Alabama
Texas
Alabama Men’s Basketball to Face Texas Friday in First True Road Contest
12/1/2016 2:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Longhorns tip off at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will travel to Austin, Texas, to take on the Texas Longhorns on Friday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPNU. It will mark the Tide's first true road game of the season.
The Tide and Longhorns will meet for the 12th time in series history, but it will be the first meeting on the hardwood between the powerhouse schools since Dec. 4, 1971. Texas owns the 7-4 edge in the all-time series, including a 2-0 mark at home.
Most recently, Alabama led start to finish and claimed a dominant victory over Charleston Southern, 76-46, on Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum. Three Tide players finished in double figures, led by freshman forward Braxton Key's game-high 14 points. Sophomore guard Avery Johnson Jr. and junior guard Ar'Mond Davis finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram had nine points and a game-high four assists, while sophomore forward Donta Hall finished with six points and a game-high seven boards.
Friday's game will be televised on ESPNU with Lowell Galindo (play-by-play) and Paul Biancardi (analyst) on the call. Fans can listen to the radio broadcast on the Crimson Tide Sports Network as Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) will call all the action. Live stats for the contest can accessed through RollTide.com, while in-game updates and photos will be made available on Twitter on @AlabamaMBB.
HOW TO WATCH
RADIO: Crimson Tide Sports Network
TV: ESPNU
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/texas/mbball/
SOCIAL MEDIA: @AlabamaMBB
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Alabama is led on the year by freshman Braxton Key, who tops the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) and three-point shooting (.615, 8-of-13), while ranking second in field goal percentage (.615) and blocks (6). Redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram is second on the team in scoring (10.0 ppg), while leading UA in assists (4.2), steals (1.3) and minutes (26.3) per game, and ranking second with 3.7 rpg.
- The Alabama bench has been a strength of this year's team. Twice this season, the Tide's reserves have equaled the total scoring output of the opposition. First, the UA reserves scored 59 points in a 77-59 victory over Ball State on Nov. 18. Most recently, Alabama's bench put up 46 points in a 76-46 win over Charleston Southern on Nov. 29.
- Over the Tide's last three games, Donta Hall is averaging 6.0 points and 8.3 rebounds while connecting on 58.3 percent (7-of-15) from the field. Over that same span, Hall leads the team with five dunks.
- With the 76-46 win over Charleston Southern on Tuesday, Alabama improves to 4-0 on the year when holding opponents to fewer than 60 points in a game.
- Following Friday's game, the Tide will continue its two-game road trip with a game at PAC 12 member No. 20/23 Oregon on Sunday, Dec. 11. That contest will be televised on ESPNU at 5 p.m. CT (3 p.m. PT). It will mark the fourth time in the Tide's last five games that the team has played a contest away from home.
SCOUTING TEXAS
• Shaka Smart was introduced as the 24th head basketball coach at The University of Texas on April 3, 2015. The 39-year-old Smart spent six seasons (2009-15) at Virginia Commonwealth University, leading the Rams to an overall record of 163-56 (.744) and five NCAA Tournament appearances including the 2011 Final Four.
• Texas was ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press preseason poll and No. 22 in the USA Today coaches' preseason poll. This marked the 13th time in the last 16 years that the Horns have been ranked in the coaches' preseason poll.
• Texas is picked to finish third in the Big 12 Conference in a preseason vote of the league's head coaches, announced Oct. 13. UT earned 59 points and ranked behind Kansas (81) and West Virginia (65).
• A total of six Longhorns are averaging over 8.0 points per contest through the first six games. Three UT players are averaging double figures scoring (Tevin Mack, Kerwin Roach Jr. and Jarrett Allen). Five Longhorns also are averaging at least 4.0 rebounds per game. Nine UT players are averaging double figure minutes per contest.
• Texas is in its 40th season of play at the Frank Erwin Center in 2016-17. The Longhorns have registered an all-time record of 480-113 (.809) in the building. Texas is 208-30 (.874) at the Erwin Center in the last 15 seasons (dating to the start of the 2002-03 season).
