Alabama
Missouri
Alabama Men’s Basketball Begins Two-Game Road Swing at Missouri on Wednesday Night
1/15/2019 1:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Tigers set to tipoff at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network in lone meeting between the teams this season
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will return to action Wednesday night when it begins a two-game road swing with a contest at Missouri. The game, which will mark the only meeting between the two teams during the regular season, is slated to tip off at 8 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network.
Wednesday's game marks just the second time in the last seven meetings between the two teams that Alabama will play at Mizzou Arena. The Crimson Tide has won five of the last six games between the teams and owns a 9-4 lead in the all-time series. As SEC foes, Alabama owns a 5-3 record in head-to-head meetings.
Alabama is coming off an 81-80 defeat at home to Texas A&M last Saturday, as Aggies' guard TJ Starks canned a three-pointer as the horn sounded to win the game. The loss dropped the Crimson Tide to 6-2 in home contests, with both losses coming on buzzer-beating three-pointers. The other loss came to Georgia State back on Dec. 4 when Malik Benlevi hit a three at the buzzer to take and 83-80 victory.
• Saturday's game will air on SEC Network with Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play) and Barry Booker (analyst) 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
• Coming into Wednesday's game at Missouri, the Crimson Tide is ranked No. 60 in the latest NCAA Net Rankings (as of Jan. 14). Alabama boasts a record of 5-2 against Quadrant 1 (2-2) and Quadrant 2 (3-0) opponents this season. The Tide's five combined Q1 and Q2 wins are tied for fourth-best in the SEC, trailing only Tennessee (Q1: 4-1, Q2: 3-0), LSU (Q1: 1-2, Q2: 6-1) and Auburn (Q1: 0-3, Q2: 6-0).
• The Southeastern Conference boasts 11 teams in the top 75 and 13 in the top 100 of the latest NET rankings, both of which is tied for the most of any conference in the country. Furthermore, the league's 34 Quadrant 2 wins lead the nation while its 19 Quadrant 1 wins are tied for third-most of any conference nationally. Finally, the 53 combined Q1 and Q2 wins rank second-most of any league in the nation.
• The Crimson Tide owns a 6-2 record under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum, with both defeats coming on buzzer-beating three-pointers. Most recently, Alabama fell to Texas A&M last Saturday when TJ Starks drained an improbable shot from beyond the arc as the buzzer sounded, lifting the Aggies to an 81-80 victory. The other occurrence came back on Dec. 4 when Georgia State's three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Panthers an 83-80 victory.
• The Crimson Tide opened its league slate when it defeated then-No. 13 Kentucky, 77-75, on Jan. 5. That victory not only gave head coach Avery Johnson his first win over the Wildcats since coming to Alabama in 2015, it also snapped a 10-game losing streak in the series. Moreover, Johnson improved to 12-10 when playing teams ranked in the Associated Press Top-25, which is impressive considering the Tide had lost 21 consecutive games against ranked opponents prior to his arrival.
• Senior forward Donta Hall is tied for first in the SEC and ranks 23rd nationally in double-doubles with seven. Coming into the Missouri game on Wednesday, Hall has collected double-doubles in four of his last five games. Over the five-game stretch, the Luverne, Ala., native is averaging 12.2 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.
• Alabama owns the No. 36 overall strength of schedule, according to the latest NCAA Net Rankings (as of 1/14). In fact, 11 teams (a total of 14 games) on Alabama's schedule are ranked or receiving votes in this week's Associated Press Top-25 poll.
• Alabama will close out the two-game road trip when it travels to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on the No. 3/3 Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
ABOUT ALABAMA
• Alabama dropped to 10-5 this year and 1-2 in the SEC when it fell to Texas A&M, 81-80, last Saturday in Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide had won five straight and eight of its last 10 before losing its last two contests. The five consecutive victories included wins over Wichita State (90-86 on Nov. 18), Arizona (76-63 on Dec. 9), Penn State (73-64 on Dec. 21) and then-No. 13 Kentucky (77-75 on Jan. 5).
• Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. leads a balanced scoring attack that features seven Alabama players averaging 7.3 points per game or more. Three UA players average in double digits as Lewis' 14.7 points per game tops the Tide and ranks 11th in the SEC. Sophomore John Petty Jr. is second at 11.3 points per game, while senior Donta Hall is collecting 11.0 ppg.
