Alabama
Vanderbilt
Alabama Men’s Basketball Hosts Vanderbilt in SEC Home Opener Saturday Night
1/6/2017 2:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Commodores at 6 p.m. CT on ESPNU
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama begins a two-game home stint when it hosts its first Southeastern Conference contest this season as the Tide will welcome the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday night at 6 p.m. CT.
Vanderbilt and Alabama will meet for the 137th time in series history on Saturday night, which ranks as the ninth-most games the Tide has played against any one opponent. The Commodores have won three straight and 12 of the last 17 games against the Tide to even the all-time series at 68-68.
Alabama enters Saturday's contest having won three consecutive games and four of its last five following a 68-58 win at Mississippi State last Tuesday night in the league opener for both teams. The Crimson Tide led nearly the entire way en route to the 10-point victory. Alabama won an SEC road opener for the second time in the last three years (claimed a 56-38 win at Tennessee on Jan. 10, 2015).
Saturday's game will be televised on ESPNU with Kevin Fitzgerald (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: ESPNU
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/alabama/mbball/
SOCIAL MEDIA: @AlabamaMBB
PROMOTIONS
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT NIGHT
BIG AL'S KIDS CLUB NIGHT
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Saturday's game will be the only contest played between the two teams during the regular season.
- Alabama has won five of its last six SEC home openers heading into Saturday's home league opener vs. Vanderbilt.
- Over its last two contests, Alabama has outrebounded the opposition by a combined total of 43 rebounds (+21.5 per game). For the year, the Tide ranks second in the SEC and 46th nationally in rebounding margin (+5.8).
- Alabama is a perfect 8-0 when holding teams to fewer than 62 points, but falls to 0-5 when allowing the opposition to score more than 62.
- The Crimson Tide is led on the year by redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram, who tops the team in scoring (9.9 ppg), assists (3.8 apg), steals (1.1 spg), three-point field goal percentage (.438) and minutes (26.8 mpg), while ranking third in rebounding (4.9 rpg) and field goal percentage (.551). Freshman Braxton Key ranks second on the team in scoring (9.6 ppg), rebounds (5.1 rpg), assists (2.0 apg) and minutes (25.5 mpg).
- The Alabama bench has been outscored by its counterparts just three times during the season, which came vs. Coastal Carolina (22-17), vs. Arkansas State (29-28) and at Mississippi State (24-16). For the year, the Crimson Tide reserves is outscoring the opposition's bench by an average of 10.8 points a game (29.2-18.4).
- Alabama will next be in action when it closes its two-game homestand on Tuesday, Jan. 10, vs. No. 24/24 Florida. The contest will be televised on ESPNU and tip off at 8 p.m. CT.
SCOUTING VANDERBILT
• This is the 114th year of Vanderbilt basketball, with the first season taking place in 1900-01. There were no teams in 1904-05 and 1905-06. The Commodores have been to 14 NCAA Tournaments and 12 NIT's. Vanderbilt advanced to the Elite 8 in 1965 (field of 23), and the Sweet 16 in 1988, 1993, 2004, and 2007. The Commodores are in their 84th season of SEC basketball – Vanderbilt is one of the founding members of the Southeastern Conference.
• Head Coach Bryce Drew officially became the 27th head coach in Vanderbilt history on April 6, 2015. Drew, a three-time Horizon League Coach of the Year and two-time NABC District 12 Coach of the Year, comes to the Commodores after a five-year stint at Valparaiso, where he compiled a 124-49 overall record. The Drew family is the third all-time winningest collegiate coaching family in college basketball history with 1,057 wins, trailing only the Sutton family (Eddie, Sean, Scott) with 1,169 wins and the Iba family (Henry, Gene, Moe, Clarence) with 1,632 wins.
• Vanderbilt comes into Saturday's game as one of the top shooting times in the nation. The Commodores lead the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.404), threes made per game (10.3), total threes made (143) and attempted (269) and free throw percentage (.777). Nationally, Vandy ranks ninth in the nation in free throw percentage, 11th in threes made per game and 16th in three-point field goal percentage.
• Individually, Matthew Fisher-Davis leads Vanderbilt with 17.6 points per game and has made 44 three-pointers entering Saturday's contests. He ranks third in the league and 37th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.436), and is 29th nationally and second in the SEC in three-pointers made per game (3.14). Riley LaChance averages 9.7 points per game, and leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (.588) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.86). Forward Jeff Roberson leads the team with 7.6 rebounds per game to go along with 10.1 ppg, while Luke Kornet averages 12.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and a team-best 2.0 blocks per contest.
