Alabama
Louisiana Tech
Alabama Begins Three-Game Homestand with Louisiana Tech on Wednesday Night
11/28/2017 2:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Bulldogs set to tip at 7 p.m. CT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 24 Alabama men's basketball team will begin a three-game homestand on Wednesday night when it hosts Louisiana Tech in Coleman Coliseum at 7 p.m. CT.
PROMOTIONS
• Free Pop Socket to the first 500 students in attendance.
THE BROADCAST
• Wednesday's game will air on SEC Network+ with Eli Gold (play-by-play), Wimp Sanderson (analyst) and Rebecca Nesbitt (sideline) 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 6 p.m. CT on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
OPENING TIP
• Alabama is ranked No. 24 in the nation in the latest Associated Press top-25 rankings which was released on Monday afternoon. The Tide is the second team receiving votes (No. 27) in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 poll.
• Guard Collin Sexton is coming off an Alabama freshman single-game scoring record when he put up 40-points in a narrow 89-84 defeat to then-No. 14 Minnesota last Saturday night at the Barclays Classic. Sexton, who leads the SEC in scoring with 25.2 ppg, was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for his performance last week.
• Last season, Alabama scored 82 points or more in only four games, with one of those games going to quadruple overtime (won 90-86 at South Carolina). The Tide has achieved the feat in four of its first six games this year.
• Wednesday's game begins a three-game home stretch for the Tide, who will host UCF (Dec. 3) and Rhode Island (Dec. 6) before departing for Arizona next week,.
• Alabama is in search of its sixth win in its first seven games on Wednesday night. The last time that Tide began a season 6-1 was in 2012-13.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama's 5-1 start is the best beginning to a season under head coach Avery Johnson, who is in his third year at the helm in 2017-18. With a win, the Crimson Tide will be 6-1 for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign.
• Through its four games, the Tide is averaging 84.0 points per game and outscoring the opposition by 13.2 points per contest (84.0-70.8). As a team, Alabama is connecting on 52.8 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Tide also owns a +0.8 rebounding advantage (37.5-36.7) and averaging 15.2 assists per contest.
• Defensively, Alabama is allowing opponents to shoot 41.3 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from deep. In addition, the Tide is averaging 6.5 steals and 6.5 blocks per game.
• Three players are averaging double-figure scoring for the Tide, led by freshman Collin Sexton's 25.2 ppg. Sexton also tops Alabama in assists (4.4 apg). Freshman John Petty ranks second on the team with 14.0 ppg and tops UA in threes made (22) and attempted (51). Sophomore Dazon Ingram is also averaging double figure at 11.0 ppg, while adding 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game.
• Sophomore Donta Hall leads Alabama in field goal percentage (.711, 27-of-38), dunks (14), rebounds (7.2 rpg) and blocks (2.3 bpg), while adding 9.8 points a game.
SCOUTING LOUISIANA TECH
• Alabama and Louisiana will meet for the sixth time in series history, and for the first time in 12 years to the day, when the two teams square off at Coleman Coliseum on Wednesday night. The Crimson Tide owns a 5-0 advantage in the all-time series, including a 4-0 mark in games played between the two teams in Tuscaloosa.
• Louisiana Tech last played on Nov. 22 when it defeated Evansville, 63-61, at the Cancun Classic to claim the tournament championship. Junior guard Derric Jean hit a half-court buzzer beater to win the title. The Bulldogs defeated George Mason, 77-64, in the first round on Nov. 21.
• Sophomore guard Jalen Harris leads four Bulldog players who average double figures with 17.0 points per game. Sophomore guard Dequan Bracey (14.8 ppg), senior guard Jacobi Boykins (14.2 ppg) and Jean (11.6 ppg) each average double digit scoring. Boykins also tops the team with 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals per contest, while Bracey leads the squad with 5.2 assists per game.
