Alabama
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Mississippi State
Alabama Men’s Basketball Host Mississippi State on Saturday
1/27/2017 1:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Bulldogs to tip at 5 p.m. CT, Alabama football team will be recognized at halftime
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will return home to take on Mississippi State on Saturday night at 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network. It will mark the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Tide defeated the Bulldogs, 68-58, on Jan. 3 in Starkville, Miss.
Most recently, Alabama claimed its third road SEC win in four away games this season when it captured an 80-60 victory at Georgia on Wednesday night. Freshman Braxton Key led four Tide players in double figures with a career-high 26 points in the win.
Mississippi State and Alabama will meet for the 196th time in series history on Saturday night, and the second time this season. With the win earlier this month, Alabama improved to an all-time record of 121-74 in the series. The Tide has won seven of the last eight games overall in the series. Mississippi State's lone win over the recent stretch came last season when the Bulldogs upended the Tide, 67-61, in Coleman Coliseum.
Saturday's game will be televised on SEC Network with Richard Cross (play-by-play) and Jarvis Hayes (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/LISTEN
RADIO: Crimson Tide Sports Network
TV: SEC Network
LIVE STATS: Mississippi State-Alabama Live Stats
SOCIAL MEDIA: @AlabamaMBB
PROMOTIONS
Three-Point Foam Finger Giveaway to 1,000 students
Football Trophy Presentation – SEC Championship and Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- In the first meeting, Alabama held Mississippi State to season lows in points (58) and field goals made (19), while the Bulldogs' 36.5 percent shooting percentage, four threes made and 26 rebounds were the second-fewest in a game this year.
- Alabama forward Braxton Key is one of seven freshmen from around the country who currently leads his team in both scoring and rebounding this season.
- Alabama leads the SEC in rebounding margin both overall (+6.4) and in league play (+9.1). The Tide has not been outrebounded in 12 straight games, including all seven conference contests.
- Alabama is a perfect 11-0 when holding teams to fewer than 62 points, but falls to 1-7 when allowing the opposition to score more than 62.
- The Tide boasts 10 players averaging double-figure minutes per game, with eight of those players averaging between 5.5 points and 11.5 points per contest.
- On Jan. 21 at Auburn, UA's defense allowed season highs in points (84), three-point field goal percentage (.615) and free throws made (28) and attempted (42). In the very next contest at Georgia on Wednesday, the Tide scored 80 points – third-most in a game this year – and added season highs in three-point field goal percentage (.600) and free throws made (23) and attempted (34).
- A pair of freshman lead the Tide. Forward Braxton Key, who is one of seven freshmen in the nation to lead their team in both scoring and rebounding, averages team highs of 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while also topping the team in minutes (26.9 mpg). Guard Dazon Ingram, who ranks second in points (9.5 ppg) and minutes (26.5 mpg), leads UA in assists (3.7 apg), steals (0.9 spg) and 3-point shooting (.435). Six of Alabama's top seven scorers are underclassmen.
- Alabama ranks 23rd in the nation in scoring defense (63.3) and 28th nationally in rebounding margin (+6.4).
- Alabama will return to the road for the fourth time in its last six games when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m. CT. It will mark the lone meeting between the two teams this season.
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
• Mississippi State and Alabama will meet for the 196th time in series history on Saturday night. It will mark the second meeting between the two teams this season. In the first game, Alabama captured a 68-58 victory in Humphrey Coliseum back on Jan. 3 in the SEC opener for both teams.
• Alabama owns an all-time record of 121-74, and has won 11 of the last 14 overall meetings between the two programs. The Crimson Tide has won six of the last seven over the Bulldogs in Coleman Coliseum, however, it was Mississippi State coming away with a 67-61 win in Tuscaloosa just a year ago – MSU's first win at Alabama since Jan. 19, 2008.
• The 196 games played and the 121 wins against Mississippi State marks the most for Alabama against any single opponent in each category in program history.
• Sophomore Quinndary Weatherspoon leads MSU with a 17.9 points per game average, while I.J. Ready, who leads the team with 4.9 assists per game, is 29th nationally and leads the SEC with his 2.85 assist/turnover ratio. Freshman Lamar Peters has been red-hot coming into Saturday's contest as he is averaging 15.9 points per game and shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc against SEC opponents. Sophomore Aric Holman tops the team in rebounds (6.3 rpg) and blocks (2.4 bpg).
• Ben Howland, who is in his second season at the helm of the program, was named the 20th head coach in Mississippi State history on March 23, 2015. In four different stints as a head coach, Howland has a 428-229 record – Northern Arizona (79-59), Pittsburgh (89-40), UCLA (233-107) and Mississippi State (27-23). He led UCLA to three-consecutive Final Fours, including a national runner-up finish in 2006.
• Mississippi State probable starters (starting five from last game): Guards: Quinndary Weatherspoon (17.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 44.4 3FG%), Lamar Peters (12.0 ppg, 3.0 apg, 44.1 3FG%), Mario Keigler (9.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Xavian Stapleton (6.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.0 spg). Forward: Schnider Herard (4.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 56.9 FG%).
