Alabama
UCF
Alabama Travels to Face Off Against UCF in First True Road Game
11/28/2018 3:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide will play away from Coleman Coliseum for the fourth time in seven games this season on Thursday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will play its fourth game away from Coleman Coliseum – and first true road game – when it takes on the UCF Knights in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) on ESPNU. It marks the second consecutive season Alabama and UCF have squared off on the hardwood, with the Knights coming to Tuscaloosa a year ago and capturing a 65-62 victory over the Crimson Tide in Coleman Coliseum.
UCF is the third opponent that Alabama has played who was picked in to finish among the top two teams in their conference's respective preseason poll. Alabama has already faced Northeastern who was picked to win the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), and Murray State, was picked to finish second in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). In all, the Tide has five opponents on its non-conference slate that were picked finish first or second in its league's preseason poll, four of which were predicted to win their conference (Northeastern, UCF, Georgia State [Sun Belt] on Dec. 4 and Stephen F. Austin [Southland] on Dec. 30).
THE BROADCAST
• Thursday's game will air on ESPNU with Mike Morgan and Daymeon Fishback 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.
NOTES YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Alabama is off to a 5-1 start to the 2018-19 season, which marks the second consecutive season the Tide has won five of its first six games to start a campaign. Should Alabama earn a win at UCF on Thursday and improve to 6-1, it will match last season as the best start in the Avery Johnson era.
• The Tide has won the rebounding battle in all six of its games to begin the season. For the year, Alabama ranks third in the SEC in rebounding margin (+6.3), outrebounding the opposition by an average of 37.3-31.2.
• The Alabama boasts a balanced offensive attack that averages 77.0 points per game and is outscoring the opposition by +6.7 points per contest (77.0-70.3). Only two Crimson Tide players average double figures through six games (Kira Lewis Jr. - 14.3 ppg and John Petty Jr. - 13.8 ppg), while six others are averaging between 5.7 ppg and 9.8 ppg.
• Alabama came off an eight-day break between games when it captured a 78-72 victory over Murray State on Monday night. The Crimson Tide overcame an impressive 38-point, 9-rebound performance from Racer sophomore guard Ja Morant. His performance came in front of the 35 NBA scouts representing 23 different NBA teams that were in attendance Monday night, which is the second-most scouts to ever attend a single game at Alabama. Last season, 56 NBA scouts converged on Coleman Coliseum to watch Alabama and Collin Sexton take on Oklahoma and Trae Young.
• UA went 2-1 and finished in fifth place at the 2018 Charleston Classic, playing three games in a four-day span from Nov. 15-18. After suffering a loss in the tournament-opener vs. Northeastern, Alabama responded with back-to-back victories to close out the event. First, the Tide overpowered Ball State, 79-61, before taking down Wichita State, 90-86, a day later.
• Over the last four games, the Crimson Tide was red hot from the charity stripe, connecting on 71-of-87 (81.6 percent) from the foul line. That effort was certainly highlighted during Alabama's 90-86 victory over Wichita State in the final game of the Charleston Classic. In that contest, UA knocked down 31-of-33 (93.9 percent) free throws, including going 23-of-24 (95.8 percent) in the second half alone. Kira Lewis Jr. led the way by hitting all 11 of his shots from the foul line in that contest, while sophomore Alex Reese went 9-of-10 in the game.
ABOUT ALABAMA
• Alabama is off to a 5-1 start to the season after winning three consecutive games heading into Thursday night's showdown at UCF. It matches last season as the best start in head coach Avery Johnson's four seasons at The Capstone.
• Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. leads a balanced scoring attack that features eight Alabama players averaging 5.7 points per game or more. Lewis' 14.3 points per game tops the Tide, while sophomore John Petty is second on the team with 13.8 ppg. Petty leads UA in three-point shooting (13-of-34, 38.2 percent) and minutes per game (33.0), while Lewis is the team leader in assists (2.83 apg) and free throw shooting (21-of-24, .875).
