Men's Basketball Begins Road Stretch at Tennessee Saturday Afternoon
1/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama will play three of its next four on the road beginning Saturday, when the Tide travels to face the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) on the SEC Network. It will mark Alabama's first SEC road game this season.
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 110-74 (.598) during his time at the Capstone and is 186-99 (.653) now in his in ninth season as a head coach. Head coach Donnie Tyndall is in his first season at Tennessee. Now in his ninth season as a head coach, Tyndall has a career record of 179-106 (.628).
THE SERIES
This year's Alabama-Tennessee game will mark the 144th meeting in series history between to two schools, which stands as UA's fifth-most common opponent in program lore. The Crimson Tide owns a 76-67 edge in the all-time series, including wins in four of the last six meetings vs. the Volunteers.
MORE ABOUT SATURDAY'S MATCH-UP
Saturday's contest will mark the first SEC road game for the Tide this season, while Tennessee will be playing its first home league game ... both teams enter Saturday's game riding five-game winning streaks ... Alabama last won in Knoxville on Feb. 5, 2011, claiming a 65-60 overtime victory ... the last four times the two teams have met in Thompson-Boling Arena were decided by a total of 12 points, including a pair of overtime games ... the four games included a pair of Alabama losses (54-53 on Jan. 26, 2013 and 69-66 in overtime on Feb. 21, 2007) and a pair of victories (65-60 in overtime on Feb. 5, 2011 and 70-67 on March 8, 2009) ... the Tide has won 12 of the last 18 games played between the teams.
UP NEXT
Alabama will close out its two-game road swing when the Tide travels to Columbia, S.C., where it will take on the South Carolina Gamecocks on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
? Alabama (11-3) begins a two-game road swing on Saturday when it travels to Knoxville, Tenn., where it will square off against the Tennessee Volunteers. It will mark the Tide's first road SEC game, while the Vols will play their first home league contest of the year.
? Senior guard Levi Randolph leads Alabama in scoring (15.7 ppg), assists (2.9 apg), steals (1.6) and minutes (33.8 mpg) through the Tide's 14 contests. The Madison, Ala., native currently ranks fourth in the SEC in free throw percentage (.844), seventh in scoring and field goal percentage (.500) and eighth in steals per game entering Saturday's contest.
? Junior guard Ricky Tarrant ranks second on the team with 13.2 points per game, while also leading the squad in threes made (19) and attempted (65). Senior guard Rodney Cooper is third on this year's squad with 10.5 ppg this season and ranks second on the team in threes made (18) and three-point shooting (39.1 percent).
? Sophomore forward Shannon Hale is the fourth on the team in scoring, contributing 8.6 points along with 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists a contest. In addition, sophomore forward Jimmie Taylor leads the team in blocks per game (1.8) and field goal percentage (.558), and is second with 5.2 rebounds per game, while also chipping in with 4.1 points per contest.
? As a team, the Tide is outscoring the opposition by 8.2 points per game (71.6-63.4) through its 14 games. Alabama owns a narrow +1.0 advantage on the glass (34.4-33.4), while also averaging 7.9 steals and 3.9 blocks per game.
ALABAMA-TENNESSEE - SERIES NOTES
? Saturday's contest will mark the 144th meeting in series history between to two schools, which stands as UA's fifth-most common opponent in program lore. The Crimson Tide owns a 76-67 edge in the all-time series, including wins in four of the last six meetings vs. the Volunteers. In fact, the Crimson Tide has won 12 of the last 18 games played between the teams.
? UA owns a 21-43 all-time record when playing Tennessee in Knoxville. The last four games played between the two teams in Thompson-Boling Arena have been decided by a total of 12 points, including a pair of Alabama losses (54-53 on Jan. 26, 2013 and 69-66 in overtime on Feb. 21, 2007) and a pair of victories (65-60 in overtime on Feb. 5, 2011 and 70-67 on March 8, 2009).
? In eight previous meetings vs. Tennessee, Alabama head coach Anthony Grant owns a record of 5-3, which includes a 1-1 mark when playing at UT.
