Alabama
LSU
Alabama Men’s Basketball Travels to Face Hot LSU Team Saturday Night
1/12/2018 2:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Tigers, coming off a 21-point win at Arkansas, have won eight of last 10
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will travel to Baton Rouge, La., to square off against the LSU Tigers on Saturday night. The contest will tip at 7:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network.
Saturday's contest will be the first of two meetings between Alabama and LSU. The Tigers will make the return trip to Tuscaloosa on Feb. 13 (8 p.m. CT on SEC Network).
THE BROADCAST
• Saturday's game will air on SEC Network with Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (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 6:30 p.m. CT on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
OPENING TIP
• Alabama will play one of its two road games in the current seven-game stretch when it travels to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU on Saturday night in the first of two games played between the teams this season.
• Alabama snapped a two-game losing skid with an impressive 76-62 home victory over South Carolina last Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide led by as many as 23 points in the second half before settling for the 14-point win.
• Freshman John Petty led four Crimson Tide players in double figures with 15 points, 12 of which came in the opening stanza. Junior Donta Hall added 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, while sophomores Daniel Giddens and Avery Johnson Jr. each added 10 points. Hall (6-of-7) and Giddens (5-of-5) were incredibly efficient on the night, as the duo combined to connect on 11-of-12 shots (.917) and four dunks on the night.
• With his three dunks against the Gamecocks, Hall now has 36 dunks this season, which is more than six teams in the SEC. In fact, the Luverne, Ala., native is connecting on an impressive 75.0 percent (78-of-104) from the field, with nearly half of his made field goals this season coming above the rim (36 dunks on 78 made field goals).
• Alabama ranks as one of the top defenses in the SEC in league games only. Coming into the LSU game, the Tide leads the conference in blocks per game (7.5) and steals per game (8.3), while ranking second in scoring defense (65.0) and field goal percentage defense (.355) and is fifth in three-point defense (.292).
• Alabama is one of the few teams in the nation that does not have a senior on its active roster. In fact, according to KenPom.com, the Crimson Tide ranks 347th out of 351 teams in terms of experience on its roster with an average of 0.81 years of experience.
• Over its last seven contests, the Tide is shooting 78.6 percent (103-of-131) from the foul line. In the previous nine contests, Alabama connected on just 63.0 percent (155-of-246) from the charity stripe.
• Alabama return to Coleman Coliseum where it will play four of its next five games when it welcomes rival Auburn. The game will tip at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama snapped its first two-game losing streak of the season with a 76-62 home victory over South Carolina last Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide will face LSU, not only looking for its first true road win this season (0-3), but will attempt to win back-to-back games for the first since late November when it defeated UT Arlington (Nov. 21) and BYU (Nov. 24) in consecutive contests.
• The Tide is averaging 74.9 points per game and outscoring the opposition by 4.8 points per contest (74.9-70.1). As a team, Alabama is connecting on 46.8 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Tide has matched the opposition on the board this season, 36.8-36.8 per game. Additionally, Alabama is second in the SEC and ranks ninth in the nation in blocked shots per game (6.3).
• In addition to blocking shots, the Alabama defense is allowing opponents to shoot 40.6 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from deep, while also averaging 6.9 steals a contest. Despite struggling at the foul line this season (shooting 68.4 percent on the year), the Tide ranks 66th nationally in free throws attempted (377) and is 87th in the nation in free throws made (258). In fact, 21.5 percent of Alabama's point total (258 of 1,199 points) has come from the charity stripe.
• Four players are averaging double-figure scoring for the Tide, led by freshman Collin Sexton's 19.5 ppg. That number not only tops the team, but also leads the SEC and ranks 48th nationally. Sexton also tops the team in assists (3.5 apg) and field goals made (88) and attempted (192). Freshman John Petty ranks second on the team with 12.1 ppg and tops UA in threes made (44) and attempted (119), while his 2.8 treys made per game is tied for third-best in the SEC.