• Sophomore Herbert Jones is the Crimson Tide's third-leading scorer at 9.8 ppg, while adding 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He also is considered one of the top defenders in the Southeastern Conference, as he tops UA with 12 charges taken and 7 steals (1.2 spg). Senior Donta Hall tops the Tide in total dunks (8) along with rebounds (6.5) and blocks (2.0) per game, while adding 8.0 points per contest.
• As a team, Alabama is shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 33.0 percent from beyond the arc through six games on the year. The Crimson Tide is outscoring the competition by 6.7 points per game (77.0-70.3) and owns a +6.3 edge on the glass (37.3-31.0). UA has been a dominant force on the offensive glass, averaging 13 offensive rebounds per game (13.0-8.8) through its first six contests of the year.
• Alabama welcomed 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).
ABOUT UCF
• The UCF Knights come into Thursday's contest with a record of 5-1 on the season and have won four straight contests. Most recently, the Knights took down Northern Kentucky, 66-53, last Saturday in Orlando. Prior to that, UCF claimed three straight victories to win the Myrtle Beach Invitational championship.
• UCF returns eight of its top 10 scorers, nine letterwinners and four starters from a squad that won 19 games a season ago. Preseason Player of the Year, senior guard B.J. Taylor, is one of five seniors on a team that ranked No. 3 in the nation last season allowing just 61.7 points per game.
• UCF was voted as the favorite in the 2018-19 Preseason Coaches Poll. The Knights garnered six of a possible 11 first-place votes and 114 points to edge Cincinnati for the No. 1 spot.
• The Knights have been dominant on defense the last two seasons under Johnny Dawkins, holding opponents to a combined 38.1 percent from the floor, which led the nation during that period. Only two teams in the nation were ranked in the top six in scoring defense in both 2016-17 and 2017-18, UCF and Virginia.
• The UCF men's basketball team is in year three under head coach Johnny Dawkins. The Knights have gone 48-26 (.649) in their first two seasons with Dawkins, the most wins in consecutive seasons for the program since winning back-to-back ASUN Championships in 2003-04 and 2004-05. Now in his 11th season as a head coach, Dawkins owns a record of 204-141 (.591).
FREE THROW IMPROVEMENT
• Alabama enters Thursday's contest at UCF ranked second in the SEC in total free throws made (116) and attempted (158) this season, while the team's free throw percentage (.734) ranks fifth among league schools. Over its last four games alone, the Crimson Tide has connected on 71-of-87 (81.6 percent) from the foul line.
• The Crimson Tide's season totals were helped by an outstanding performance from the charity stripe in the team's 90-86 victory over Wichita State on Nov. 18. In that contest, Alabama sunk 31-of-33 free throws, including hitting 23-of-24 over the final 20 minutes, to finish the contest at 93.9 percent.
• The performance was the first time the Tide has shot 90 percent or better from the foul line when attempting at least 30 free throws in a game since Dec. 5, 2012 in a loss to Dayton. In that contest, UA knocked down 29-of-32 foul shots to shoot 90.6 percent.
• Freshman Kira Lewis Jr. has hit all 14 of his free throw attempts on the year and leads the Tide in the category. Alex Reese (12-of-14, 857), Dazon Ingram (14-of-17, .824) and Tevin Mack (5-6, .833) are all shooting over 80 percent from the line for the season.
BOARD WORK
• Alabama has proven to be a strong rebounding team through the early part of the 2018-19 season. The Crimson Tide owns a +6.3 advantage on the glass (37.3-31.0) and has outrebounded all six opponents it has faced this season.
• The Tide has taken advantage of its aggressiveness on the boards and owns an advantage on the offensive glass. Through six games, Alabama owns a 78-53 edge in offensive rebounds over the opposition, which averages out to a +4.2 advantage (13.0-8.8) per game. As a result, Alabama has outscored foes by +1.8 points per game in second chance points (11.3-9.5).
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