Alabama
UT Arlington
Alabama Men’s Basketball Hosts UT Arlington Tuesday Night
11/20/2017 3:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Mavericks tip at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 25 Alabama men's basketball team will close out its three-game homestand when it hosts UT Arlington on Tuesday night at Coleman Coliseum. The contest is slated to tip off at 8 p.m. CT and will air on SEC Network.
The Tide and Mavericks are both earning national recognition entering Tuesday's game. Alabama is ranked 25th in the nation in the latest Associated Press Top-25 poll, which was released on Monday. It marks the first time since the week of Dec. 17, 2011 the Tide is ranked in the AP Poll. Meanwhile, UTA is receiving votes to be ranked after beginning the season 2-0.
PROMOTIONS
• Foam Fingers to the first 500 students in attendance.
• T-Shirts to the first 1,000 fans in attendance.
THE BROADCAST
• Tuesday's game will air on SEC Network with Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play) and former Alabama great Mo Williams (analyst) on the call.
• The radio broadcast can be found on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call, with the pregame show beginning at 7 p.m. CT. Tide fans can check their local listings for the exact station.
OPENING TIP
• Alabama is off to its first 3-0 start since the 2014-15 season. The last time the Tide began a year 4-0 was back in 2012-13 when it started the year with six straight wins.
• Alabama is ranked No. 25 in the nation in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll. It's the Tide's first appearance in the AP poll since the week of Dec. 17, 2011.
• The Tide has scored 272 points in its three games. The last time UA scored that many points after three games to start the year was in 2004-05 when it totaled 272 points in the opening three games (won 97-66 vs. Western Carolina, 85-17 vs. North Texas and 90-55 at Alaska Anchorage.
• John Petty connected on a school record 10 three-pointers in the victory over Alabama A&M last Friday night, which also tied for the fourth-most in a game in SEC history.
• Alabama's 37-point win vs. Alabama A&M (104-67) was the largest margin of victory over a D-I opponent since defeating the same Alabama A&M team, 82-45, back on Nov. 23, 2011.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama is off to its first 3-0 start in the Avery Johnson tenure after collecting three straight double-digit victories to open the 2017-18 campaign. Should the Tide defeat UT Arlington, it will mark the first 4-0 start to the season since 2012-13.
• Through its three games, the Tide is averaging 90.7 points per game and outscoring the opposition by 23.7 points per contest (90.7-67.0). As a team, Alabama is connecting on 56.5 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from beyond the arc. The Tide also owns a +4.7 rebounding advantage (42.3-37.7) and averaging 19.3 assists per contest.
• Defensively, Alabama is allowing opponents to shoot just 37.8 percent from the field and 28.8 percent from deep. In addition, the Tide is averaging 6.7 steals and 7.7 blocks per game.
• Three players are averaging double-figure scoring for the Tide, led by freshman Collin Sexton's 23.5 ppg. Freshman John Petty ranks second on the team with 18.3 ppg and tops UA in threes made (15) and attempted (30). Sophomore Dazon Ingram is also averaging double figure at 14.3 ppg, while adding 6.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists a game.
• Freshman Alex Reese leads Alabama with 8.7 rebounds per game, while junior Donta Hall is second with 7.3 rpg while also leading the Tide with 3.3 blocks a game.
SCOUTING UT ARLINGTON
• Alabama and UT Arlington will meet for just the second time in series history when the two teams square off on the hardwood on Tuesday night. The only other meeting between the schools came on Dec. 19, 1971 when the Tide captured a 102-85 victory over the Mavericks in the Fort Worth Classic in Fort Worth, Texas.
• UT Arlington comes into Tuesday night's contest with a 2-0 record after collecting wins over Loyola Marymount (85-80) on Nov. 11 and at BYU (89-75) this past Saturday. The Mavericks are led by preseason player of the year Kevin Hervey, who tops the team with 25.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Point guard Erick Neal is second on the team in scoring (17.5 ppg) and leads the team with 10.5 assists per contest. As a team, UAT is shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 51.1 percent from beyond the arc.