• Junior Donta Hall leads the Tide in field goal percentage (.750, 78-of-104), which would lead the country but he's just shy of meeting the minimum requirement of 5.0 or more field goals made per game (Hall is at 4.88 made per game). Hall also tops the team in dunks (36), rebounds (7.2 rpg) and blocks (2.4 bpg), while ranking third with 11.5 points per game. Sophomore guard Dazon Ingram, who missed the Georgia game and played limited minutes against South Carolina due to an illness, is averaging 10.7 ppg, and ranks second on the team in rebounding (6.3 rpg) and assists (2.9 apg) a game.
SCOUTING LSU
• LSU and Alabama will meet for the 178th time in program history, with the Tide leading the all-time series, 106-71. The 177 previous meetings is tied for the second-highest games played against any single opponent (Alabama has faced Ole Miss 177 times as well), while the 106 wins by the Crimson Tide rank as the third-highest number for wins against an opponent. Alabama has played Mississippi State 195 times for 121 wins which ranks first in the record books, while the 120 wins against Ole Miss rank second.
• Will Wade was named the 22nd head men's basketball coach at LSU on March 20, 2017. He came to LSU after a two-year stint as the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University with four years of experience as a head basketball coach. Wade, one of the youngest coaches in Division I at 34, directed VCU to a 51-20 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances the last two seasons. Wade, who spent two seasons at the helm of the Chattanooga men's basketball program from 2013-15, has a career record of 102-49 (.675).
• Freshman Tremont Waters, who was named the SEC Freshman of the Week last week, comes into the game leading the SEC in assists (6.1) and steals (2.3) per game, while averaging a team-best 16.8 points per contest which ranks fifth-best in the league. He also ranks second in the league in minutes per game (33.0). He is one of four LSU players to average double figures, joining senior Duop Reath (12.5 ppg), sophomore Skylar Mays (12.1 ppg) and senior Aaron Epps (10.4 ppg).
• LSU comes into Saturday's game leading the SEC in field goal percentage (.503), ranks fourth in the league in scoring offense (82.1) and is sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.367), scoring margin (+10.3) and three-pointers made per game (8.5).
• The Tigers rank as one of the top defensive teams in league play. In the three games LSU has played against SEC teams, it ranks third in scoring defense (65.3), second in three-point field goal percentage defense (.255) and is sixth in field goal percentage defense (.414).
ALABAMA-LSU – SERIES NOTES
• Alabama and LSU will meet for the 178th time in series history in a series that began during the 1915-16 season.
• The Tide owns a 106-71 lead in the all-time series. The 178 meetings are the second-most Alabama has played against any single opponent, while the 106 wins rank as third best against any foe.
• Last season, Alabama won both contests. The Tide won 81-66 in Baton Rouge, La., on Jan. 14, 2017 and followed that with a 90-72 triumph in Coleman Coliseum on Feb, 18, 2017. It was first season sweep for Alabama since the 2010-11 campaign.
• Alabama has won three consecutive games over LSU entering Saturday night's contest and have two straight wins over the Tigers in the P-MAC.
• Saturday's game will mark the first of two meetings between the two squads this season. The two teams will square off once again in Coleman Coliseum on Feb. 13, 2018.
• Alabama and LSU have played in 10 overtime games in series history, including two triple overtime contests (2/10/90 & 2/23/13) and a quadruple overtime contest (2/12/72) – on of only two four-overtime game in school history. Alabama has an impressive 8-2 record when it has played LSU in overtime.
• Four of the last nine games played between the two teams have been decided by three or fewer points, while six of the last 10 have been decided by less than 10 points.
GETTING IT DONE IN THE CLASSROOM
• The Alabama men's basketball team had an outstanding fall semester in the classroom, highlighted by senior Riley Norris who graduated this past December with an undergraduate degree in marketing.
• As a team, the Crimson Tide boasted a team grade point average of 3.016.
• Freshmen Collin Sexton, Herbert Jones and Tyler Barnes each finished with a perfect 4.0 GPA and will earn a spot on the President's List.
• A total of seven Alabama student-athletes finished the semester with a 3.0 GPA or better. In addition to the three who earned a 4.0 in the fall, freshman Alex Reese (3.86), sophomore Landon Fuller (3.25), Norris (3.23) and junior Avery Johnson Jr. (3.08) all earned the recognition.
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.
