Alabama
Alabama-Huntsville (Exhibition)
Alabama Men’s Basketball Hosts UAH in Exhibition Contest Monday Night
11/5/2017 9:45:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide takes on the Chargers at 7 p.m. in Coleman Coliseum
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will play its lone exhibition game of the season on Monday night when it hosts Alabama-Huntsville at 7 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum.
The contest will be the second game of a double header, as Stillman College will play the University of Mobile at 4:30 p.m. CT.
THE BROADCAST
• Wednesday's game will air on SEC Network + via the WatchESPN app with Chris Stewart on Rick Moody on the call.
• There will not be a radio broadcast for Monday's game.
OPENING TIP
• Alabama begins its 105th season of basketball in 2017-18.
• According to the preseason rankings, the Crimson Tide checks in at No. 25 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll, while the AP poll lists Alabama as the first team out (No. 26).
• UA's non-conference opponents include 11 teams who are ranked or receiving votes to be ranked in the AP Top-25 Preseason Poll.
• The Tide returns four starters and seven letterwinners from last season's 19-15 team. UA welcomes back approximately 73 percent of its total scoring output, 58 percent of its rebounding and 77 percent of its assist totals from a year ago.
• Entering the season, the Tide has sold a record number of season tickets (6,197 as of 10/31).
ABOUT ALABAMA
• Alabama returns four starters and seven letterwinners from last season's 19-15 team that reached the National Invitation Tournament. The Crimson Tide will return 73 percent of its total scoring output, 58 percent of its rebounding and 77 percent of its assist totals from a year ago. In addition, head coach Avery Johnson's returning letterwinners started 69 percent of last year's games and accounted for 68 percent of the total minutes played, 74 percent of its field goals made, 75 percent of its made threes and 73 percent of the total made free throws.
• Alabama welcomes back its top four scorers and seven of the top eight scorers from last season's squad. Leading the list of returnees is SEC All-Freshman honoree Braxton Key, who led the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and minutes (29.9 mpg), while ranking second in rebounding (5.7 rpg) and assists (2.5 apg). He is joined by Dazon Ingram, who was the only player to start all 34 contests a year ago and topped the team in assists (3.3 apg), steals (0.9 spg) and three-pont field goal percentage (.429), while also ranking second in scoring (10.6 ppg). Together, Key (407 points) and Ingram (360 points) became the program's top scoring freshmen duo in program history, combining to score a total of 767 points.
• Junior Donta Hall returns after a stellar sophomore season in which he led Alabama in dunks (36), field goal percentate (.658) and blocked shots (1.4 bpg). He also established career-best numbers when he averaged 6.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game to go along with his 20 starts. Meanwhile, the Tide's lone four-year senior on the 2017-18 squad is guard/forward Riley Norris. Last season, Norris averaged 9.0 points and 3.8 rebounds a game, while topping Alabama in threes made at 47.
• In addition to the returning letterwinners, Alabama welcomes five freshmen who collectively made up the nation's sixth-ranked recruiting class according to Rivals.com – the highest-rated class in program history. According to the site, four of the Tide's five newcomers were considered top-100 players and included a pair of five-star signees in Collin Sexton (ranked No. 7) and John Petty (ranked No. 25), two four star signees in Herb Jones (Ranked No. 86) and Alex Reese (Ranked No. 95), along with three-star prospect Galin Smith.
• Sophomore Daniel Giddens will be eligible to play after sitting out the 2016-17 season as an NCAA transfer. Giddens, who played his freshman season at Ohio State, was one of the top-rated centers coming out of high school. After playing his final prep season at Oak Hill Academy, Giddens was a consensus top-50 player and top-10 center nationally. In his lone season at Ohio State, the 6-11, 240-pound forward/center saw action in 33 contests, while making seven starts, and averaged 3.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 18.2 minutes per game.
ABOUT UAH
• Alabama and UAH have never played during the regular season. The two teams met in an exhibition game back on Nov. 7, 2011 in Coleman Coliseum. The Tide captured a 67-60 victory over the Chargers behind JaMychal Green's 21 points.
• The Chargers have been picked to finish third in the Gulf South Conference preseason poll, which was released on Oct. 12. The league also announced its top newcomers, and UAH was represented by redshirt freshman Kerney Lane and true freshman Sam Orf.
• UAH and Alabama will play on the same night later in the season, although the teams will play in separate contests. Both teams will be a part of the 2017 Rocket City Classic, which expanded to a doubleheader and will be played on Dec. 19 in Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center. The Chargers will take on will take on Shorter at 5:15 p.m. CT, followed by Alabama and Mercer at 8:00 p.m. CT (SEC Network).
• UAH is coming off a 26-8 season in 2016-17, and the Chargers won a second Gulf South Conference tournament title in the last three seasons. UAH earned the top seed of the NCAA Division II South Regional and reached the regional championship game for the fifth time in seven seasons.
• UAH head coach Lennie Acuff enters his 21st season in 2017-18 and owns a 397-194 record over that span, with an overall record of 514-305 in 27 seasons. For his efforts, Acuff has been named the NABC District Coach of the Year four times (2000, 2011, 2012, and 2013), and he has been honored as the GSC Coach of the Year a conference-record eight times (1999, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016).
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