Alabama
Northeastern
Alabama Opens Play at the Charleston Classic Against Northeastern in Thursday Afternoon Affair
11/14/2018 2:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide and Huskies will tip off at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) on ESPNU
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will play its first contest away from Coleman Coliseum when it travels to participate in the 2018 Charleston Classic, which will take place on Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 15-18, in TD Arena on the campus of the College of Charleston.
Alabama enters play at this year's event having won back-to-back home contests to open the new campaign. The Crimson Tide captured an 82-62 victory over Southern on Nov. 6 in the season opener for both teams. Most recently, Alabama took down Appalachian State, 81-73, last Sunday in the non-bracketed opener of the Charleston Classic in Tuscaloosa, Ala
This is Alabama's first-ever appearance in the Charleston Classic, which began in 2008 and has been played every year since (11th year). This year's event is highlighted by five NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, including a potential rematch between Alabama and Virginia Tech. The Crimson Tide captured an 86-83 victory over the Hokies in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament. Virginia Tech will take on Ball State on Thursday, followed by the Tide and Huskies. The winners will meet up Friday at 10 a.m. CT (11 a.m. ET) with the losers squaring off in the consolation side of the bracket at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET).
THE BROADCAST
• Thursday's game will air on ESPNU with Doug Sherman and Sean Farnham on the call.
• The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network, Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.
ALABAMA BEGINS 106th SEASON OF BASKETBALL
• Alabama began its 106th 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 holds an all-time record of 1,659-1,030-1 (.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 entering the 2018-19 campaign.
• 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 is off to a 2-0 start to the season after taking down Appalachian State, 81-73, in the non-bracketed game of the Charleston Classic, which was played this past Sunday in Coleman Coliseum. Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. scored a game-high 21 points, while senior Donta Hall added 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Tide to the win.
• Hall leads Alabama with team highs of 16.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game entering the Charleston Classic. He has knocked down 75 percent (12-of-16) of his field goals and leads the team with five dunks. Last season, Hall broke a single-season school record in field goal percentage, knocking down 72.6 percent of his shots from the field during his junior season. Meanwhile, his 75 dunks a year ago not only led UA, but was also tops in the SEC.
• Sophomore John Petty is second on the team with 15.0 points per game, and leads the team in threes made (7) and attempted (13). In fact, Petty has connected on just 1-of-3 attempts from inside the three-point line this season and is 7-of-13 from beyond the arc. Lewis Jr. also averages in double figures with 13.5 ppg entering this week's contests, while his 4.0 assists per game leads the Tide.
• Sophomore Herbert Jones (9.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals) and junior Dazon Ingram (8.0 points and 8.0 rebounds) have also made impacts early on this season.
• 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 Hall, who paces all returning players in scoring (10.6 ppg), rebounding (6.6 rpg), blocks (2.0 bpg), dunks (75) and field goal percentage (.726) .
• Petty, who was one of only two players to see action in all 36 contests a year ago (Avery Johnson Jr.) contributed 10.2 points and 1.8 assists per game in 2017-18. Meanwhile, 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).
• As a team, Alabama is shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 35.0 percent from beyond the arc through two games on the year. The Crimson Tide is outscoring the competition by 14.0 points per game (81.5-67.5) and owns a +10.0 edge on the glass (45.0-35.0). UA has been a dominant force on the offensive glass, averaging nearly 19 offensive rebounds per game. (18.5-11.0) through its first two contests of the year.
ABOUT NORTHEASTERN
• Alabama and Northeastern will meet for the third time in program history when the two teams take the floor on Thursday afternoon. The Crimson Tide is a perfect 2-0 the series, with the last victory coming by way of a 62-43 win over the Huskies on March 19, 2013 in the NIT opening round played in Tuscaloosa. The only other meeting came on Dec. 4, 1979 when UA secured an 88-73 win in Coleman Coliseum.
• The Huskies return 11 letterwinners, including a pair of Preseason All-CAA honorees in Vasa Pusica (First Team) and Shawn Occeus (Honorable Mention). Other returnees include CAA All-Rookie honoree Tomas Murphy and CAA Sixth Man of the Year Bolden Brace.
• The Huskies are once again guided by 2018 CAA Coach of the Year Bill Coen who enters his 13th season at the helm. Coen owns a career record of 202-187 (.519) in his head coaching career – all coming at Northeastern.
• Northeastern was selected to finish first in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in 2018-19. Senior Vasa Pusica, who led Northeastern's starting five last season, was selected to the CAA Preseason First Team honors, while reigning CAA Defensive Player of the Year Shawn Occeus was awarded as an Honorable Mention selection.
NEWS AND NOTES.
• Alabama is receiving votes to be ranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. The Crimson Tide received 28 votes in the coaches preseason poll which was released on Oct. 21 and checks in at No. 33 in the nation, while UA's 11 votes to be ranked in the second installment of the AP poll (Nov. 12) was good enough for No. 35 nationally.
• Alabama won for the 47th time in 51 regular-season openers played under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum (47-4) with its 20-point win over Southern last Tuesday night. With the victory, the Crimson Tide improved to 85-21 all-time in season openers.
• Last year, Alabama was the fourth-youngest team in Division I and did not have a senior on its active roster. This season, the Crimson Tide not only has four seniors on its 2018-19 roster, but will have a total of seven players who have graduated or will graduate throughout the course of the upcoming campaign. Both Avery Johnson Jr. and Riley Norris have graduated and are currently pursuing their graduate degrees. Meanwhile, Donta Hall, Dazon Ingram, Daniel Giddens, Tevin Mack and Lawson Schaffer are all on pace to earn a degree this year. Only one other school in the nation (Southern Illinois) can claim to have as many as seven players who either have graduated or will graduate on its 2018-19 roster.
• Freshman Kira Lewis Jr. is the second-youngest player in NCAA Division I this season. Lewis, a native of Meridianville, Ala., who graduated early from high school, won't turn 18 until April 6, 2019. Only Pepperdine's Everett Perrot is younger, having been born on April 12, 2001.
• Alabama was picked to finish seventh in the Southeastern Conference by a vote of the league's media and head coaches.
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