? The series began during 1913-14 campaign.
NOTES FROM ALABAMA-TEXAS A&M GAME
? Alabama and Texas A&M met for the 12th time in series history and the third time as SEC rivals on Tuesday night. With the 65-44 win, Alabama owns an 8-4 edge in the series.
? The Tide held the Aggies to 44 points on the night which is the lowest scoring output by any opponent this season. It marks the seventh straight game Alabama has held an opponent to 61 or fewer points in a contest. The last time the Tide allowed an opponent to score more than 61 points was when Xavier scored 97 points in its victory over the Tide on Dec. 6.
? Alabama has now won five consecutive SEC home openers. Head coach Anthony Grant has a record of 5-1 when playing the first home conference game of the season, with the lone loss coming on Jan. 13, 2010 to Vanderbilt (L, 65-64).
? The Tide and Aggies will play twice this season, as the two teams will meet on the final day of the regular season (March 7 at College Station, Texas).
? With Tuesday's win, Anthony Grant won his 110th game at Alabama (110-74). That places him in a tie for fifth place with David Hobbs on the all-time coaching wins at Alabama.
? Alabama attempted 25 free throws in the game, compared to Texas A&M's seven free throw attempts. The Tide improves to 9-0 this year when attempting more free throws than the opposition.
? Alabama has now held seven opponents this season to below 60 points in a game, picking up six wins in the process. Since Anthony Grant's arrival in 2009, his teams have held the opposition to 60 or below a total of 89 times, going 74-16 (.822) when achieving the feat.
? The Tide has now held three teams to 50 or fewer points this season. Grant's Alabama teams have held opponents to 50 or fewer points a total of 37 times in his six seasons at the Capstone. The Tide is 35-2 (.946) when hitting that mark.
? Levi Randolph finished with 10 points and led the Tide with nine rebounds and three assists in the victory. Randolph has now reached double figures in every game this season and 16 consecutive dating back to last season.
WHO'S HOT?
? Senior guard Levi Randolph is the only Alabama player to score in double figures in all 14 contests this season and 16 straight dating back to last year. In addition, the Madison, Ala., product has recorded four or more rebounds in all but three games this season.
? Michael Kessens finished one rebound shy of his second consecutive double-double, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds in the win over Texas A&M. Over his last four games, Kessens is averaging 12.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 62.5 percent over the stretch.
? Retin Obasohan finished with a season-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 1-of-2 from beyond the arc vs. Texas A&M. Over his past two games, Obasohan is averaging 10.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
? In his last five games, freshman forward Riley Norris is averaging 7.4 points and 5.4 rebounds a game, while shooting 63.6 percent from the floor (14-of-22) and 66.7 percent from beyond the arc (4-of-6).
? Junior guard Ricky Tarrant is coming off a UA career-high scoring output of 24 points in the Tide's game against UCLA (12/28). Over his last four games, Tarrant leads UA with 14.3 points and 2.8 assists per game.
SEC HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
? Over the past three seasons, Alabama has won 17 of its last 19 home games against SEC foes (17-2, .895).
? Since Grant's arrival in 2009, Alabama owns a home record of 35-8 (.814) against SEC competition. Since 2011, the Tide boasts a 31-4 (.886) mark at home against the conference.
FIVE CONSECUTIVE AND COUNTING
? Alabama comes in to the Tennessee game riding a five-game winning streak - the longest win streak since winning six straight to begin the 2012-13 campaign.
? A few interesting trends that have developed during the five-game stretch are noticeable when looking at the stats. One trend is the free throw shooting. Alabama has made more free throws (75) than opponents have attempted (67) during the stretch, while the Tide has attempted nearly double the free throws than its opponents (113-67).
? Below are the numbers for both Alabama and the opposition during the five-game streak.
