Men's Basketball Begins Road Stretch at LSU Saturday Night
2/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama will begin a stretch where it will play three of the next four games away from home when the Tide travels to take on LSU in Baton Rouge, La., on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
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 113-79 (.589) during his time at the Capstone and is 189-104 (.645) now in his in ninth season as a head coach. LSU head coach Johnny Jones is in his third season at the helm of the program and has guided the Tigers to a record of 55-32 (.632). Now in his 15th season as a head coach, Jones has a career record of 260-194 (.573).
THE SERIES
Alabama and LSU will meet for the 173rd time in series history - the second-most times UA has played any one opponent in program history. The Tide owns a 103-69 lead in the all-time series. It will mark the lone meeting between the two teams during the regular season.
MORE ABOUT SATURDAY's MATCH-UP
Alabama will play its first game at the Maravich Assembly Center since Feb. 23, 2013 when the Tide fell in triple overtime at LSU, 97-94 ... Alabama and LSU have played in 10 overtime games in series history, with Alabama claiming victory in eight of those contests ... the Tide and Tigers have played two triple overtime contests (2/10/90 & 2/23/13) and a quadruple overtime contest (2/12/72) - the only four-overtime game in school history ... in fact, three of the eight triple overtime or more games Alabama has played in program history have come against LSU ... head coach Anthony Grant has an all-time record of 7-3 when his UA teams have faced LSU, including a 2-2 mark at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Coach Anthony Grant on LSU Game
"We're looking forward to our game on Saturday. We're at the halfway point of league play, nine games in. I think, you look across the league, the league's been extremely competitive. A lot of good teams, exciting basketball. Our game tomorrow against LSU, watching them on film, I'm really impressed with their team. They've got size; they've got speed, rebounding, physicality. It's a team that's one of the highest scoring teams in our league. The challenge, again, for us will be from a defensive standpoint, trying to do a good job of limiting their opportunities in transition. Rebound the basketball. And offensively, they do a really good job of having their defense create offense. We have to execute. We've got to be able to take care of the basketball."
UP NEXT
Alabama will remain on the road when it travels to Starkville, Miss., where the Tide will take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
? Alabama (14-8, 4-5 SEC) will begin a stretch of three road games over its next four contests when it travels to take on the LSU Tigers on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN2. It will mark the lone contest between the two teams during the regular season.
? Senior guard Levi Randolph leads Alabama in scoring (14.8 ppg), assists (2.3 apg), steals (1.5) and minutes (34.4 mpg) through the Tide's 22 contests. The Madison, Ala., native currently ranks sixth in the SEC in free throw percentage (.817), eighth in steals and ninth in scoring entering Saturday's contest.
? Junior guard Ricky Tarrant, who missed the Tide's last two games due to a lower right leg injury, ranks second on the team with 13.1 ppg and leads UA in SEC games in scoring, also averaging 13.1 ppg. He leads the squad in threes attempted (97) and is second in threes made (29). Senior guard Rodney Cooper is third on this year's squad with 10.4 ppg this season and leads the squad in threes made (32), while ranking second in 3-point shooting percentage (42.7 percent).
? Sophomore forward Shannon Hale is the fourth on the team in scoring, contributing 7.9 points along with 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists a contest. In addition, sophomore forward Jimmie Taylor leads the team in blocks per game (1.8) and field goal percentage (.594) and ranks third with 4.5 rebounds per game, while also chipping in with 4.4 points per contest.
? As a team, the Tide is outscoring the opposition by 4.8 points per game (67.6-62.8) through its 22 games. Alabama is also averaging 7.0 steals and 3.8 blocks per game.
ALABAMA-LSU - SERIES NOTES
? Alabama and LSU will meet for the 173rd time in series history - the second-most times UA has played any one opponent in program history.
? The Tide owns a 103-69 lead in the all-time series. However, LSU has won three of the last five games over Alabama. The Tigers own a record of 45-28 when hosting the Tide in Baton Rouge, La.
? Saturday's contest will mark the lone meeting between the two teams during the regular season.
? Alabama has won seven of the last 10 meetings and 12 of the last 17 games played between the two teams.
? Alabama and LSU have played in 10 overtime games in series history, including two triple overtime contests (2/10/90 & 2/23/13) and a quadruple overtime contest (2/12/72) - the only four-overtime game in school history. Alabama has an impressive 8-2 record when it has played LSU in overtime.
? Head coach Anthony Grant has an all-time record of 7-2 when his team has faced LSU and is 2-2 when playing LSU in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
? The series began during 1915-16 campaign.
ALABAMA-MISSOURI: AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
? What Won The Game For UA: The Tide turned up its defense after halftime, holding the Tigers to just 8-of-30 (.267) shooting over the final 20 minutes, including 2-of-15 (.133) from beyond the arc. As a result, Alabama outscored Missouri, 36-25, in the second half.
? The Difference Maker: With Alabama holding a slim 41-38 lead with 10:19 left in the game, the Tide went on a 7-0 spurt behind five consecutive points by Levi Randolph over the next 2:19 to give his team a 48-38 lead with eight minutes left. The Tigers never got any closer than seven points the rest of the night.
