Alabama Men's Basketball Welcomes LSU on Saturday Afternoon

1/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Jan. 22, 2016

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama will return to Tuscaloosa where it begins a two-game homestand on Saturday afternoon when it welcomes the LSU Tigers. It will be the first of two meetings between the common rivals, as the Tide plays the return game in Baton Rouge, La., on Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. CT.

Most recently, Alabama dropped its second straight game and lost for the fourth time in its last five contests when the Tide fell at Auburn, 83-77, last Tuesday night. Senior guard Retin Obasohan led the Crimson Tide with a career-high 27 points in the losing effort.

Saturday's game against LSU is officially sold out, which marks the second sellout this season (Kentucky). In addition, the game vs. Auburn on Feb. 27 is also a sellout, which gives the Tide three sellouts on the year. The last time an Alabama team had three or more sellouts in the same season came in 2010-11 (4 sellouts).

Saturday's game will air on ESPNU as Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Joe Dean Jr. (analyst) will be on the call. The contest will also be available via the Crimson Tide Sports Network, with Chris Stewart and Bryan Passink calling all the action. Fans will be able to follow along on gametracker (accessed through RollTide.com), and game updates will be available on Twitter via @AlabamaMBB.

OPENING TIP

Playing its sixth SEC game on Saturday, Alabama has played the second-toughest schedule in the league to begin conference play in terms of opponents winning percentage. Including Saturday's game against LSU, the Tide's competition have a combined winning percentage of .688 (73-33). Only Missouri has played a tougher slate to open league play (71-31/.696).

Alabama comes into its game at Auburn with an RPI of No. 41 and a strength of schedule of No. 16 in the nation, according to ESPN.com (through games of Jan. 21). The Tide's RPI ranks fifth-best in the SEC. The website lists the Tide with a record of 3-4 against teams ranked among the top 50 RPI, giving UA the second-most top-50 wins in the SEC (Kentucky and Texas A&M have four).

Alabama has played five ranked opponents this season, going 3-2 in such contests. In addition, the Tide has faced an additional two opponents who were receiving votes to be ranked at the time they played (Dayton and Oregon), making seven of its 15 opponents this season to be ranked or receiving votes in the AP top 25 poll at the time the game was played.

Including this season, Alabama has won 49 games in league play over the past six years. The number ranks fourth in the league, trailing only Kentucky (72), Florida (68) and Georgia (50). UA is tied for fourth with Ole Miss and Tennessee.

Guard Retin Obasohan leads Alabama with six games of scoring 20 or more points this season, all of which have come over the Tide's last 11 contests. Most recently, Obasohan went off for a career-high 27 points in a loss at Auburn. In his last 11 games alone, Obasohan, who was named the SEC Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 14, is averaging 16.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game. For the season, he leads the team and ranks 16th in the SEC with 14.6 points per game.

The Crimson Tide will remain in Tuscaloosa when it takes on the Tennessee Volunteers on Tuesday night. The contest will tip off at 8 p.m. CT and will air on SEC Network.

Tickets, mini-packs and single-game tickets are currently on sale and can be purchased online at RollTide.com/Tickets or by calling 1-877-TIDETIX (843-3849). Fans can also purchase tickets in advance at the Alabama Ticket Office, located in the lobby of Coleman Coliseum.

For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaMBB on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama (10-8, 1-4 SEC) will play its next two games in the friendly confines of Coleman Coliseum - the only home game in a current six-game stretch. The Tide is coming off back-to-back road defeats at Vanderbilt (71-63) and at Auburn (83-77).
Senior guard Retin Obasohan leads Alabama in scoring (14.5 ppg), steals (1.5) and minutes (31.6 mpg) through the Tide's 17 contests. The Antwerp, Belgium, native currently ranks 16th in the SEC in scoring, eighth in minutes per game and ninth in steals entering Saturday's contest.
Junior forward Shannon Hale is the only other player to average double figures this season at 10.6 ppg. Graduate transfer guard Arthur Edwards is the team's third-leading scorer, averaging 9.6 ppg. Edwards leads Alabama and ranks fourth in the SEC in three-point field goal percentage at 44.7 percent (38-of-85) for the year and has reached double figures in nine of his last 12 contests.
Sophomore guard Justin Coleman is fourth on the team in scoring average (8.4 ppg), while leading the squad in assists (3.9 apg) and is second in steals (15). He leads the SEC and ranks second nationally in free throw percentage (.917). Since taking over starting point guard duties 10 games ago for the injured Dazon Ingram, Coleman is averaging 9.4 points and 4.3 assist per game, while shooting 96.7 percent (29-of-30) from the charity stripe.
As a team, Alabama is outscoring the competition for the season by 0.2 points per game (66.9-66.7). The Tide comes into Saturday's contest ranked among the top defensive teams in the SEC. Entering Tuesday's game, Alabama ranks fifth in scoring defense (66.7) and is sixth in field goal percentage defense (.398) and blocked shots (4.8 bpg). Offensively, the Tide is fourth in three-pointers made per game (7.7) and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.339).