Last Five Games PPG RPG FG% 3FG% FTM FTA FT%
ALABAMA 65.2 38.6 .430 .219 75 113 .664
OPPONENTS 52.6 35.4 .349 .290 44 67 .657
SECOND HALF TEAM
? Alabama has proven it gets stronger as the game wears on, as the Tide has outscored the competition in nine of 14 second halves this season.
? 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 .410 .405 .291 .352 17.5 17.7 -0.2 34.2 30.5 +3.7
2nd Half .488 .420 .311 .315 16.9 15.7 +0.8 37.4 32.9 +4.5
RANDOLPH GETTING BETTER AS THE GAME GOES ON
? In order to be a better second half team, someone has to step up and get better as the game goes on. That person for the Tide is senior captain Levi Randolph.
? Randolph's numbers improve throughout the game and has turned into a go-to performer down the stretch.
? Below is a breakdown of Randolph's numbers in the first and second halves this season.
Randolph In... MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG PPG
1st Half 16.4 .452 .429 .833 2.4 6.4
2nd Half 17.4 .538 .235 .851 2.7 9.3
VAST IMPROVEMENT ON DEFENSE
? Alabama has tightened up its defense over the last seven games, allowing 61 or fewer points in each game over the stretch.
? During the seven-game span, Alabama has held the opposition to just 35.7 field goal percentage and 29.3 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 six-game stretch. Below is a breakdown between the Tide's last seven games compared to the four previous (Iowa State, Arizona State, South Florida, Xavier).
Defense In... FG% Def. 3FG% Def. Scoring Defense
Last Seven Games .357 .293 52.7
Previous Four Games .516 .429 80.8
DOUBLE TROUBLE
? The backcourt duo of Levi Randolph and Ricky Tarrant are proving to be one of the top twosomes in the SEC this season.
? Together, Randolph (15.7 ppg) and Tarrant (13.2 ppg) combine to average 28.9 points per game - approximately 40 percent of the team's 71.6 points per game average.
? Randolph and Tarrant currently rank as the fifth-best scoring duo in the SEC (through games of Jan. 9). Below are the top five scoring combinations in the SEC.
Duo Team Combined PPG
1. Jarell Martin (17.5)/Jordan Mickey (15.8) LSU 33.3 ppg
2. Bobby Portis (17.1) /Michael Qualls (15.5) Arkansas 32.6 ppg
3. KT Harrell (17.2)/Cinmeon Bowers (13.2) Auburn 30.4 ppg
4. Damian Jones (16.2)/Riley Chance (13.1) Vanderbilt 29.3 ppg
5. Levi Randolph (15.7)/Ricky Tarrant (13.2) Alabama 28.9 ppg
ALABAMA UPCOMING MILESTONES TO WATCH
? Senior Levi Randolph (1,033 points) needs 24 points to pass former Tide player Mark Gottfried (1,056 points) and move into 45th on the school's all-time scoring list.
? Senior Rodney Cooper is nearing the 1,000-point milestone. He currently has 891 points and needs 109 points to achieve the feat.
? With the Tide's next win, Anthony Grant would win his 111th game at Alabama, moving him past David Hobbs for fifth among the program's list of all-time winningest coaches.
? Grant is 15 games shy of his 300th career game as a head coach (VCU and Alabama). Grant is also just 16 games from coaching his 200th game at The University of Alabama.
? When Alabama hosts Kentucky (1/17), it will mark the 100th home game in Grant's tenure at the Capstone.
? Alabama has 1,592 wins in program history, The Tide needs nine wins to become the 29th D-I program to reach the 1,600-win plateau.
SIXTY IS SWEET, BUT 50 IS BETTER
? Alabama has held seven opponents this season to below 60 points in a game, picking up six wins in the process.
? Since Anthony Grant's arrival in 2009, his teams have held the opposition to 60 or below a total of 90 times, going 74-16 (.822) when achieving the feat.
? The Tide held three opponents to 50 or fewer points this season, winning all three contests.
? Grant's Alabama teams have held opponents to 50 or fewer points a total of 37 times in his six seasons at the Capstone. The Tide is 35-2 (.946) when hitting that mark.
