Men's Basketball Hosts Appalachian State on Sunday Night
12/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Following a 69-49 victory over Stillman last Friday night, Alabama will play its second game in three days when the Tide welcomes the Appalachian State Mountaineers to Coleman Coliseum Sunday at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Sunday night's contest will be televised on 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
Youth Night: Admission for youth $1 (18 and under); Promo Code MBBYOU.
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 106-74 (.589) during his time at the Capstone and is 182-99 (.648) now in his in ninth season as a head coach. Appalachian State head coach Jim Fox, who was hired on April 8, 2014, is in his first season with the Mountaineers. Fox came to Boone, N.C. from Davidson, where he coached for the past 13 seasons, including the last two as associate head coach.
THE SERIES
Sunday night's contest will mark the second game in series history between Appalachian State and Alabama. The only other meeting between the Tide and Mountaineers came on Dec. 20, 1986 when Alabama recorded a 95-62 victory in Coleman Coliseum.
MORE ABOUT SUNDAY'S MATCH-UP
Sunday's contest will conclude a string of four games in nine days for the Crimson Tide ... it also will be Alabama's second game in a three-day span after the Tide battled Stillman on Friday night ... the Appalachian State game will mark the Tide's final game before Christmas break ... this will mark the only time Alabama will match up against a team from the Sun Belt this season ... as a conference, the SEC is 5-1 when playing Sun Belt Conference teams on the year.
UP NEXT
Alabama will have seven days off before its next game, when the Tide welcomes the UCLA Bruins to Coleman Coliseum on Sunday, Dec. 28, at 5:30 p.m. CT. That contest will be televised on ESPNU. It will mark the second consecutive season the two squads will meet on the hardwood and the fifth meeting in series history.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
? Alabama (7-3) continues its season-long five-game homestand on Sunday when it hosts Appalachian State. It is the longest homestand since playing eight consecutive games at home during the 2008-09 campaign.
? Senior guard Levi Randolph leads Alabama in scoring (16.8 ppg), assists (2.9 apg), steals (1.7) and minutes (33.9 mpg) through the Tide's 10 contests. He enters the Appalachian State game needing 19 points to becoming the 47th player in program history to reach 1,000 points in his career (981 points).
? Junior guard Ricky Tarrant ranks second on the team with 12.7 points per game, while also leading the squad in threes made (15) and attempted (45). Senior guard Rodney Cooper is third on this year's squad with 12.4 ppg this season and the team in three-point shooting (42.4 percent).
? Sophomore forward Shannon Hale is the fourth player to average double digits, as he contributes 10.1 points and 3.9 rebounds a contest. In addition, sophomore forward Jimmie Taylor leads the team with 1.7 blocks and 5.7 rebounds per game, while also chipping in with 5.3 points per contest.
? As a team, the Tide is outscoring the opposition by 7.2 points per game (74.5-67.3) through its 10 games. Alabama owns a narrow +0.2 advantage on the glass (33.3-33.1), while also averaging 7.8 steals and 3.4 blocks per game.
NOTES FROM ALABAMA-STILLMAN GAME
? Friday night's contest marked the second game in series history between Stillman and Alabama, both coming in each of the last two seasons. With the 69-49 victory, Alabama now has a 2-0 lead in the series history.
? It is the first time this season that Alabama has held an opponent to below 50 points. Including tonight's contest, Grant's Alabama teams have held opponents to 50 or fewer points a total of 35 times in his six seasons at the Capstone. The Tide is 33-2 (.943) when hitting that mark.
? Alabama started three freshmen against Stillman in guards Justin Coleman and Devin Mitchell and forward Riley Norris. It is the first time since Feb. 11, 2012 at LSU. In that contest, the Tide started four freshmen (Rodney Cooper, Nick Jacobs, Trevor Lacey and Levi Randolph).
? Norris, who earned his first career start, had season highs of 13 points and seven rebounds in the contest. He also set a career high in field goals made (5).
? Coleman finished with a 14 points and three steals in 30 minutes of action - all career-best numbers.
? Alabama's second and third leading scorers on the season, Ricky Tarrant (12.7 ppg) and Rodney Cooper (12.3 ppg), did not play against Stillman (coach decision).
? Alabama connected on 43 percent from the floor, but shot just 15 percent (3-of-20) from beyond the arc. The Tide came into the game third in the SEC in three-pointers made per game (7.2). The three treys are the second fewest UA has made in a game this season (made two vs. Western Carolina on Nov. 17).
? Alabama recorded 13 steals on the night, which is the second-most steals in a game this season (14 vs. Towson on Nov. 14). It is the third time this season the Tide has reached double figures in steals. Retin Obasohan and Randolph led the Tide with three takeaways apiece.
? Sophomore walk-on John Gibson earned his first career minutes in an Alabama uniform. He finished with one rebound and one steal in three minutes of action.
WHO'S HOT?
? Senior guard Rodney Cooper has three 20-point games over the Tide's last six contests. During that span, Cooper is averaging 14.3 points per game, while shooting 49.2 percent (30-of-61) from the floor and 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from three-point range.
? Jimmie Taylor finished the night with 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Over his last three games, Taylor is averaging 6.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game.