• Vanderbilt probable starters (starting five from last game): Guards: Riley LaChance (9.7 ppg, 4.3 apg, 3.1 rpg, .588 3FG%), Payton Willis (7.1 ppg, 2.8 apg, .368 3FG%), Matthew Fisher-Davis (17.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, .436 3FG%). Forwards: Jeff Roberson (10.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg), Luke Kornet (12.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.0 bpg).
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama will play its Southeastern Conference home opener on Saturday night when it hosts the Vanderbilt Commodores. Vandy has captured three consecutive wins in the series coming into Saturday's contest. It will be the lone meeting between the two teams in regular season play.
• Alabama does not have a player averaging double figures through its 13 games on the season, but boast 11 players average double-digit minutes and eight guys who average between 5.9 and 9.9 points per game.
• The Tide's top two scorers are both freshmen, as guard Dazon Ingram (9.9. ppg) and forward Braxton Key (9.6 ppg) lead hte team in scoring average are the only two players to average more than nine points a game for the Tide.
• Ingram also leads the team in three-point field goal percentage (.438), assists (3.8 apg), steals (1.1 spg) and minutes (26.8 mpg). Meanwhile, Key ranks second on the squad in rebounding (5.1 rpg), assists (2.0 apg) and minutes (25.5 mpg).
• Sophomore center Donta Hall tops the team in rebounding (5.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (.653), while ranking second in blocks (1.7 bpg). Graduate senior Corban Collins, who missed the Tide's previous two games with a groin injury before returning to play 18 minuntes at Mississippi State last Tuesday, is second on the team in three-point shooting (.385) and ranks third in scoring at 8.0 ppg.
• As a team, Alabama is outscoring the competition by 7.0 points per game (68.5-61.5) and outrebounding opponents by 5.8 rebounds per game (38.3-32.5). The Tide is shooting .435 from the field and .314 from beyond the arc as a team.
ALABAMA-VANDERBILT - SERIES NOTES
• Alabama and Vanderbilt will play for the 137th time in series history – and the only time this season – on Saturday night. The Commodores have won three straight games over the Crimson Tide to draw even in the all-time series record at 68-68.
• Twelve of the last 13 games played between the two teams have been decided by 10 or fewer points, with seven of those contests being decided by five or fewer points.
• The Commodores captured a 71-63 win over the Tide in the lone meeting between the two teams last season in Nashville, Tenn. The victory gave Vanderbilt its 12th victory over Alabama in the last 17 games played between the two teams.
• Alabama has a record of 43-19 when playing Vanderbilt in Tuscaloosa, including a 25-12 mark at Coleman Coliseum. However, the Commodores have won three of the last four games over the Crimson Tide under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum.
• There has been 11 overtime contests in series history, with Vanderbilt winning seven of those games (7-4).
• The series, which began during 1923-24 campaign, is now in its 114th year.
ALABAMA-MISSISSIPPI STATE: AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
• What Won The Game For UA: Alabama dominated in the paint, as the Tide outscored the Bulldogs by a margin of 38-24 on the night. The four Alabam big men (Jimmie Taylore, Donta Hall, Bola Olaniyan and Braxton Key) combined to go 10-of-15 (.667) from the field and accounted for a total of 27 points and 20 rebounds in the winning effort.
• The Difference Maker: Dazon Ingram caused problems all night for the Mississippi State defense. The 6-5, 205-pound point guard scored 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. He also pulled down nine rebounds and collected four assists on the night.
• The Wow Stat: Mississippi State guard Quinndary Weatherspoon came into the game with a team-best 19.1 ppg scoring average, which included nine double-figure scoring games and four games of 20 or more points. However, the Tide defense held the preseason All-SEC selection to season lows in points (7), field goals made (2) and field goal percentage (.182; 2-of-11), while his four turnovers matched a season high.
• Coach Avery Johnson Quote: "It was a roller coaster game, but I'll take it. We got off to a really slow start tonight. We couldn't dig in defensively, but we started to get into a rhythm somewhere after the 15-minute mark in the first half. Our guys just locked in defensively, and it was fun to watch.".
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