Alabama
Southern
Alabama Opens 2018-19 Regular Season by Welcoming Avery Johnson’s Alma Mater, Southern
11/5/2018 3:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide men’s basketball program begins 106th season on Tuesday night
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will officially begin the 2018-19 regular season when it tips off against the Southern Jaguars on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum.
The Crimson Tide's home opener will have a special meaning for head men's basketball coach Avery Johnson, who is set to begin his fourth season at the Capstone. Johnson graduated from Southern University in 1988. A two-time SWAC Player of the Year, Johnson led the Jaguars to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (1987 and 1988) and topped the NCAA in assists in each of his two years. Playing under Hall of Fame head coach Ben Jobe, Johnson, who still owns NCAA records for highest single season assist (13.3) and career (12.0) assist average, became the first men's Division I player ever to average double figures in points and assists in the same season (11.4 ppg/13.3 apg in 1987-88).
PROMOTIONS
• Beat Auburn Beat Hunger: $5 tickets with a canned food donation
THE BROADCAST
• Tuesday's game will air on SEC Network + via the WatchESPN app with Eli Gold and Wimp Sanderson 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.
OPENING TIP
• 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 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 is 84-21 all-time in season openers. The Tide is 46-4 when opening at Coleman Coliseum, but falls to 38-17 when beginning a season on the road.
• Alabama and Southern have not played since the 1988-89 season, 20-years-ago. They have squared off six previous times before then, facing off every season between 1912-17. In the last contest, the Crimson Tide captured a 102-87 victory over the Jaguars on Dec. 19, 1988. Prior to that game, Alabama defeated Southern 72-years before, 22-9, during the 1916-17 season.
• Southern was picked to finish sixth in the Southwestern Atlantic Conference men's basketball preseason poll, as selected by the league's head coaches. The Jaguars Senior Sydney Umude was selected for the second team preseason All-Conference. Umude came in as a transfer halfway through last season after sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules.
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.
NEWS AND NOTES
• 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 Meridianville, Ala., who graduated early from high school, won't turn 18 until April 6, 2019. On 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.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
• Alabama Athletics' clear bag policy, which has been used at Bryant-Denny Stadium since the 2016 season, will now be implemented at all home ticketed sporting events, beginning with the men's basketball regular season opener on November 6.
• Fans are strongly encouraged to not bring any unauthorized types of bags to ticketed Alabama sporting events.
• For more information on Alabama Athletics' Clear Bag Policy, visit RollTide.com/allclear.
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