• Lewis leads UA in minutes (31.1), assists (2.9 apg), three-point field goal percentage (.373) and free throw shooting (50-of-59, .847). Meanwhile, Hall tops the team in total dunks (30), rebounds (8.7 rpg), blocks (2.1 bpg), double-figure contests (11) and double-doubles (7). He currently ranks among the league leaders in double-doubles (T-1st), rebounding (3rd) and blocked shots (7th). Petty leads the Tide in threes made (30) and attempted (86) and Petty ranks second on the team in minutes (30.5) and rebounding (5.0).
• Junior Tevin Mack, who scored a season-high 22 points in the win over Kentucky, is averaging 9.7 ppg, while junior Dazon Ingram (7.8 ppg) and sophomores Herbert Jones (7.3 ppg) and Alex Reese (7.3 ppg) are both averaging over seven points per contest. Ingram is second in the team with 2.7 assists per game, while Jones, who is considered one of the top defenders in the Southeastern Conference, tops UA with 15 charges taken and 16 steals.
• As a team, Alabama enters Wednesday's contest as one of the top rebounding teams in the SEC. The Tide has outrebounded 14 of its 15 opponents on the year and ranks third in the SEC and 33rd nationally with a +6.4 advantage on the glass (39.3-32.9). UA is shooting 45.0 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from beyond the arc on the year, while outscoring the competition by 3.6 points per game (76.9-73.3).
• 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 paced all returning players in scoring (10.6 ppg), rebounding (6.6 rpg), blocks (2.0 bpg), dunks (75) and field goal percentage (.726).
ABOUT MISSOURI
• Missouri and Alabama will meet for the 14th time overall and the ninth time as SEC opponents. The Crimson Tide owns a record of 9-4 in the all-time series, including a 5-3 mark as conference foes. Alabama had won five consecutive games over the Tigers, but Mizzou snapped that streak with a 69-60 victory over the Tide in Coleman Coliseum a year ago.
• Wednesday's game marks just the second time in the last seven games played between the two teams that Alabama will travel to Columbia, Mo. The Crimson Tide owns a 2-2 record when playing on the Tigers' home court, including a 57-54 victory in the last meeting on Feb. 15, 2017.
• Missouri dropped an 85-75 decision at South Carolina last Sunday to fall to 9-5 on the year and 0-2 in SEC play. The game, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, was played a day later due to hazardous travel conditions. The Tigers are led on the year by senior guard Jordan Geist, who is averaging team highs of 13.8 points and 3.1 assists per game. Sophomore guard Mark Smith is second on the team with 11.9 ppg, while leading the SEC in three-point field goal percentage at 47.3 percent (35-of-74).
• As a team, Missouri leads the SEC in three-point shooting, knocking down 39.4 percent of its shots from deep. The Tigers are outscoring the opposition by 2.6 points (69.1-66.4) and outrebounding foes by 2.9 rebounds per contest (34.8-31.9).
• Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin is in his second year at the helm of the program and his 11th season overall as a head coach. Martin, who spent three years in the SEC as the head coach of Tennessee (2011-14), owns a career coaching record of 215-139 (.608) and is 29-17 (.630) in two seasons at Missouri.
ALABAMA-MISSOURI – SERIES NOTES
• Alabama and Missouri will square off for the only time this season on Wednesday night. The game will be the eighth meeting between the two teams as SEC rivals and 14th contest overall in the series history.
• The Tide owns a 9-4 edge in the all-time series, with Alabama having won five of the last six games over the Tigers. When playing at Missouri, the Tide owns a 2-2 record overall.
• In the only meeting between the two teams last season, Mizzou came to Coleman Coliseum and pulled out a 69-60 upset win over the Crimson Tide. It not only snapped a five-game losing streak to Alabama in the all-time series, but it also was the first time the Tigers won a game in Tuscaloosa (now 5-1 all time). The box score and recap from that contest can be found on page 11.
• Wednesday's contest will mark only the second time in the last seven games between the teams that the Crimson Tide has played in Columbia, Mo. Alabama's only other appearance in Mizzou Arena dating back to the 2013-14 season came on Feb. 15, 2017 in which the Tide captured a 57-54 win.
• Eight of the 13 games played between the two teams have been decided by less than 10 points.
• The first game of the series was played on Dec. 10, 1977.
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