Alabama
Montevallo
Alabama Men’s Basketball Welcomes Montevallo for Exhibition Opener on Tuesday Night
10/29/2018 4:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide’s first home game of the 2018-19 campaign tips at 7 p.m. CT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will play its lone exhibition game of the season on Tuesday night when it hosts Montevallo at 7 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum.
THE BROADCAST
• Tuesday's game will air on SEC Network + via the WatchESPN app with Chris Stewart and Wimp Sanderson on the call.
• There will not be a radio broadcast for Tuesday's game.
OPENING TIP
• The University of Alabama men's basketball team finished with an overall record of 20-16 during the 2017-18 season, including an 8-10 mark in Southeastern Conference play. The Crimson Tide earned its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2012 and won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2006.
• Alabama steps into the 2018-19 campaign returning four starters and 10 letterwinners from last season's team that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Avery Johnson's returning letterwinners started 73 percent of last year's games and accounted for 69 percent of the total scoring, 80 percent of the total rebounds, 93 percent of the total blocks, 77 percent of the total minutes played, 76 percent of the total steals, 64 percent of the total assists, 74 percent of its made threes and 71 percent of the total made field goals.
• Alabama welcomes a total of four newcomers to this year's lineup. Junior guard/forward Tevin Mack (Texas) is eligible to suit up for the Crimson Tide this year after sitting out the 2017-18 campaign due to NCAA transfer rules. Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. and freshman forward Javian Davis-Fleming were both highly-ranking players coming out of high school and each are expected to provide immediate contributions to this year's team. Another freshman, guard Diante Wood, underwent ankle surgery in September and is expected to sit out the 2018-19 campaign as a redshirt.
• Alabama is receiving votes to be ranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls, which came on Oct. 21. The Crimson Tide received 28 votes in the coaches poll and checks in at No. 33 in the nation, while UA's 15 votes to be ranked in the AP poll was good enough for No. 35 nationally.
ALABAMA BEGINS 106th SEASON OF BASKETBALL
• Alabama will begin its 105th season of basketball in 2018-19. The Tide's first season of hoops came in 1912-13. There was no season in 1943-44 due to World War II.
• The Tide has an all-time record of 1,657-1,030-1 (.617), which includes a 783-606 (.559) record in SEC play. The program's first year of play was 1912-13.
• Alabama ranks second in the SEC in league victories and all-time winning percentage.
• UA has made 35 NCAA (20) or NIT (15) appearances and has won seven SEC regular-season titles and six SEC Tournament championships.
ABOUT ALABAMA
• Alabama welcomes back three of its top four and nine of the top 11 scorers from last season's squad. Leading the list of returnees is senior forward Donta Hall, who leads all returning players in scoring (10.6 ppg). Last season, the Luverne, Ala., native topped the squad in rebounding (6.6 rpg), blocks (2.0 bpg), dunks (68) and field goal percentage (.726).
• Hall is joined by sophomore John Petty, who was one of only two players to see action in all 36 contests a year ago (Avery Johnson Jr.). Petty led the Tide last season in three-point shooting (90-of-242, .393), while also contributing 10.2 points and 1.8 assists per game in 2017-18, which both rank second-best among all returnees. Meanwhile, junior Dazon Ingram was also a force to reckon with at 9.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while returning as the team leader in assists (2.6 apg) and free throws made and attempted (122-of-177).
• Senior Riley Norris returns for his graduate year after receiving a medical redshirt last year, and joins senior Avery Johnson Jr. (36 games played, 4.3 points, 1.1 rebounds per game), junior Daniel Giddens (4.2 points, 2.5 rebounds) and a trio of sophomores in Herbert Jones (4.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game), Alex Reese (4.2 points, 32.4 percent from three) and Galin Smith (2.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.7 blocks per game) as veteran players who will look to make key contributions for the Crimson Tide in 2018-19.
• Junior guard/forward Tevin Mack will be eligible after sitting out the 2017-18 season as an NCAA transfer. Mack, who played his first two seasons at Texas, played in 48 games in his two seasons at Texas and finished with double-digit points 16 times including three games of 20 or more points. Mack led the team in 2016-17 in scoring average (14.8 ppg) and three-point percentage (.391) despite playing just 15 games.
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