? Senior guard Levi Randolph is the only Alabama player to score in double figures in all 10 contests. In addition, the Madison, Ala., product has recorded five or more rebounds in all but three games this season.
? Sophomore Shannon Hale has recorded back-to-back games of 13 points. Over his last two contests, Hale is averaging 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 52.6 percent from the floor.
VAST IMPROVEMENT ON DEFENSE
? Alabama has tightened up its defense over the last three games, allowing 53 points to both Tennessee Tech and Wichita State, while then giving up 49 points to Stillman. All three games are the three lowest point totals allowed by the Tide this season.
? During the three-game stretch, Alabama has held the opposition to just 35.8 field goal percentage and 28.6 three-point field goal percentage.
? In comparison, the Tide allowed opponents to average 80.8 points per game in the four games prior to this most recent two-game stretch. Below is a breakdown between the Tide's last two games compared to the four previous (Iowa State, Arizona State, South Florida, Xavier).
Defense In... FG% Def. 3FG% Def. Scoring Defense
Last Three Games .358 .286 51.7
Previous Four Games .516 .429 80.8
SECOND HALF TEAM
? Alabama has proven it gets stronger as the game wears on.
? When looking further into the numbers, the Tide's shooting percentages and scoring output gets better as the game progresses, while the opposition's numbers decrease.
? Below is a breakdown of UA's first and second half numbers compared to opponents through the first nine games of the season.
OPP OPP OPP OPP
FG% FG% 3FG% 3FG% Reb. Reb. Diff. Points Points Diff.
1st Half .416 .446 .301 .400 16.7 17.7 -1.0 35.1 32.0 +3.1
2nd Half .496 .446 .360 .290 16.6 15.4 +1.2 39.4 35.3 +4.1
ANOTHER STRONG NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
? Alabama has opened the season with a 7-3 record while playing against quality competition.
? Alabama has only played one team that currently has a record under .500 (Western Carolina), with five opponents boasting of three or fewer losses on the year.
? Alabama's competition for the year has a combined record of 60-32 (.652).
? Last season, the Tide's non-conference schedule was rated No. 9 in the nation, according to ESPN.com. Alabama has already played the likes of Iowa State (Nov. 24), Arizona State (Nov. 25), South Florida (Dec. 2), Xavier (Dec. 6) and Wichita State (Dec. 16), and a date against UCLA (Dec. 28) looms later this month.
BACKCOURT THREAT
? The backcourt trio of Levi Randolph, Ricky Tarrant and Rodney Cooper is establishing itself as one of the top trips in the SEC.
? Together, Randolph (16.8 ppg), Tarrant (12.7 ppg) and Cooper (12.3) are combining to average 42.2 points per game - approximately 56 percent of the team's 75.1 points per game average.
? The three-headed monster of Randolph, Tarrant and Cooper currently rank as the second-best scoring trio in the SEC (through games of Dec. 18). Below are the top five scoring trios in the SEC.
Trio Team Combined PPG
1. Jordan Mickey (16.3)/Jarell Martin (15.9)/Keith Hornsby (12.7) LSU 44.9 ppg
2. Levi Randolph (16.8)/Ricky Tarrant (12.7)/Rodney Cooper (12.3) Alabama 41.8 ppg
3. Bobby Portis (15.8) /Michael Qualls (14.3)/Anthlon Bell (11.4) Arkansas 41.5 ppg
4. Damian Jones (17.2)/Riley Chance (13.6)/Luke Kornet (10.7) Vanderbilt 41.5 ppg
5. KT Harrell (17.6)/Cinmeon Bowers (13.0)/Shamsid-Deen (7.4) Auburn 38.0 ppg
ALABAMA UPCOMING MILESTONES TO WATCH
? Senior Levi Randolph has 981 points in his career. He needs just 19 points to become the 47th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
? Similar to Randolph, Cooper is also nearing the 1,000-point milestone. He currently has 866 points and needs 134 points to achieve the feat.
? Anthony Grant is 19 games shy of his 300th career game as a head coach (VCU and Alabama).
? Alabama has 1,588 wins in program history, The Tide needs 13 wins to become the 29th D-I program to reach the 1,600-win plateau.
? Randolph is four starts shy of reaching 100 career starts in an Alabama uniform.
HOME SWEET HOME
? Now in his sixth seasons at UA, Grant has a record of 78-17 (.821) 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). This year, Alabama is 6-0 in home games and is outscoring the competition by 15.2 points per game (76.5-61.3).
? Dating back to the end of the 2013-14 campaign, the Crimson Tide has won 10 straight games at Coleman Coliseum.
? Since the start of the 2010-11 campaign, Grant has won 67 of the last 78 games played under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum (67-11; .859).
? Overall, Alabama owns a record of 536-120 (.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.
SIXTY IS SWEET, BUT 50 IS BETTER
? Alabama has held four opponents this season to below 60 points in a game, picking up three wins in the process.
? Since Anthony Grant's arrival in 2009, his teams have held the opposition to 60 or below a total of 86 times, going 71-16 (.816) when achieving the feat.
? The Tide held Stillman to 49 points, marking the first time this season UA has held an opponent to 50 or fewer points this season.
? Grant's Alabama teams have held opponents to 50 or fewer points a total of 35 times in his five seasons at the Capstone. The Tide is 33-2 (.944) when hitting that mark.
