Alabama
Baylor
Alabama Men’s Basketball Steps Outside of League Play to take on Baylor in SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday
1/25/2019 2:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Bears will open the 10-game Challenge slate at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama steps outside of conference play for the final time during the regular season for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The Crimson Tide will travel to Waco, Texas, where it will square off against the Baylor Bears on Saturday, Jan. 26, at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU.
This year marks the third game Alabama has competed in the annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The Tide sports a perfect 2-0 record in the annual event. Last season, Alabama defeated then-No. 12 Oklahoma, 80-73, to improve to 2-0 in the Challenge. The only other appearance came in the first year of the event when Alabama defeated Texas Tech, 76-64 on Nov. 14, 2013 in Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama is coming off an impressive 74-53 victory over No. 20 Ole Miss on Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum. It marked the sixth consecutive home win over a ranked opponent (second this season) and improve the Crimson Tide to 8-4 against AP Top-25 teams dating back to last season. No other team in the SEC has more than six wins over ranked teams over the same span.
Baylor and Alabama will square off for the ninth time in series history, with the Tide owning a record of 7-1 in the previous eight meetings. Six of the nine meetings played between the two teams have come on a neutral floor, while the other two have been played in Tuscaloosa. This will mark the Tide's first game played against the Bears on their home floor.
• Saturday's game will air on ESPNU with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play) and Reid Gettys (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
• Senior forward Donta Hall recorded his fourth straight double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the win over the Rebels. He now leads the SEC and ranks 16th nationally with 10 double-doubles on the season, including seven in his last eight contests. He is the first UA player to record four consecutive double-doubles since former standout Richard Hendrix achieved the feat 11 years ago in January of 2008.
• The Bears and Crimson Tide have played a total of five common opponents on the season. Both teams have beaten a pair of opponents in Southern (Alabama won 82-62, Baylor won 80-53) and Arizona (Alabama won 76-73, Baylor won 58-49). In three other games against mutual opponents, Alabama defeated Wichita State (90-86), Stephen F. Austin (79-69) and Ole Miss (74-53). Meanwhile, Baylor fell to each of those three opponents, falling to Wichita State (71-63), Stephen F. Austin (59-58) and Ole Miss (78-70).
• The Crimson Tide is coming off a resounding 74-53 victory over No. 20 Ole Miss last Tuesday night. The win improves UA to 2-1 against ranked opponents this season, which includes a 77-75 victory over then-No. 13 Kentucky on Jan. 5 (lost to then-No. 3 Tennessee, 71-68, in Knoxville, Tenn., on Jan. 19). Alabama is now 8-4 against ranked opponents since the start of the 2017-18 season. No other SEC team has more than six ranked wins over that same span.
• Head coach Avery Johnson boasts a record of 13-11 when playing teams ranked in the Associated Press Top-25, including eight wins in the last 12 games against ranked opponents. His record is even more impressive considering the Tide had lost 21 consecutive games against ranked opponents prior to his arrival.
• Coming into Saturday's game at Baylor, the Tide is ranked No. 41 in the latest NCAA Net Rankings (as of Jan. 24) and own the No. 14 overall strength of schedule. Alabama has played a total of 11 games against Quadrant 1 (2-3) and Quadrant 2 (6-0) opponents this season and boasts a record of 8-3 in such contests. The 11 total games played and eight combined wins are both tied for first in the SEC (Tennessee is 8-1 against Q1 and Q2 opponents, while Mississippi State has played 11 such opponents, going 7-4) entering this weekend's action. Furthermore, Alabama has a perfect 6-0 record when playing teams ranked in Quadrant 2, which not only leads the SEC but ranks third-best in the country (tied with Michigan at 6-0) trailing only Houston (7-0) and Nevada (7-0).
• The Alabama reserves have been a strength of this year's team, averaging more than 27 points per contest (27.1) entering the contest against Ole Miss. In fact, over the last five games alone, the UA bench is averaging 35.4 points per game and have not scored any fewer than 33 points over the five-game stretch. For the year, the Crimson Tide bench has been outscored just twice on the season and it outscoring its counterparts by 8.8 points per contest (27.1-18.3).
• The Tide is one of the top rebounding teams in the nation entering the game at Baylor. Alabama has won the rebounding battle in 17 of its 18 games this season. For the year, Alabama ranks second in the SEC and 21st nationally in rebounding margin (+6.7), outrebounding the opposition by an average of 39.5-32.8. In SEC games only, the Tide has outrebounded each of its six SEC opponents and leads the league in rebound margin at +6.8 (40.5-33.7).
• Alabama will return home to take on No. 22/22 Mississippi State Bulldogs on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 7:30 p.m. CT. It will mark the first of two meetings this season between the teams. The rivals will square off for a second time just two weeks later in Starkville, Miss., on Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
ABOUT ALABAMA
• Alabama is coming off a big 74-53 victory over No. 20 Ole Miss on Tuesday night inside Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide used a big 21-3 run that lasted over 11 minutes and spanned halftime that turned a 29-24 game into a 50-27 lead. With the victory, Alabama improved to 2-1 against ranked opponents this season and is now 8-4 vs. AP Top-25 teams dating back to last season. It was also the sixth consecutive win at home over a ranked opponent.
• Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. leads a balanced scoring attack that features seven Alabama players averaging 6.7 points per game or more. Three UA players average in double digits as Lewis' 13.8 points per game tops the Tide and ranks 13th in the SEC. Sophomore John Petty Jr., who tied his career high with 30 points at then-No. 3 Tennessee, ranks second on the team at 12.2 ppg, while senior Donta Hall is collecting 11.3 points per game.