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama will play host to Mississippi State on Saturday night in the second meeting this season between the two teams. The Tide captured a 68-58 win over Mississippi State in the first meeting back on Jan. 3 in Starkville, Miss.
• Alabama has 11 players that average double-digit minutes (10 of which are active) and eight guys who average between 5.5 and 11.5 points per game. The Tide's top two scorers are both freshmen, while six of the top seven are underclassmen.
• True freshman Braxton Key, who recorded a career high of 26 points in last Wednesday's win at Georgia, leads the Tide in scoring (11.5 ppg), rebounding (5.8 rpg) and minutes (27.4 mpg). Key, who also ranks second in assists (2.1 apg) and is third in three-points field goal percentage (.382).
• Redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram leads the team in assists (3.7 apg), three-point field goal percentage (.435), assist-turnover ratio (1.5:1) and steals (0.9 spg), while ranking second in scoring (9.5 ppg) and minutes (26.5 mpg).
• Sophomore center Donta Hall tops the team in field goal percentage (.691), while ranking second in blocks (1.5 bpg) and rebounding (5.5 rpg). Graduate senior Corban Collins, who missed two games (Arkansas State and Stetson) with a groin injury, is fourth in scoring (7.9 ppg), leads the team in threes made (28) and is second in three-point field goal percentage (.384).
• As a team, Alabama is outscoring the competition by 5.7 points per game (68.9-63.3) and outrebounding opponents by 6.4 rebounds per game (38.9-32.5). The Tide is shooting .429 from the field and .328 from beyond the arc as a team. Alabama leads the SEC and ranks 28th nationally in rebounding margin. In addition, the Tide ranks second in the league and 23rd in the nation in scoring defense.
• Alabama boasts a record of 7-2 in games played at Coleman Coliseum this year, including a 2-1 mark in SEC play.
ALABAMA-MISSISSIPPI STATE - SERIES NOTES
• Alabama and Mississippi State will meet for the 196th time in series history on Saturday. The Tide owns a 121-74 edge in the all-time series, including wins in seven of the last eight contests played between the two teams.
• The 195 games played and the 121 wins against Mississippi State marks the most for Alabama against any single opponent in each category in program history.
• The two teams split last season's series, with each squad winning on the road. The Tide captured an 82-80 overtime victory at Humphrey Coliseum on Feb. 2, 2016, while the Bulldogs returned the favor with a 67-61 triumph at Coleman Coliseum.
• Last year's overtime game played on Feb. 2 marked the 14th overtime contest in series history between the two teams, with the Tide owning an 8-6 lead in such games.
• Alabama owns a record of 75-17 in all-time games against the Bulldogs at home, including a 38-9 mark at Coleman Coliseum.
• Alabama won four straight and five of the last six games over Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum. The Tide has an overall mark of 40-54 in games played in Starkville, Miss.
• The 98-year-old series has seen 14 overtime contests including the 2008-09 season's double-overtime affair.
• Sixty-four of the meetings have been decided by five or fewer points.
ALABAMA-GEORGIA: AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
• What Won The Game For UA: Alabama arguably had one of its best all-around games on the season in pulling out the 80-60 win at Georgia. The Tide scored the third-highest point total in a game this season, while improving to 11-0 this year when holding teams to fewer than 62 points. Alabama also set single-game highs in three-point field goal percentage (.615) and free throws made (23) and attempted (34) in the victory.
• The Difference Maker: Braxton Key. Alabama's freshman forward scored a career-high 26 points and also set new personal bests in free throws made (9) and attempted (13), threes made (3) and minutes played (37).
• The Wow Stat: The combination of Braxton Key (26), Corban Collins (15), Riley Norris (15) and Jimmie Taylor (10) combined to score 66 of the Tide's 80 points on the night.
• Coach Avery Johnson Quote: "This was a terrific victory and effort by our guys. I thought we were sharp and confident from the start of this game. Obviously in our situation we had a pretty disappointing game last game on the road. We got back up and practiced on Monday and Tuesday, and had a good work out this morning. We were fortunate to win this game. We know didn't have room for much margin of error, we shot from the three good tonight, played pretty good overall team defense."
PLAYING A KEY ROLE
• Alabama true freshman Braxton Key currently tops the squad with 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. In doing so, the Charlotte, N.C., native is one of just seven Division I freshmen from across the country to lead their team in both categories.
• Key is joined on the list alongside Arizona's Lauri Markkaneu, Auburn's Mustapha Heron, Charleston Southern's Christian Keeling, Delaware's Ryan Daly, Michigan State's Miles Bridges and Presbyterian's JoVantae Miler.
• Key has been even better during SEC play. He comes into Saturday's game against Mississippi State averaging 14.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from beyond the arc. He is 16th in SEC games in scoring and fifth in rebounds per game.
• Over his last five games, Key is averaging 17.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest.
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
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