• UTA returns two starters and 10 letter winners from last year's team that won a program-record 27 games and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT. The Mavericks return two of their top three scorers, including Sun Belt Player of the Year Kevin Hervey and dynamic point guard Erick Neal, who were both selected to the mid major preseason All-America team, according to NBC Sports. In all, UTA welcomes back 57 percent of its scoring and 58 percent of its rebounding from last year's team.
• UT Arlington was selected to repeat as the Sun Belt Conference campions, according to the preseason poll of league coaches. In addition, UTA senior Kevin Hervey was selected as the conference's Preseason Player of the Year and backcourt mate Erick Neal joined him as a first team preseason all-conference selection. Hervey earned both SBC Player of the Year and conference Student-Athlete of the Year honors a year ago after missing most of the 2015-16 season due to a knee injury.
ALABAMA RANKED AMONG THE TOP 25
• The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 25 in the nation in the newest Associated Press Top-25 poll, which was released on Nov. 20. It is the first time Alabama is ranked in the AP poll since Dec. 17, 2011.
• After the Tide was ranked in the preseason USA Today/Coaches Preseason Poll, Alabama drops out of the rankings falls out of the top 25 and is the first team out (No. 26) in the updated poll, released Nov. 20.
• Among the other top-25 polls that have been updated this week, ESPN.com's Power rankings lists Alabama at No. 24 in the nation. The Tide checks in at No. 18 in the nation according to CBSSports.com.
• Alabama was rated No. 24 by Blue Ribbon's Preseason Top 25, while NBC Sports ranked Alabama No. 23 nationally in its preseason rankings.
SEXTON OFF TO A HOT START
• Freshman guard Collin Sexton has played in two contests and shown why he was one of the most highly-touted recruits to come to Alabama in program history. He enters the UT Arlington game leading the Tide with 23.5 points per game, while also topping the team with 5.0 assists per contest.
• After sitting out the season opener vs. Memphis (11/10), Sexton scored 22 points in his collegiate debut against Lipscomb on Nov. 14. The last time a true Crimson Tide freshman scored that many points in his debut came on Nov. 24, 1978, when Eddie Phillips went for 25 points in his first career game in a 96-74 loss to Wagner.
• The Mableton, Ga., native followed that performance with 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field in the victory over Alabama A&M last Friday night. In doing so, Sexton became the first freshman in the modern era to accomplish back-to-back 20-point games in his first two collegiate contests. Freshman were allowed to play with the varsity beginning in the 1975-76 season. Prior to that, Charles Cleveland, playing on the 1971-72 freshman team, scored 22 or more points in each of his first three games to begin the season.
• More importantly, Sexton has been incredibly efficient, knocking down 18-of-26 (69.2 percent) shots from the floor and 5-of-9 shots from beyond the arc (55.6 percent).
PETTY NAMED SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
• Collin Sexton isn't the only Alabama freshman making headlines early this season. Guard John Petty is also making a name for himself, as he was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday.
• The Huntsville, Ala., native knocked down a school record 10 three-pointers in the Tide's 104-67 victory over Alabama A&M last Friday night. Petty connected on 10-of-13 shots from beyond the arc en route to toppling the former record of eight set by seven different players, most recently by Riley Norris vs. South Carolina on Jan. 13, 2016.
• Petty's 10 threes tied for the fourth-most in a single game in Southeastern Conference history. However, his percentage of 76.9 percent (10-of-13) was the highest in league history by any player who has made 10 or more threes in a game. Furthermore, the last SEC player to have 10 or more three-pointers in a game was Michael Frazier of Florida (Mar. 4, 2014).
• He also accounted for 14 points in the win over Lipscomb and averaged 22 points, five rebounds and two assists in the Tide's two contests last week.
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