Alabama
Georgia
Alabama Men’s Basketball Remains on Road to Take on Georgia in Saturday Afternoon Affair
1/5/2018 10:54:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Bulldogs set to tip off at 11 a.m. CT on SEC Network
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will play its second consecutive Southeastern Conference road contest when it travels to Athens, Ga., to take on the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday in an early afternoon affair. The contest will tip at 11 a.m. CT (noon ET) and will be televised on SEC Network.
Alabama is coming off a narrow 76-75 loss at Vanderbilt last Tuesday night in Nashville. The Tide trailed by as many as 15 points before a furious rally cut the lead to one in the final minute. However, Alabama's half-court heave at the buzzer was off the mark as the Tide dropped its SEC road opener.
Freshman Collin Sexton led all scorers with a game-high 24 points to go along with five assists and three steals in the loss. It marked his eighth 20-point scoring game in 13 contests played this season. Junior Donta Hall was the only other Crimson Tide player to reach double figures with 14 points, 6 rebounds and a pair of blocks.
THE BROADCAST
• Friday's game will air on SEC Network with Matt Stewart (play-by-play) and Antoine Walker (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 10 a.m. CT on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
OPENING TIP
• Alabama continues its stretch of playing three of four games away from Tuscaloosa with Saturday's game at Georgia. It will mark the only meeting this season between the two teams.
• Georgia and Alabama played twice last season, with each winning on the others home court. Alabama claimed an 80-60 win in Athens on Jan. 25, while Georgia returned the favor with a 60-55 victory in Tuscaloosa.
• Saturday's contest will feature the top two scorers in the Southeastern Conference this year in Alabama's Collin Sexton (20.4 ppg) and Georgia's Yante Maten (19.5 ppg).
• Over its last five contests, the Tide has been one of the top free throw shooting teams in the nation. During the stretch, Alabama is shooting 81.1 percent (86-of-106) from the foul line, led by Collin Sexton who has hit 40 of his last 42 free throws (95.7 percent).
• Alabama will return to Coleman Coliseum for its only home contest in the current four-game stretch, when it welcomes South Carolina on Jan. 9. That contest will tip at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama fell to 9-5 on the season and 1-1 in league play following a 76-75 defeat at Vanderbilt on Tuesday night in Nashville, Tenn. The Crimson Tide has alternated wins and losses in each of its last 10 games and has not won back-to-back games since late November when it defeated UT Arlington (Nov. 21) and BYU (Nov. 24) in consecutive contests.
• Through its 14 contests, the Tide is averaging 76.9 points per game and outscoring the opposition by 5.9 points per contest (76.9-71.0). As a team, Alabama is connecting on 47.2 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Tide also owns a +0.9 rebounding advantage (37.7-36.6). Additionally, Alabama ranks third the SEC and 10th in the nation in blocked shots per game (6.3).
• In addition to blocking shots, the Alabama defense is allowing opponents to shoot 41.3 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from deep, while also averaging 6.8 steals a contest. Despite struggling at the foul line this season (shooting 68.5 percent on the year), the Tide leads the league in free throws attempted (352) and is second in free throws made (241). In fact, 22 percent of Alabama's point total (241 of 1077 points) have come from the charity stripe.
• Four players are averaging double-figure scoring for the Tide, led by freshman Collin Sexton's 20.4 ppg. That number not only leads the team, but also leads the SEC and ranks 37th nationally. Sexton also tops the team in assists (3.5 apg) and field goals made (77) and attempted (168). Freshman John Petty ranks second on the team with 12.5 ppg and tops UA in threes made (40) and attempted (106), while his 2.9 treys made per game is fifth-best in the SEC.
• Junior Donta Hall leads the Tide in field goal percentage (.758, 69-of-91), 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 4.93 made per game). Hall also tops the team in dunks (33), rebounds (7.3 rpg) and blocks (2.6 bpg), while ranking third with 11.7 points per game. Sophomore guard Dazon Ingram is averaging 11.1 ppg, and ranks second on the team in rebounding (6.6 rpg) and assists (3.0 apg) a game.
SCOUTING GEORGIA
• Georgia is the seventh most-common opponent in Alabama history. This year marks the teams' 146th meeting, with the Tide holding a 94-51 edge in the all-time series. The 94 wins is tied for fourth-most victories by Alabama over any single opponent.
• This marks the only meeting between Alabama and Georgia this season. The Crimson Tide has dropped four of the last five games between the two teams, however, the lone victory over the five-game stretch came last season when Alabama secured an 80-60 victory over the Bulldogs in Athens, Ga.
• Head coach Mark Fox guided Georgia to 20 wins in three consecutive years, which is just the second time in 112 seasons of basketball the Bulldogs have done so. Fox, who is in his ninth season at Georgia, owns a 155-121 (.562) record and has a career record of 278-164 (.629) in 14 seasons as a head coach.
