Alabama
Arkansas
Alabama Men’s Basketball Travels to Square Off at Arkansas
1/31/2017 2:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Razorbacks tip at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will begin the month of February when it plays its fourth road contest over the last six games, as the Tide travels to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT. It will mark the lone meeting between the two teams this season.
Alabama and Arkansas will meet for the 60th time in series history with the Razorbacks owning a narrow 31-28 lead. Arkansas, who claimed a 62-61 victory over the Tide in the lone meeting between the two teams a year ago, has won consecutive games in the series. Wednesday's game will be the 25th time Alabama has played at Fayetteville, as the Tide has won just six times at Arkansas (6-18).
Alabama won for the eighth time in its last 10 games with a 71-62 victory over Mississippi State. With the win, the Crimson Tide swept the season series with the Bulldogs, which includes a 68-58 win in Starkville, Miss., on Jan. 3. Braxton Key led the Tide with a game-high 18 points, while Dazon Ingram added 15 points.
Wednesday's game will be televised on SEC Network with Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Chris Spatola (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: Arkansas-Alabama Live Stats
SOCIAL MEDIA: @AlabamaMBB
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- 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 11.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while also topping the team in minutes (27.8 mpg). Guard Dazon Ingram, who ranks second in points (9.8 ppg) and minutes (26.8 mpg), leads UA in assists (3.9 apg), steals (1.1 spg) and 3-point shooting (.423). Six of Alabama's top seven scorers are underclassmen.
- Key was named the SEC Freshmen of the Week, the league office announced on Monday. Key is the first Crimson Tide player to earn a weekly honor this season and became the first Alabama player to win the weekly freshman award since Shannon Hale earned the honor back on March 3, 2014.
- Alabama has lost two straight and eight of the last nine games at Bud Walton Arena. The only Tide victory in Fayetteville over the stretch that dates back to the 2004-05 campaign came on Feb. 23, 2012 (W, 79-68).
- 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 (see full note on page 10).
- Jimmie Taylor has 191 career blocks and needs just nine more swats to become only the sixth player in program history to record 200 blocks in his career.
- Alabama is a perfect 12-0 when holding teams to 62 or fewer points, but falls to 1-7 when allowing the opposition to score more than 62.
- Alabama is off to its best start in SEC play (6-2) since 2012-13. The Tide will be looking for its first 7-2 start to the SEC season since starting the 2010-11 campaign with an 11-2 mark.
- Three of Alabama's next four opponents rank among the top-30 in the NCAA RPI (as of Jan. 30). Those opponents include at Arkansas (No. 28) on Wednesday, at South Carolina (No. 19) on Feb. 7 and vs. Kentucky (No. 8) on Feb. 11.
- Alabama will begin a stretch of playing four of its next six games at home when it welcomes rival Auburn to Coleman Coliseum on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network. It will mark the second meeting between the two teams this year, with the Tigers claiming an 84-64 win over the Tide on Jan. 21 in Auburn, Ala.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS
• Alabama and Arkansas will meet for the 60th time in series history with the Razorbacks owning a narrow 31-28 lead. Arkansas has won consecutive games over the Crimson Tide heading into Wednesday night's contest. Despite the two-game losing streak, Alabama has still won five of the last eight games played between the two teams.
• The Tide has won only one game in Bud Walton Arena dating back to the 2004-05 season, going 1-9 since then. The lone victory came on Feb. 23, 2012, with the Tide capturing a 79-68 victory in Fayetteville.
• Head coach Mike Anderson, who was Arkansas' 12th head men's basketball coach in program history on March 23, 2011, is one of just 10 current Division I coaches with 10-plus years of head coaching experience and no losing seasons. Anderson and Thad Matta are the only coaches to accomplish the feat during stops at three different institutions. Now in his sixth season with the Razorbacks, Anderson owns a record of 118-69 (.634) and a 318-167 (.657) in 15 seasons as a head coach.
• Arkansas checks in at No. 29 in the daily NCAA RPI with wins in four of the last five games. The Razorbacks have a 6-4 record against the top 100 RPI and have 10 wins against top 150 RPI teams. The SEC has five top-50 teams and 11 teams in the top 100.
• The Razorbacks are tied for second in the country with 20 games scoring 70-plus points this year. A 62- 60 road win at Texas A&M is Arkansas' only game this season without reaching the 70-point plateau.
• Senior Dusty Hannahs leads four Razorbacks in double-figure scoring with 14.0 ppg, while junior Daryl Macon is second with 13.3 ppg and leads the team in threes made (37) and free throw percentage (.891). Senior Moses Kingsley leads the team with 8.0 rebounds per game and a league-leading 2.6 blocks per game. Junior guard Jaylen Barford also averaged double figures with 11.0 points per game.