• Lewis leads UA in minutes (30.6) and free throw shooting (55-of-65, .846), while ranking second in three-point shooting (.380) and assists per game (2.6). Meanwhile, Hall tops the team in total dunks (35), rebounds (9.1 rpg), blocks (2.1 bpg), double-figure contests (13) and double-doubles (10). He currently ranks among the league leaders in double-doubles (1st), rebounding (3rd) and blocked shots (6th). Petty leads the Tide in three-point field goal percentage (.381), threes made (40) and attempted (105) and ranks second on the team in minutes (30.1) and third in rebounding (4.4).
• Junior Tevin Mack, who scored a season-high 22 points in the win over Kentucky back on Jan. 5, is averaging 8.4 ppg, while junior Dazon Ingram (7.6 ppg), and sophomores Herbert Jones (6.8 ppg) and Alex Reese (6.7 ppg) are both averaging over 6.5 points per contest. Ingram tops the team with 2.8 assists per game, while Jones, who is considered one of the top defenders in the Southeastern Conference, tops UA with 15 charges taken and 18 steals.
• As a team, Alabama enters Saturday's contest as one of the top rebounding teams in the nation. The Tide has outrebounded 17 of its 18 opponents on the year and ranks second in the SEC and 21st nationally with a 6.7 advantage on the glass (39.5-32.8). UA is shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from beyond the arc on the year, while outscoring the competition by 4.6 points per game (75.9-71.3).
• Through six games in conference play, Petty leads the team in scoring at 14.5 ppg and has knocked down 46.2 percent of his shots from beyond the arc (18-of-39). Meanwhile, Hall is averaging a double-double at 11.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game – a number that tops the SEC in conference games only. Lewis is scoring 11.5 ppg in league play and tops the team in free throw percentage (90.0 percent). Jones (3.3 apg) and Ingram (2.8 apg) are the top two assist men in SEC games, while both players assist-to-turnover ratio rank among the league leaders (Jones is 8th with a 1.8 ratio, while Ingram is 9th at 1.7)
• As a team in league play, Alabama leads the SEC in rebounding offense (40.5), rebound margin (+6.8) and defensive rebounds (27.7), while ranking second in offensive rebounds per game (12.8).
ABOUT BAYLOR
• Baylor comes into Saturday's contest riding a season-long three-game win streak to improve to 12-6 on the year and 4-2 in Big 12 play. The streak began with a 73-69 road win at Oklahoma State on Jan. 14, followed by a home win over then-No. 8 Texas Tech, 73-62, on Jan. 19. Most recently, Baylor traveled to face West Virginia last Monday and came away with an 85-73 victory.
• Baylor boasts three players who average double-figure scoring, led by senior guard Makai Mason who tops the team with 15.7 points and 2.9 assists per game. Sophomore forward Tristan Clark is second on the team in scoring (14.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.3 rpg) while leading the Bears in blocks (2.4 bpg) and field goal percentage (73.7 percent, 84-of-114). Senior guard King McClure is the third player to average in double figures at 10.7 ppg and tops the squad with 1.7 steals per contest.
• As a team, Baylor is shooting 44.1 percent from the floor and 31.7 percent from beyond the arc while outscoring the competition by 7.9 points per game (72.2-64.3). Like Alabama, the Bears are one of the top rebounding teams in the nation and owns a +6.7 advantage on the glass (38.3-31.7).
• Baylor returned just three letterwinners from last year's team (McClure, Clark and Vital), the nation's fewest among Power-5 teams. BU added nine newcomers for 2018-19, including five transfers (two Division I, two JuCo, one Division III). Of the transfers, freshman Jared Butler originally signed an NLI to attend Alabama. However, he transferred to Baylor prior to the season and was cleared to play immediately this season by the NCAA.
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 16th season at the helm of the Baylor program and owns a record of 308-201 (.605). He is the Bears' all-time leader among coaching victories. In 17 seasons as a head coach, Drew is 328-212 (.607).
ALABAMA-BAYLOR – SERIES NOTES
• Baylor and Alabama will square off for the ninth time in series history, with the Tide owning a record of 7-1 in the previous eight meetings. Six of of the nine meetings played between the two teams have come on a neutral floor, while the other two have been played in Tuscaloosa. This will mark the Tide's first game played against the Bears on their home floor.
• Although the two teams will play their ninth contest against one another, it will mark just the second time the two teams will meet on the hardwood since 1967. The only other contest the schools have played against one another since 1967 came on Nov. 26, 2009 in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic, which was held in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Crimson Tide captured a 79-76 victory, which marked the sixth consecutive win over the Bears.
• Alabama and Baylor first squared off in the opening game of the 1924-25 season. From 1947-67, the Tide and Bears squared off a total of six times, including four games played in a span of eight years from 1953-60.
CALLING THE RESERVES
• Alabama has won 12 of its 18 games this season and a big reason for that is due to the play from the team's bench.
• The Crimson Tide reserves are averaging just over 27 points per game (27.1) and has only been outscored in only two of its 18 games played on the year. Furthermore, the UA reserves have outscored its counterparts by double digits on nine different occasions.
• For the year, the Tide has a big advantage in terms of bench production. Alabama reserves has outscored the opponents back-ups by a cumulative total of 487-329, which averages out to a +8.8 edge in points per game from the reserves (27.1-18.3)
• The UA reserves have further stepped up their play over the Tide's last five contests. During that stretch, the bench has not scored fewer than 33 points in a game and has averaged 35.4 points per game while their counterparts is scoring just 23.8 points a contest over the same span – a difference of 11.6 points.
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