• Senior forward Yante Maten enters the contest leads the Bulldogs in points (19.5 ppg), rebounds (9.3 rpg), field goals made (83) and attempted (169), blocked shots (16) and minutes played (32.5 mpg). He was selected as the preseason co-SEC Player of the Year. In addition, the senior forward also tops the team in free throws made (76) and attempted (91), while his 83.5 percent free throw shooting is second-best on the team.
• Junior guard William Jackson II is the only other player to average in double figures for Georgia at 10.8 ppg, while also topping the team with 3.9 assists per contest and shooting from beyond the arc (39.2 percent).
• As a team, Georgia ranks among the top defenses in the league. Entering Saturday's contest, the Bulldogs rank second in the league in field goal percentage defense (38.8 percent), fourth in scoring defense (66.8) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage defense (31.8 percent). Georgia also ranks as one of the best rebounding teams, average 40.4 rebounds per game to rank third in the SEC and its +6.5 rebounding margin is fifth-best in the conference.
ALABAMA-GEORGIA – SERIES NOTES
• Saturday's game will be the 146th meeting on the hardwood between the two schools, which is be the seventh-most games UA has played against any one opponent. The Crimson Tide owns a 94-51 lead in the series, with the 94 victories ranking fourth in program history.
• Twenty-one of the last 25 meetings have been decided by under 10 points, including 13 of the last 15 contests played between the two schools.
• Alabama has won 13 of the last 22 meetings overall in the series, however, Georgia has claimed four of the last five meetings between the rivals.
• Alabama has a record of 33-31 when playing Georgia in Athens, including an 80-60 victory last season on Jan. 25, 2017. It marked the third victory for the Tide in the last five games played at Stegeman Coliseum.
• Last season, the two teams split the season series with each squad winning on the other's home floor. Following the Tide's victory in Athens, the Bulldogs returned the favor with a 60-55 victory over the Tide in Coleman Coliseum.
• The series has seen 13 overtime games, with Alabama owning an 8-5 lead in such contests.
• The series began during 1921-22 campaign.
SATURDAY'S GAME A PREDICTOR FOR MONDAY'S CFP CHAMPIONSHIP?
•Alabama and Georgia will play in the College Football Playoff championship game on Monday night, two days after the rivals battle it out on the hardwood in Athens, Ga. Using the last two seasons as a predictor, Saturday's outcome may foretell who will win Monday's title game.
• Alabama travelled to play at Clemson and defeated the Tigers 51-50 on Dec. 13, 2015 in Greenville, S.C. Less than a month later, the Crimson Tide football team delivered the program's 16th national title in program history with a 45-40 win over Clemson on Jan. 11, 2016 in Glendale, Ariz.
• Last year, Alabama again faced the Tigers on the hardwood but fell, 67-54, on Dec. 18, 2016 in Birmingham, Ala. Three weeks later, Clemson's football team captured a 35-31 victory over the Tide to win the national championship for the 2016 season.
TIP OFF NUGGETS
• Through the first nine games this year, Alabama ranked as one of the worst foul shooting teams in the country, connecting on just 63.0 percent (155-of-246) from the chairty stripe. However, over its last five contests, the Tide has been one of the top free throw shooting teams nationally. During the stretch, Alabama is shooting 81.1 percent (86-of-106) from the foul line, led by Collin Sexton who has hit 40 of his last 42 free throws (95.7 percent).
• Head coach Avery Johnson won the 300th game of his 10-year career coaching with the win over Texas A&M on Dec. 30. Johnson, who coached for seven-plus seasons in the NBA, racked up 254 wins in the league and 46 wins in just over two years at Alabama.
• Sexton comes into Saturday's contest as leading scorer in the Southeastern Conference at 20.4 points per game. The Mableton, Ga., native has eight games of 20 or more and twice has scored 30 or more in a game this season. Sexton, who was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for the week of Nov. 27, tops the Tide with 3.4 assists per game, while shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 39.1 percent beyond the arc. He also leads the SEC in free throws made (93) and attempted (116).
• Freshman John Petty has earned two SEC Freshman of the Week honors this season. In doing so, he became the first Alabama player to achieve the feat since former standout JaMychal Green earned the honor twice during the 2008-09 campaign. Petty's first award came the week of Nov. 20 after he connected on a school record 10 threes (10-of-13) in the victory over Alabama A&M on Nov. 17. The 10 treys also tied for the fourth-most in a single game in SEC history, while his 76.9 percent shooting percentage from beyond the arc was the highest in league history of any one player who has made at least 10 threes in a contest. Petty toppled the former UA record of eight threes made, which was set by seven different plays. Most recently, Petty was named the rookie of the week on Jan. 1 after he led the Tide with 18 points in the upset over then-No. 5 Texas A&M on Dec. 30.
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