• TEXAS PROBABLE STARTERS (based off previous contest): Guards: Eric Davis Jr. (8.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg. 1.8 apg), Kerwin Roach Jr. (12.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.4 apg), Kendal Yancy (8.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg). Forwards: Jarrett Allen (10.5 rpg, 7.8 rpg, 52.2 FG%), Shaquille Cleare (4.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg).
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama will play its first true road game of the season when it takes on the Texas Longhorns on Friday night. The Tide is coming off a 76-46 win over Charleston Southern last Tuesday, which marked the only home contest in a current five-game stretch.
• The Tide has just two players who average in double figures, but boast seven who are averaging more the five points a game. Freshman Braxton Key leads the Tide at 10.7 ppg, while redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram is second at 10.0ppg. Graduate senior Corban Collins is third on the team, averaging 8.8 points.
• Ingram ranks tops on the team in field goal percentage (.625), assists (4.2 apg) and steals (1.3 spg. Meanwhile, Key leads the squad in three-point shooting (.615).
• Sophomore center Donta Hall tops the team with 5.8 rebounds per game, while Ingram is second at 3.8 rebounds per game. Senior center Jimmie Taylor averages a team-best 1.8 blocks per game, while also contributing 4.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest.
• As a team, Alabama is outscoring the competiton by 9.5 points per game (69.5-60.0) and outrebounding opponents by 2.5 rebounds per game (36.3-33.8). The Tide is shooting .424 from the field and .360 from beyond the arc as a team.
ALABAMA VS. CHARLESTON SOUTHERN: QUICK HITS
• Alabama defeated Charleston Southern, 76-46, on Tuesday night. Below are some notes from that contest.
• The Alabama bench's 46 points matched the total scoring output of Charleston Southern. It marks the second time this season the Tide's backups equalled the opposition's point total for a game (also accounted for 59 points in a 77-59 win over Ball State on Nov. 18).
• The Crimson Tide held Charleston Southern to only 15 points in the first half. It marked the first time since Jan. 10, 2015 that an Alabama team held an opponent to 15 or fewer points in a half. The last time it occurred came in the second half at Tennessee, when the Tide allowed 14 points in a 56-38 victory.
• The Tide forced 22 turnovers by the Buccaneers en route to the 30-point win. Alabama, which had 13 turnovers of its own, took advantage of the Charleston Southern miscues by outscoring the Bucaneers 28-8 in points-off-turnovers.
• Alabama finished the game with season highs in rebounding (41), assists (15), field goal percentage (.456) and margin of victory (+30).
• The Tide took a 40-15 lead into the break, marking the largest halftime lead (25 points) since Alabama held a 24-point advantage against Illinois in the NIT on March 17, 2015.
BENCH SUPPORT
• The Alabama bench has been a weapon through the Tide's opening six contests, highlighted by the reserves scoring 59 of the team's 77 points in a 77-59 win over Ball State on Nov. 18.
• The 59 points scored by the bench marked the most scored by any Tide reserve group this century. In fact, it was the most points scored by Alabama's reserves since going for 59 points in a 95-48 victory over Florida A&M on Dec. 17, 1994.
• For the year, Alabama's reserves has outscored its counterpart by a total margin of 198-90. That averages out to +18.0 points per game (33.0-15.0).
• Alabama's bench outscored Charleston Southern's reserves, 46-20. The Tide bench has now outscored its counterparts in five of its first six games this season.
NEWCOMERS MAKING AN IMPACT
• Including Dazon Ingram who is a redshirt freshman, the Crimson Tide welcomed seven newcomers who are currently playing in Avery Johnson's 11-man rotation to begin the season
• Four of the team's top five scorers were either redshirts or were not on the team a year ago.
• The seven newcomers are combining to average 46.4 of Alabama's 69.5 points per game – approximately 67 percent of the team's total scoring output.
• The group is also dishing out 81 percent of the Tide's assists (61 of the team's 75 total assists) and pulling down 52 percent of the team's boards (18.8 of UA's 36.4 total rebounding average).
For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