ALABAMA FALLS IN FINAL SECONDS AT AUBURN

Alabama fell to Auburn last Wednesday night, 83-77, in front of a sold out crowd at Auburn Arena. Senior guard Retin Obasohan recorded his team-leading sixth 20-point game of the season, going for a career-high 27 points in the losing effort.
The Crimson Tide had three starters foul out of the contest in Jimmie Taylor, Michael Kessens and Arthur Edwards. Both Alabama (29) and Auburn (24) were whistled for a combined 53 fouls resulting in 40 free throw attempts by the Tigers and 28 for the Tide. Auburn finished the game outscoring Alabama by nine points at the free throw line (28-19).
Auburn was able to take the lead for good thanks to a 6-0 run over 1:11 to take a 58-51 lead with 13:39 left . Alabama was able to cut the lead to two points, but could not get any closer. In all, the game featured nine lead changes and six ties and neither team led by more than seven points in the second half.
The Tide started the game off well. After going down 10-2 in the early minutes, Alabama used a 22-4 run over a span of 8:24 to take a 24-14 lead - the largest lead of the game for either team. Auburn quickly answered with eight consecutive points, all on free throws, on its way to an 11-0 spurt that would see the Tigers regain the lead. The teams were separated by just three points at halftime, with the Tide trailing 40-37.
COACH Avery Johnson'S THOUGHTS: "It was a loss but I am proud of our guys. We battled through a lot of adversity tonight and showed what they are made of. We have a lot of character on our team and a lot of mental toughness. For us being together for the first year with a lot of new guys who have never played in this building or never played in this rivalry, I am proud of my team."

AUBURN LEFTOVERS

Saturday's game between Alabama and Auburn marked the 152nd meeting between the two teams - the fourth-most games UA has played against any single opponent.
Despite the loss, the Tide owns a 93-59 advantage in the all-time series. Alabama falls to 26-29 in games played at Auburn, including a record of 1-2 in Auburn Arena.
With his performance, Retin Obasohan has reached the 20-point mark a team-leading six times this season. The six 20-point games have all come over the Tide's last 11 contests.
Obasohan was joined in double figures by junior forward Shannon Hale, who finished with 13 points off the bench. Junior Jimmie Taylor recorded a team-leading eight rebounds to go along with eight points before fouling out with just under five minutes to play. Sophomore guard Justin Coleman added nine points and a team-high five assists.
Arthur Edwards failed to hit a three-pointer against Auburn, snapping a streak of 11 consecutive games in which he has made a shot from beyond the arc.

SELLING OUT COLEMAN

After selling out Coleman Coliseum on Jan. 9 vs. Kentucky, the UA Athletics Department announced that the games against LSU this Saturday and vs. Auburn on Feb. 27 are officially sold out as well.
The three sellouts (as of Jan. 21) are the most in a season since selling out Coleman Coliseum on four occasions during the 2010-11 campaign.
Alabama's average home attendace to this point is 12,634 per home game. That number would rank as the best single-season home average in the history of the Alabama men's basketball program.
Below is a breakdown of the top five single-season attendance records at Coleman Coliseum:

SEASON OVERALL ATTENDANCE AVERAGE ATTENDANCE

2015-16* 101,075 12,634
2011-12 199,749 12,484
1990-91 149,380 12,448
2006-07 196,552 12.284
1976-77 133,130 12,103

* Indicates season still in progress

RETIN'S RISING

Retin Obasohan has recorded six 20-point games this season - all coming over the Tide's last 11 contests.
Most recently, Obasohan went for a career-high 27 points at Auburn on Jan. 19. The senior guard connected on 8-of-17 shots from the floor, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and hit 8-of-10 foul shots against the Tigers.
Obasohan currently leads the team in scoring (14.6 ppg), steals (25), minutes (31.6), field goals made (81) and attempted (187) and free throws made (60) and attempted (86), while ranking second in assists (2.1 apg). He also leads the team with 11 double-figure scoring games.
Below is a breakdown of Obasohan's last 11 games compared to his first six contests this season.

