Alabama
Memphis
Alabama Men’s Basketball Takes on Memphis in Veterans Classic on Friday
11/9/2017 1:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide opens 2017-18 campaign at 5:30 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 25 Alabama men's basketball team will open the 2017-18 regular season on Friday night when it takes on the Memphis Tigers in the Veterans Classic in Annapolis, Md. The Tide and Tigers will be the first game of a double header, with host Navy taking on Pittsburgh in the night cap.
THE BROADCAST
• Friday's game will air on CBS Sports Network with Tom McCarthy (play-by-play), Steve Lappas (analyst) and Jon Rothstein (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 4:30 p.m. Tide fans can check their local listings for the exact station.
OPENING TIP
• Alabama begins its 105th season of basketball in 2017-18.
• The Crimson Tide checks in at No. 25 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.
• Alabama and Memphis will meet for the eighth time in series history and the first time since Nov. 17, 2005. The Tigers own a 5-2 lead in the all-time series (Full series info on page 3).
• 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.
• Alabama is 83-21 all-time in season openers. The Tide is 46-4 when opening at Coleman Coliseum, but falls to 37-17 when beginning a season on the road.
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 MEMPHIS
• Alabama and Memphis will meet for the eighth time in series history on Friday night and the first time in nearly 12 years. The last time the two schools met on the hardwood came on Nov. 17, 2005, when then-No. 12 Memphis defeated then-No. 15 Alabama, 76-67, in Tuscaloosa in the second round of the Preseason NIT.
• Memphis defeated LeMoyne-Own 101-78 back on Nov. 2 in the Tigers' lone exhibition game of the preseason. Junior Kyvon Davenport netted a team-high 19 points and added seven boards and three blocked shots to lift the Tigers to the win.
• Memphis finished the 2016-17 campaign with a 19-13 overall record and a 9-9 mark in American Atheltic Conference contests. The Tigers opened the year with a 17-6 record before falling in seven of their last nine games to close the season.
• The Tigers enter 2017-18 with just two returnees and 11 players that are playing their first seasons at the NCAA Division I level. The 11 newcomers (5 freshmen/5 junior college transfers/1 transfer) are the most for a Tigers team since freshmen became eligible in 1972-73.
• Legendary basketball coach Tubby Smith was named the 18th head coach in the history of the Memphis program. Smith has a 576-289 career record as head coach at Memphis (19-13), Texas Tech, Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, and Minnesota. During a 10-year span between his tenures with three different programs (Tulsa, Georgia, and Kentucky), he advanced his team to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 or beyond eight times.
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