• As a team, Louisiana Tech is shooting 47.5 percent from the floor and 36.1 percent from beyond the arc through its five contests this season. The Bulldogs have outscored the competition by an average of 14.0 points per game (83.8-69.8).
• Louisiana Tech was tabbed third in the 14-team Conference USA Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Bulldogs returns eight letterwinners, including three starters -- senior Jacobi Boykins, sophomore DaQuan Bracey and junior Derric Jean, from last year's roster. Boykins and Bracey were two of the 10 players selected to the Preseason All-Conference USA Team.
• Head coach Eric Konkol is in his third season at the helm of the Louisiana Tech program. Konkol led his team to 51 victories (51-30), the most by a Louisiana Tech head coach 81 games into his tenure.
ALABAMA RANKED AMONG THE TOP 25
• The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 24 in the nation in the newest Associated Press Top-25 poll, which was released on Nov. 27. It is the highest AP ranking for Alabama since being ranked No. 18 in the nation for the week of Feb. 7, 2006.
• 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 second team out (No. 27) in this week's poll.
• Among the other top-25 polls that have been updated this week, ESPN.com's Power rankings lists Alabama at No. 25 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 GOES FOR 40, EARNS SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
• Freshman guard Collin Sexton was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after an impressive display on the court last week.
• Sexton put on a show for the Barclays Center crowd in the championship game of the 2017 Barclays Classic last Saturday vs. Minnesota. The Mableton, Ga., native was one of three players on the court for the final 10-plus minutes and nearly helped give the shorthanded Tide an improbable come-from-behind victory be scoring 40 points in the 89-84 loss to the nation's 14th-ranked team.
• Sexton, who scored 15 points in the final seven-plus minutes, had 31 in the second half alone. His 40 points set a UA freshman scoring record and marked the ninth-most points in a single game in program history. The Mableton, Ga., native became the first Alabama player to score 40 in a game since Reggie King had 43 points against Virginia on March 12, 1979.
• Sexton began the week by scoring a then-season high 29 points in a one-point victory over UT Arlington (11/21) and followed that with 10 points and a season-high seven rebounds in a win over BYU (11/24).
THREE-MAN TIDE NEARLY PULLS OFF THE IMPOSSIBLE
• Alabama and Minnesota played in what was one of the most bizarre games not only this season, but arguably in the history of college basketball.
• The Tide was forced to finish the contest with only three players on the court over the final 10-plus minutes of the contest. Seven Alabama players were ejected for leaving the bench during an altercation at the 13:43 mark of the second half, which left five UA players on the court. Two minutes later, sophomore Dazon Ingram fouled out with 11:37 remaining. Less than a minute later, freshman John Petty went down with an injury, leaving Alabama with three players over the final 10:41 and the Tide trailing 67-56.
• Naturally, the Golden Gophers were able to extend their lead to 79-64 with 7:32 remaining, but that's when the tide turned. Alabama went on a 16-4 run over the next 4:52 to make it a one possession game (83-80) with 1:39 left. The Tide actually had the ball and a chance to cut into the lead even more, but missed a jumper which Minnesota then converted to an and-1 on the other end to put the game out of reach.
• Despite being down to three players for the final 10:41, the Tide outscored the Gophers 30-22 over the stretch.
• It was just the second known time a Division I team played a game with three players on the court. The only other known occurrence cam on Feb. 23, 1989 in a game between Wichita State and Indiana State when the Sycamores played the final 25 seconds of the game in a 5-on-3 disadvantage.
• With 1:46 remaining in the first half of that contest, a fight broke out between Wichita State's Aaron Davis and Indiana State's Darrin Liles. The entire Sycamore bench joined in. Once order was restored, Davis and Liles were both ejected. Because the Indiana State bench players had come onto the court, they were also ejected, leaving the Sycamores with just four players to finish out the game. One of the four – Ron Cheatham – picked up his fifth personal foul with 25 seconds to play in the second half, and the game ended with only three Sycamores on the floor.