• Arkansas probable starters (starting five from last game): Guards; Jaylen Barford (11.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.9 apg), Daryl Macon (13.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg), Anton Beard (9.5 ppg, 2.2 apg, .411 3FG%). Forwards: Arlando Cook (3.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg), Moses Kingsley (12.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.6 bpg).
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on Wednesday night. It will mark the lone meeting between the two teams this season.
• Alabama has 11 players that average double-digit minutes (10 of which are active) and eight guys who average between 5.5 and 11.9 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 the win at Georgia on Jan. 25, leads the Tide in scoring (11.9 ppg), rebounding (6.0 rpg) and minutes (27.8 mpg). Key, who also ranks second in assists (2.0 apg), third in three-points field goal percentage (.373).
• Redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram leads the team in assists (3.9 apg), three-point field goal percentage (.423), assist-turnover ratio (1.5:1) and steals (1.1 spg), while ranking second in scoring (9.8 ppg) and minutes (26.8 mpg).
• Sophomore center Donta Hall tops the team in field goal percentage (.676), while ranking second in blocks (1.6 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 (7.7 ppg), leads the team in threes made (29) and is second in three-point field goal percentage (.382).
• As a team, Alabama is outscoring the competition by 5.9 points per game (69.1-63.2) and outrebounding opponents by 6.0 rebounds per game (38.8-32.8). The Tide is shooting .424 from the field and .328 from beyond the arc as a team. Alabama ranks second in the SEC and 36th nationally in rebounding margin. In addition, the Tide ranks second in the league and 23rd in the nation in scoring defense.
• Alabama owns a record of 5-4 in all road contests and is 3-3 in true road games, including an impressive 3-1 mark in road play in the SEC.
ALABAMA-ARKANSAS - SERIES NOTES
• Wednesday's game between Alabama and Arkansas will be the 60th meeting in series history, with the Razorbacks owning a slim 31-28 edge in the all-time series. The Razorbacks have won three of the last four games in the series entering this year's only meeting between the two teams.
• Alabama has lost two straight games at Bud Walton Arena and owns an all-time record of 6-18 when playing at Arkansas. In fact, the Tide's lone win on the Razorbacks' home floor over the last nine games dating back to the 2004-05 season came on Feb. 23, 2012.
• Forty-nine of the 60 games played in the series have come as conference opponents.
• Despite losing two straight games, Alabama has won five of the last eight contests played between the two schools.
• The Crimson Tide is 3-2 in overtime contests against Arkansas. All five overtime games have come within the last 12 seasons.
• The series began during 1947-48 campaign.
ALABAMA-MISSISSIPPI STATE: AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
• What Won The Game For UA: Alabama needed to find some offense after shooting just 32.7 percent from the field for the game, including 26.9 percent in the second half. The answer came from the unlikliest place, the free throw line. Alabama entered the game ranked 332nd in the nation in free throw percentage. However, the Crimson Tide knocked down 86.1 percent of its shots from the charity stripe, converting 31-of-36 free throws on the night – all of which were season highs.
• The Difference Maker: Dazon Ingram. The redshirt freshman guard only connected on 1-of-9 shooting from the field, but had a career-night at the free throw line. Ingram, who entered the game shooting 60-percent from the foul line, connected on all 12 of his free throw attempts and finished with 15 points to go along with six assists.
• The Wow Stat: Alabama was outrebounded, 40-37, by Mississippi State. It was the first time in 11 straight games, including each of its previous seven league contests, the Tide lost the battle of the boards. For the year, Alabama has only been outrebounded in four games this season.
• Coach Avery Johnson Quote: "This was a hard-fought victory for us tonight. We had stretches where we really looked like a good basketball team, and then we had stretches where we were playing around with the basketball. We had a couple of fast break opportunities we didn't convert and that is one of the reasons why we shot 32 percent from the field. But, the flip side of that, is we made our free throws tonight, and this was a great night for us to make them."
PLAYING A KEY ROLE
• Alabama true freshman Braxton Key was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday after his performances last week in leading the Tide to a pair of victories. In earning the honor, he became the first Crimson Tide player to earn the league's freshman of the week award since Shannon Hale earned the accolade on March 3, 2014.
• Key, who has recorded three straight games of scoring 18 or more points, averaged 22.5 points and 9.0 rebounds, while shooting 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from the floor, 50.0 percent (4-of-8) from three and 70.8 percent (19-of-27) from the charity stripe, while leading the Crimson Tide to wins at Georgia and vs. Mississippi State.
• Key currently tops the squad with 11.9 points and 6.0 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 Wednesday's game at Arkansas averaging 15.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from beyond the arc. He is 11th in SEC games in scoring and sixth in rebounds per game.
• Over his last six games, Key is averaging 17.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest and has four games in which he has scored 18 or more points.
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.