? The Wow Stat: As a team, Alabama attempted 19 fewer shots than Missouri, as the Tigers had 56 attempts while the Tide's 37 attempts matches a season-low for shots in a game. However, Alabama won the game at the free throw line, hitting 24-of-34 free throws, compared to 9-of-13 for the Tigers.
PROWLING ON THE TIGERS
? Senior guard Rodney Cooper has had success when facing the LSU Tigers throughout his career.
? His career-high scoring total of 28 points came at LSU during his freshman season. In fact, his career best numbers in field goals made (10), field goals attempted (22), threes attempted (9), steals (5) and minutes played (42) have all come when facing LSU.
? In six career games against the Tigers, Cooper is averaging 14.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 44 percent from the floor (31-of-70).
Levi Randolph takes big step toward goal of academic all-american
? Levi Randolph has a goal to become the first Academic All-American in Alabama program history. He took a big step towards that goal, as the senior guard was selected to the Capital One Academic All-District 4 First Team for a third consecutive year - the first Crimson Tide men's basketball player in program history to achieve the feat. He is now eligible for the Academic All-American award, which will be announced in late February.
? Randolph is currently working towards a master's degree in marketing. In his first semester as a graduate student in the fall of 2014, Randolph collected three As and one B (3.75 GPA).
? The senior guard graduated with a degree in marketing this past August, achieving the feat in only three years.
? Randolph maintains a 3.45 GPA as a marketing major and has been named to the Dean's List in five out of six semesters (3.1 GPA or better). He is a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient.
ALABAMA UPCOMING MILESTONES TO WATCH
? Senior Rodney Cooper is nearing the 1,000-point milestone. He currently has 973 points and needs 27 points to achieve the feat. In doing so, he would become the 48th player in school history, and second this season, to reach the 1,000-point scoring milestone.
? Senior Levi Randolph would crack the top 10 among the program's all-time steals leaders. Randolph enters the Missouri game with 133 career steals, which ranks 11th in program history. Former standout Eddie Phillips currently ranks 10th in Alabama history with 134 career steals.
? Junior guard Retin Obasohan needs three more steals to reach 100 steals for his career.
? Sophomore Jimmie Taylor has 79 blocks for his career, just 21 shy of becoming the first Alabama player since JaMychael Green (2009-12) to record 100 blocks for his career.
? Freshman forward Riley Norris needs five points to reach 100 points on the season.
? Grant is seven games shy of his 300th career game as a head coach (VCU and Alabama). Grant is also just eight games from coaching his 200th game at The University of Alabama.
? Alabama has 1,595 wins in program history, The Tide needs six wins to become the 31st D-I program to reach the 1,600-win plateau.
FILLING THE VOID
? With the indefinite absence of starting guard Ricky Tarrant due to a lower right leg injury, Alabama needed players to step up and fill that void. In the two games Tarrant has not played since suffering the injury, junior guard Retin Obasohan and sophomore forward Shannon Hale have both helped fill the void on offense.
? In the last two games, both Obosohan and Hale are each averaging 11.5 ppg which is well above their season averages.
Obasohan In... MPG PPG RPG FG% FT%
19 gms before Tarrant injury 12.1 2.4 1.7 .400 .560
2 gms since Tarrant injury 32.0 11.5 4.5 .429 .625
Hale In... MPG PPG RPG FG% FT%
20 gms before Tarrant injury 18.2 7.6 3.2 .391 .692
2 gms since Tarrant injury 27.0 11.5 2.5 .500 .769
CLOSE CALLS
? Four of Alabama's eight losses have come down to a final possession.
? Three of Alabama's five defeats in conference play have been by two points each. In fact, the only team to defeat the Tide by more than a basket in league play has been the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats.
? Alabama lost at Wichita State by one point (53-52) on Dec. 16, which was the only one-point loss of the four. The Tide has lost three two-point games, all coming within its last five games (lost 68-66 at South Carolina, 93-91 in overtime at Arkansas and 52-50 vs. Florida).
? Below is a breakdown of the four games and how the Tide lost the game.
Date Opponent Final Game's Final Shot
12/16 at Wichita State L, 53-52 Cooper missed 3-pointer at buzzer
1/13 at South Carolina L, 68-66 Randolph missed 3-pointer at the buzzer
1/22 at Arkansas L, 93-91 (ot) Arkansas' Bobby Portis hits tip-in at the buzzer
1/27 vs. Florida L, 52-50 Randolph gets shot blocked with two seconds left
SECOND HALF TEAM
? Alabama has proven it gets stronger as the game wears on, as the Tide has outscored the competition in 14 of 22 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 for the season.
OPP OPP OPP OPP
FG% FG% 3FG% 3FG% Reb. Reb. Diff. Points Points Diff.
1st Half .408 .417 .296 .336 16.1 17.0 -0.9 30.8 30.4 +0.4
2nd Half .484 .408 .328 .295 16.2 15.3 +0.9 36.2 31.7 +4.5