GAMES PPG RPG APG FG% 3FG% MPG

First Six Games 11.7 1.5 1.7 .397 .333 28.0

Last 11 Games 16.0 4.6 2.2 .450 .362 34.2

ANOTHER ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN?

Retin Obasohan is trying to follow in the footsteps of former standout Levi Randolph when it comes to off the court awards. Randolph became the program's first Academic All-American last year when he earned second team accolades and Obasohan is looking to make it two in two years for the Tide.
Obasohan, who speaks four languages - English, Dutch, French and Nigerian - and leads the Tide's efforts in the community as a two-time SEC Community Service award honoree, is a nominee for the 2016 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Good Works Team. The award recognizes players at all levels of college basketball who have made outstanding contributions in the areas of volunteerism and civic involvement while exhibiting "impeccable leadership qualities on and off the court."
The redshirt senior guard earned his undergraduate degree in finance in May of 2015, graduating with a cumulative GPA of 3.27. He currently boasts a 4.0 GPA after two semesters in grad school as he pursues his master's degree in marketing.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

Coming into Saturday's contest, Alabama owns an RPI of No. 41 in the nation with a No. 16 overall strength of schedule, according to ESPN.com (through games of Jan. 21). The Tide ranks fifth in the SEC in terms of RPI and Alabama is one of eight teams in the league to boast of a top-75 RPI.
Seven of the Tide's 17 contests on the season have been played against teams either ranked in the Associate Press top 25 or receiving votes at the time the game was played. The Tide has faced five top-25 teams (then-No. 23 Xavier, then-20 Wichita State, then-No. 17 Notre Dame and then-No. 9 Kentucky and then-No. 19 South Carolina) and an additional two teams (Dayton and Oregon) who were receiving votes to be ranked at the time of the game.
Four of Alabama's seven losses have been to teams ranked in the top-20 of ESPN.com's latest RPI rankings (through games of Jan. 17), while none of its six losses have come to a team with a RPI outside the top 75. Currently, the Tide's losses include Xavier (No. 5 RPI), Oregon (No. 7 RPI), Dayton (No. 10 RPI), Kentucky (No. 16 RPI), Vanderbilt (No. 52 RPI), Auburn (No. 73 RPI) and Ole Miss (No. 83 RPI). Six of its seven losses have come away from Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama's schedule hasn't gotten any easier during conference play. The Tide's six opponents (counting LSU on Saturday), have a combinred record of 73-33 (.688). That number ranks second among all SEC schools with only Missouri (71-31/.696) having a tougher schedule than Alabama to start league play.

TOPPLING THE TOP 25

The game against No. 19/15 South Carolina on Jan. 13 marked the fifth top-25 opponent Alabama has played in its 17 games this season. In addition, the Tide has faced two opponents who were receiving votes to be ranked at the time (Dayton and Oregon), making seven teams who UA has played that were either ranked or receiving votes to be ranked at the time of the contest.
With its 73-50 victory over the Gamecocks, which marked UA's first home win over a ranked team since beating then No. 12 Kentucky, 68-66, on Jan. 18, 2011, the Tide now owns a record of 3-2 against top-25 teams on the year.
It is the first time since the 2005-06 campaign that an Alabama team has recorded at least three top-25 wins in a season.
The win over the Gamecocks Alabama's two wins over top 25 teams during non-conference play led the SEC (along with Kentucky).
Alabama first two victories over ranked teams came in back-to-back contests when it defeated then-No. 20 Wichita State (64-60) on Nov. 27 and followed that with a 74-73 victory over then-No. 17 Notre Dame on Nov. 29. It marked the first time Alabama had won consecutive games against ranked opponents since they defeated then-No. 12 Florida on Feb. 26, 2006, after downing then-No.8 Tennessee on Feb. 18.
The victory over Wichita State snapped a 21-game losing streak to ranked opponents dating back to Jan. 18, 2011, when Alabama beat then-No. 12 Kentucky at home (68-66). It also marked the first win over a ranked opponent at a neutral site since Nov. 29, 2009, when the Tide beat then-No. 15 Michigan.