Alabama Set to Take on Clemson Saturday Night in Holiday Hoopsgiving Event

Saturday, December 12

Atlanta, Ga.

7 p.m. CT

Alabama

Clemson

Alabama Set to Take on Clemson Saturday Night in Holiday Hoopsgiving Event

12/11/2020 10:02:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes Watch Live Listen Live Live Stats Nate Oats Previews Clemson

The Crimson Tide and Tigers will tip off at 6:30 p.m. CT in the final game of the quadruple header

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will remain away from Tuscaloosa for a fourth consecutive game when it travels to Atlanta to compete against Clemson in the Pit Boss Holiday Hoopsgiving event. The two teams will tip off at 6:30 p.m. CT (7:30 p.m. ET) and will be televised on ACC Network Extra.

The Tide and Tigers will play the final game of the day's quadruple header that features three different SEC teams in all including Alabama's contest. Mississippi State will take on Dayton in the opening game of the day (11 a.m. CT), followed by Wofford vs. USF (1:30 p.m. CT). Auburn will take on Memphis (4 p.m. CT) immediately prior the Tide's contest.

Alabama is riding a two-game winning streak entering the contest after a fifth-place finish at this year's Maui Invitational, which was held in Asheville, N.C. The Crimson Tide opened the event with a loss to Stanford, however, responded with back-to-back double-digit wins over UNLV (86-74) and Providence (88-71) to close the event.

The Broadcast

Saturday's game will be available via live stream on ACC Network Extra with Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Joe Kleine (analyst) on the call.
The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play), Bryan Passink (analyst) and Roger Hoover (sideline) on the call. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Team Notes

Saturday's contest marks the 11th time the two programs will meet on the hardwood. The Tigers owns an all-time record of 6-4 when facing the Crimson Tide, which includes wins in three of the last four head-to-head meetings between the teams. Most recently, Clemson captured a 67-54 win over Alabama back on Dec. 18, 2016 in Birmingham, Ala. UA's last victory over the Tigers came the previous year when the Tide claimed a one-point win (51-50) vs. Clemson in Greenville, S.C.
John Petty Jr. has made a team-leading 10 three-pointers on the year, pushing his career total to 244 made threes. He now needs only 20 more treys to become the program's all-time leader in the category, which is currently held by Brian Williams (1996-99) who made 263 career threes at Alabama. Furthermore, his 634 career attempts from deep is 105 shy of Williams' program record of 738 three-point shots.
With the conclusion of the University of Alabama's fall semester this week, senior Herbert Jones has earned his undergraduate degree in business marketing. He is unable to walk at Fall graduation ceremony due to the game vs. Clemson, however, he will walk with five other teammates in UA's Spring graduation ceremony next May.
Saturday's contest begins a stretch of four games in a 10-day span, including two against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the latest national rankings. Following the game against undefeated Clemson (4-0), the Crimson Tide will host Furman (4-1) on Dec. 15, No. 7/8 Houston (4-0) on Dec. 19 before closing the stretch against East Tennessee State (1-2) on Dec. 22. Combined, the Tide's next four opponents are 13-3.

About Alabama

Alabama enters Saturday's contest against Clemson sporting a 3-1 record on the season following back-to-back wins over UNLV (86-74) and Providence (88-71) to close out the 2020 Maui Invitational, which was held in Asheville, N.C.
Four Crimson Tide players are averaging double figures for head coach Nate Oats, including three who are scoring 14.0 points per contest or better in the early part of the season. Guards Jahvon Quinerly (15.3 ppg), John Petty Jr. (14.8 ppg) and Jaden Shackelford (14.0 ppg) are the team's leading contributors on offense. The trio has combined to make 19 of the team's 41 three-pointers on the year, with Petty (10-of-28) and Shackelford (9-of-22) combining to make 19-of-50 (.380) from beyond the arc.
Forward Herbert Jones, considered one of the top defensive players in the entire nation, leads the team in rebounding (7.0 rpg), steals (1.3 spg), Blue Collar Points (108, 27.0 BCP per game) and Hard Hat Awards (4). He enters the Clemson contest with much improved offensive numbers, averaging 11.8 points and 2.3 assists per contest, while adding 50 percent shooting from both the field (18-of-36) and beyond the arc (3-of-6).
This season, the Tide welcomed back four starters and five of its top seven scorers off last year's team, three were named as All-SEC performers a year ago. Petty (Second Team All-SEC), Shackelford (All-Freshman) and Jones (All-Defensive) all earned a spot on the postseason teams. Both Petty and Jones tested the NBA waters, with Petty, who was one of the last players to withdraw his name, announcing his return in early August and Jones in mid-June.
In addition to the returnees, Alabama welcomes six scholarship signees, five of which made up the nation's ninth-ranked signing class according to Rivals.com and the No. 12 overall by 247sports.com. The Crimson Tide signees include Keon Ambrose-Hylton (Toronto, Ontario/Andrews Osborne Academy [Ohio]), Keon Ellis (Fort Myers, Fla./Florida SW State), Darius Miles (Washington, D.C./IMG Academy), Josh Primo (Toronto, Ontario/Royal Crown International) and Alex Tchikou (Paris, France/Dream City Christian HS).
The team recruiting rankings do not include another new addition in graduate transfer Jordan Bruner. Last season at Yale, Bruner earned First Team All-Ivy League honors after leading the conference in rebounds per game (9.2) and ranking fourth in assists (3.8 apg) and third in blocked shots (1.7 bpg) while adding 10.9 points per contest.
Head coach Nate Oats is in his second season at the helm of the Crimson Tide program. After finishing last season at 16-15 overall, Oats, who is in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach, owns a career record of 115-59 (.661).

About Clemson

Clemson comes into Saturday's contest sporting a perfect 4-0 record on the year following a 67-51 victory over Maryland this past Wednesday night. The Tigers, considered one of the top defensive team's in the nation through the early part of the season, are limiting the opposition to 50.3 points per game and only once have allowed more than 60 points this year.
The Tigers return only one starter but welcome back 11 letterwinners from last season's squad. The lone returning starter is Third Team All-ACC honoree Aamir Simms, who currently leads the team in scoring (13.0 ppg) and assists (3.0 apg) while shooting 55.6 percent from the field and 40.0 percent (4-of-10) from beyond the arc. Nick Honor is the only other Clemson player to average in double figures at 10.0 ppg to go along with a team-leading 3.0 steals per game, while Hunter Tyson tops the squad with 5.5 rebounds per game.
Simms was tabbed to the 2020-21 ACC Preseason First Team by the league media, becoming Clemson's first preseason honoree since 2016 when Jaron Blossomgame earned first team preseason All-ACC honors. Simms was previously named to the Karl Malone Watch List (Top 20 power forwards in the country) and became the first Tiger to earn recognition from the Basketball Hall of Fame's preseason award watch lists
Clemson boasted a Top-20 recruiting class in the country for 2020 with the additions of PJ Hall, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Lynn Kidd. It marked the program's highest recruiting ranking since 2009, according to 247Sports.
The Tigers also return several players from injury last season. Seniors Jonathan Baehre and Clyde Trapp are both healthy after overcoming torn ACL's last year, while Chase Hunter has overcome a foot injury that held him to just nine contests his freshman season. Furthermore, transfer Nick Honor is eligible for the Tigers' in the backcourt after previously sitting out the 2019-20 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Head Coach Brownell is in his 11th season at Clemson and his 19th year as a collegiate head coach. He owns a record of 189-142 (.571) with the Tigers and surpassed Cliff Ellis as the program's all-time winningest coach. He boasts a career mark of 356-227 (.611).

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