Alabama
University of Richmond
Alabama Men’s Basketball Hosts Richmond in NIT First Round on Tuesday
3/13/2017 4:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Spiders set to tip off at 8:15 p.m. CT on ESPN2
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After a semifinal appearance in last week's Southeastern Conference Tournament, the Alabama Crimson Tide earned the No. 3 seed in the 2017 National Invitation Tournament and will host the sixth-seeded Richmond Spiders on Tuesday night at 8:15 p.m. CT.
Alabama and Richmond will play for the fourth time in series history and the first time in 28 years when the teams take the court on Tuesday. The Tide owns a 3-0 lead in the all-time series. The last meeting between the two squads came on Nov. 26, 1988 when Alabama defeated Richmond, 54-49, to win the Central Fidelity Classic, which was hosted in Richmond, Va. (full series information can be found on page 7).
Alabama is playing in the NIT for the 15th time in school history and the fifth time in the last seven years when the Tide takes the floor on Tuesday night. The Tide owns a 24-17 (.585) all-time record in the event.
Saturday's game will be televised on ESPN2 with Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Dalen Cuff (analyst) on the call. Fans can listen to the radio broadcast on the Crimson Tide Sports Network (CTSN) 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: ESPN2
LIVE STATS: Richmond-Alabama Live Stats
SOCIAL MEDIA: @AlabamaMBB
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Alabama was selected to the 2017 NIT, which marks the third straight and fifth time in the last seven years that the Tide has reached the tournament.
- Alabama enters the game with 19 victories on the season. With a win on Tuesday night, the Tide will claim 20 wins in a season for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign.
- Alabama owns a record of 13-3 in 16 home games and has won eight of its last nine home NIT contests entering Tuesday's game.
- A pair of freshmen lead the Tide offensively. Forward Braxton Key averages team highs of 12.1 points per game and 29.7 minutes a contest, while also ranking second in assists (2.5), rebounds (5.7) and three-point field goal percentage (.337). Guard Dazon Ingram, who ranks second in points (10.5 ppg), leads UA in assists (3.2 apg), steals (0.9 spg) and 3-point shooting (.447). Six of Alabama's top seven scorers are underclassmen.
- Alabama boasts a record of 16-3 when holding teams to 62 points or fewer this season. However, the Tide falls to 3-11 when allowing opponents to score more than 62 points in a contest.
- Alabama comes into postseason play as one of the top defenses in the nation. The Crimson Tide leads the SEC in scoring defense (64.5 ppg), ranks second in field goal percentage defense (.401) and is seventh in three-point field goal percentage defense (.332). The Tide ranks 21st nationally in field goal percentage defense and is 31st in the nation in scoring defense.
- Alabama leads the SEC and ranks 31st in the nation in rebounding margin (+5.4) entering NIT play. The Tide also ranks 44th nationally in offensive rebounds per game (12.3) and is 27th in the nation in total rebounds per game (39.2).
- Ten of Alabama's 14 losses on the season have been decided by nine points or fewer. Six of those 10 contests came down to five points or less, five of which have come against SEC teams.
- Alabama has been outrebounded just seven times in its 33 games this season.
SCOUTING RICHMOND
• Richmond is led by 12th-year head coach Chris Mooney. Mooney ranks second all-time in the Spider record books with a career record of 223-174 at Richmond for a winning percentage of .562. He is also the fourth longest-tenured coach in the Atlantic 10.
• Richmond is led on the year by senior forward/center T.J. Cline, who was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. Cline is currently averaging 18.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. He is nearing a nearly unheard of mark of averaging 18-8-5. If he does that, Cline would be just the third player (Penny Hardaway and Evan Turner) to average 18-8-5 in the last 25 years.
• Freshman De'Monte Buckingham was tabbed the A-10 Rookie of the Year. The 6-4, 215-pound guard is averaging 10.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while also adding 2.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Along with Cline on the First Team and Buckingham on the Rookie team, Senior guard ShawnDre' Jones, who averages 16.8 points and leads the team in threes made (62), attempted (159) and three-point field goal percentage (.396), was named All-A-10 Third Team.
