men's basketball program. He owns a record of 101-71 (.587) during his time at the Capstone and is 177-96 (.648) now in his in ninth season as a head coach. Southern Miss head coach Doc Sadler, is in his first season as at the helm of the program. Now in his ninth season has head coach, which includes stops at Nebraska and UTEP, Sadler owns an overall record of 151-107 (.585).
ABOUT TONIGHT's MATCH-UP
Alabama and Southern Miss both enter Thursday's game with a 2-0 marks on the young season. The Tide is led by senior guard Levi Randolph, who is averaging team highs of 17.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Shannon Hale (12.0 ppg), Ricky Tarrant (11.5 ppg) and Rodney Cooper (10.0 ppg) each average in double figures, while Jimmie Taylor adds 9. 5 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest.
Meanwhile, Southern Miss has five new starters on a team that features nine newcomers and only two seniors. Sophomore guard Matt Bingaya leads the team with 17.0 points and 9.5 rebounds a game, while sophomore guard Shadell Millinghaus adds 15.0 ppg. Senior guard Chip Armelin is the third Golden Eagle to average double digits with 12.0 ppg, while also ranking second on the team with 6.0 rpg.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
? The Tide returns eight letterwinners and four starters from last season's team. Included in the returnees are a pair of transfers who sat out the 2013-14 campaign in junior Ricky Tarrant and sophomore Michael Kessens. The Tide welcomes four freshmen on the 2014-15 squad.
? Senior guard Levi Randolph leads Alabama in scoring (17.0 ppg), rebounding (8.0 rpg), assists (3.5) and steals (2.0) through the Tide's two contests. He is one of four players to average double digits for UA.
? Sophomore forward Shannon Hale is second on the team in scoring average (12.0 ppg), while also adding 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. Junior guard Ricky Tarrant (11.5 ppg) and senior guard Rodney Cooper (10.0) each average double digits.
? Sophomore forward Jimmie Taylor, coming off his first career double-double, adds 9.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
? As a team, the Tide is outscoring the opposition by 17.0 points per game (81.0-64.0) and own a +2.0 rebounding advantage (35.5-33.5) in the early going. Alabama is shooting 46.4 percent from the floor, but only 22.5 percent from deep thanks in large part to connecting on just 2-of-17 from beyond the arc vs. Western Carolina on Monday night.
MAKING FREE THROWS COUNT
? Alabama has shown an advantage at the charity stripe through its first two games this season. As a team, the Tide has knocked down 49-of-61 (.803) free throws, which averages out to 24.5 points a game from line.
? In the win over Western Carolina, Alabama connected on 32-of-42 free throws en route to the victory. The 32 makes we the most in a game since making 34 vs. Stanford in the NCAA Tournament on March 20, 2004, while the 42 attempts were the most since going for 42 free throws vs. Memphis on Nov. 17, 2005.
? Leading the way is senior guard Levi Randolph, who has connected on all 16 free throws to start the season. Sophomore forward Shannon Hale is also perfect from the line this season (5-of-5), while junior guard Ricky Tarrant has made 13-of-15 (.867) free throws on the year. The trio is a combined 34-of-36 (.944) at the free throw stripe this season.
PUTTING UP THE POINTS
? Through two games on the year, Alabama has shown quite the improvement on the offensive end of the floor.
? The Tide has reached 80 points in each of its first two games, which marks the first time since the 2007-08 campaign, and the first time under Anthony Grant, that Alabama has opened the season with back-to-back 80-point games. That year, the Tide began the year with three consecutive 80-plus point performances.
? Last season, Alabama scored 80 or more points just six times throughout the year.
THE CAPTAIN MAKING HIS MARK
? In his first two games as captain, Levi Randolph certainly has done his part in leading Alabama to a pair of victories to start the season.
? The Madison, Ala., native recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the win over Towson. He also tied his career highs in assists (5) and steals (4) en route against the Tigers.
? Following that contest, he scored 19 points and added six rebounds and a pair of assists in the victory over Western Carolina on Monday. He also knocked down all 11 of his free throws, including hitting 6-of-6 in the final two minutes to season the win.
? As a result, Randolph leads Alabama in points (17.0), rebounds (8.0), assists (3.5), steals (2.0) and minutes (33.5) per game, while hitting 16-of-16 from the free throw stripe for the year.
? Prior to the start of the season, Randolph's teammates unanimously voted him as the team captain, which marks the first time in the Anthony Grant era the Crimson Tide has elected a captain.
? Randolph is the first Alabama men's basketball player to be named captain since Alonzo Gee was the captain of the 2008-09 team.
ALABAMA UPCOMING MILESTONES TO WATCH
? Senior Levi Randolph has 847 points in his career. He needs only 153 points to become the 47th player in program history to reach the 1,000-pont plateau.
? Similar to Randolph, Cooper is also nearing the 1,000-point milestone. He currently has 775 points and needs 225 points to achieve the feat.
? Anthony Grant is seven games shy of his 300th career game as a head coach (VCU and Alabama)
? Alabama has 1,593 wins in program history - only eight shy reaching 1,600 wins in program history. Currently, only 28 school in NCAA Division I have reached that milestone.