• The Spiders lead the Atlantic 10 in assists (16.9) and assist-turnover ratio (1.5). Richmond has dished the same or more assists than the opponent in 27 of the season's 32 games. In Atlantic 10 play, the Spiders averaged 18.1 assists per game.
• T.J. Cline's mother is Nancy Lieberman, who is regarded as one of the greatest figures in the game of women's basketball. Leiberman, who is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, collected 2,430 points along with 1,167 rebounds in her collegiate career, producing an average of 18.1 points per game. Leiberman is currently an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings, becoming only the second female assistant coach in NBA history.
• The Spiders are 19-1 when holding a lead with five minutes remaining and 16-2 when leading or tied at the half. UR has overcome double-digit deficits in three of the teams' wins, and only given up a double-digit lead in a loss once to then-ranked Maryland.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama, which is 19-13 on the year, finished fifth in the SEC with a 10-8 league record – the best league finish since placing fourth in the standings during the 2012-13 campaign.
• Alabama earned the No. 3 seed in the 2017 National Invitation Tournament, which marks the Tide's fifth NIT appearance in the last seven years.
• The Tide boasts a balanced offensive attack as eight guys average between 5.2 and 12.1 points per game. The Tide's top two scorers are both freshmen, while six of the top seven are underclassmen.
• True freshman Braxton Key, who was named to the SEC All-Freshman team, leads the Tide in scoring (12.1 ppg), double-figure scoring games (20), 20-plus point scoring games (3) and minutes (29.7 mpg). Key ranks second in assists (2.5 apg), rebounding (5.7 rpg) and three-point field goal percentage (.337).
• Redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram, who is the only player to start all 33 games this year, leads the team in assists (3.2 apg), three-point field goal percentage (.447) and steals (0.9 spg), while ranking second in scoring (10.6 ppg) and double figure scoring games (17).
• Sophomore center Donta Hall tops the team in field goal percentage (.658) and in blocks (1.5 bpg), while ranking third in rebound (5.6 rpg). Junior Riley Norris leads the team in threes made (46) and attempted (139) and is third in scoring (9.0 ppg). Graduate senior Bola Olaniyan is the Tide's top rebounder (6.4 rpg) and averages 2.7 offensive boards per game. In SEC games only, he led the league in offensive rebounds a game (3.6) and is fourth in the league in rebounding (7.8 rpg).
• As a team, Alabama is outscoring the competition by 4.2 points per game (68.7-64.5) and outrebounding opponents by 5.4 rebounds per game (39.2-33.6). The Tide is shooting .424 from the field and .318 from beyond the arc as a team. Alabama ranks second the league and ranks 31st in the nation in scoring defense.
ALABAMA-RICHMOND - SERIES NOTES
• Alabama and Richmond will meet for the fourth time overall, with the Crimson Tide owning a perfect 3-0 edge in the series history.
• The last time the two teams squared off on the hardwood came on Nov. 26, 1988, when the Tide captured a 54-49 victory in the championship game of the Central Fidelity Classic in Richmond, Va.
• The only other meetings between the schools came on Dec. 20, 1962 in Tuscaloosa (Alabama won, 72-56) and Dec. 21, 1964 in Richmond, Va. (Alabama won, 80-70).
TIDE HAS BEST SEC TOURNAMENT SHOWING SINCE 2002
• Alabama is coming off a successful SEC Tournament showing in which the Tide, which entered as the No. 5 seed, captured a pair of victories on its way to the first semifinal appearance in the event since 2013.
• Alabama opened the event with a 75-55 victory over 12th-seeded Mississippi State on March 9, followed by a 64-53 win against No. 4 seed South Carolina on March 10. The Tide dropped a hard-fought 79-74 decision against top-seeded Kentucky on March 11.
• It was Alabama's first time winning two games in the same tournament since achieving the feat in 2002.
For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaMBB on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