REACHING THE CENTURY MARK
? Head coach Anthony Grant earned his 100th victory at the helm of the Alabama program with Alabama's victory over Towson in the Tide's season opener on Nov. 14. In doing so, he became the seventh head coach in the 101-year history to earn 100 victories at UA.
? Grant has now coached 172 total games since coming to Alabama (101-71) and became the fifth-fastest head coach to reach 100 wins at Alabama.
? Below is a list in terms of the fastest Alabama head coach to reach the 100-win mark in his career:
Coach (Overall Record at UA) Games Reach to 100 Wins
1. Wimp Sanderson (267-119) 150 games
2. Hank Crisp (264-133) 152 games
3. David Hobbs (110-76) 162 games
4. Mark Gottfried (216-138) 163 games
5. Anthony Grant (101-71) 171 games
6. C.M. Newton (211-123) 176 games
7. Hayden Riley (102-104) 193 games
20-POINT GAMES IN THE SEC
? Alabama has the distinction of leading the SEC in a unique category, as play begins in the 2014-15 season
? The Tide boasts six players on this year's roster who have scored 20 or more points in a game in their career (Rodney Cooper, Shannon Hale, Michael Kessens, Retin Obasohan, Levi Randolph and Ricky Tarrant).
? That number is tied for the SEC lead with Ole Miss, while Arkansas and Texas A&M are second in the league with five players who have achieved the feat.
NEW FACES AND NEW PLACES
? Alabama welcomes four freshmen to this year's team. The Tide's 2014 recruiting class was ranked as high as No. 21 in the nation. Guards Justin Coleman (Birmingham, Ala./Wenonah HS), Devin Mitchell (Suwanee, Ga./Fort Collins HS) and Riley Norris (Albertville, Ala./Albertville HS) are rated as top-100 recruits nationally and slated to join the Crimson Tide on the court for the 2014-15 season. UA also signed forward Jeff Garrett (Gadsden, Ala./Oldsmar [Fla.] Christian School) during the late signing period.
? Alabama also welcomes junior guard Ricky Tarrant and sophomore forward Michael Kessens to this year's lineup. Both players transferred to Alabama and sat out the 2013-14 season due to NCAA rules. Tarrant scored over 1,000 points in his two seasons at Tulane and averaged 15.3 points. 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals a game during his career. Meanwhile, Kessens averaged 13.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, while shooting 54 percent from the floor as a true freshman at Longwood University in 2012-13.
ALABAMA SIGNS THREE DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
? Head coach Anthony Grant announced that three players have signed during the early signing period, as small forward Brandon Austin (Montgomery, Ala./Carver HS), power forward Donta' Hall (Luverne, Ala./Luverne HS) and combo guard Dazon Ingram (Theodore, Ala./Theodore HS) have all signed to continue their basketball careers at the University of Alabama.
? Brandon Austin | 6-5 | 180 | SF: Austin plays under head coach and former Alabama basketball player J.J. Jackson at Carver-Montgomery High School. Austin averaged 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists a game during his junior season. This past summer, Austin was invited to the 2014 Alabama High School Athletic Association North-South All-Star game where he was named the most valuable player of the South Team after scoring a game-high 15 points.
? Donta' Hall | 6-8 | 205 | PF: Hall will come to Alabama after a standout career at Luverne High School under head coach Richard Dorsey. During his junior season, the 6-8, 205-pound power forward averaged 11.7 points, 10.1 rebounds and 6.7 blocks per game. Last season, he led his team to a 25-3 overall record and a state runner-up finish. Hall is a two-time ASWA all-state honoree, including first-team all-state accolades in 2014.
? Dazon Ingram | 6-5 | 180 | G: Ingram averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists per game last season for head coach Phillip Roebling at Theodore High School. Ingram was tabbed to the Alabama Sportswriters Association (ASWA) 6A First Team All-State and was named the Mobile Press Register's 2014 Coastal Alabama Player of the Year.
? With the three signees all hailing from the state of Alabama, the Tide continues to have a stronghold on the state's top prep basketball players. Hall is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the state of Alabama, which marks the third consecutive year the top boys basketball player has come to the Capstone (Jimmie Taylor was ranked No. 1 in 2013 and Justin Coleman was No. 1 in 2014). In addition to signing the state's top-ranked recruits, current Alabama player Riley Norris was ranked No. 3 in the state as a high school senior last year, while Ingram and Austin are rated by many outlets as two of the top three players from Alabama in this year's signing class.
HOME SWEET HOME
? Now in his sixth seasons at UA, Grant has a record of 74-17 (.813) on Alabama's home floor. During the 2013-14 season, the Tide finished 13-4 at home and outscored teams by an average of 9.5 points a game (73.4-63.8).
? Since the start of the 2010-11 campaign, Grant has won 63 of the last 74 games played under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum (63-11; .851).
? Overall, Alabama owns a record of 532-120 (.815) in the facility's 47th season of use.
? Grant also led UA to 24 straight home victories that spanned the final home game of the 2009-10 season through the beginning of the 2011-12 season.
