Alabama Closes Regular Season Schedule on Saturday at Missouri

Saturday, March 7

Columbia, Mo.

1:30 p.m. CT

Alabama

Missouri

Alabama Closes Regular Season Schedule on Saturday at Missouri

3/6/2020 9:31:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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The Crimson Tide and Tigers will tipoff at 1:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will play its final regular season game when it travels to face the Missouri Tigers for a 1:30 p.m. CT tip on SEC Network. It will mark the second contest played between the two teams this season. The Crimson Tide captured an 88-74 win over the Tigers in the first meeting, which came back on Jan. 18 inside Coleman Coliseum.

Alabama (16-14, 8-9 SEC) will know its seed in this year's Southeastern Conference Tournament, which will be held March 11-15 in Nashville, Tenn., with the outcome of Saturday's game at Mizzou. The Crimson Tide will earn the No. 9 seed with a win or if Arkansas were to lose at Texas A&M (game tips off at 3:30 p.m. CT). The only way that UA will finish as the No. 10 seed is if it were to lose at Mizzou and Arkansas won at Texas A&M.

The Crimson Tide is one victory away from becoming just the second team in Southeastern Conference men's basketball history to earn the 800th win in league history. Alabama enters the game against Missouri with 799 victories and a .561 winning percentage (799-624) which both rank second to only Kentucky.

The Broadcast

Saturday's game will be televised on SEC Network with Dave Neal (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.

Notes You Need To Know

Alabama leads the SEC and ranks No. 2 in the nation in scoring offense at 83.1 points per game. The Tide has scored 2,492 points through its 30 games on the year. With two more guaranteed games this season, and possibly more, the Crimson Tide is within 296 points of breaking the program's single-season scoring record of 2,761 points set during the 2000-01 campaign.
In addition to its national ranking in scoring, the Tide ranks atop the SEC and No. 2 nationally in three-pointers made per game (11.0). Furthermore, the Tide leads the SEC in three-pointers made (330) and attempted (932), ranking No. 3 in the nation in both categories. Alabama has already toppled the single-season records for threes made and attempted, setting it in just 25 games which bettered the former record set across 33 games during the 2015-16 campaign.
Alabama enters the contest owning the No. 51 overall NET Ranking (as of 3/5) and the No. 35 overall strength of schedule. The Crimson Tide ranks third among all SEC teams in strength of schedule, while its NET Ranking is fifth-best in the league.
Alabama has alternated wins and losses over its last nine games dating back to a Feb. 4 loss to Tennessee. The trend continued on Tuesday night when the Crimson Tide was upset by Vanderbilt on Senior Night, falling 87-79. That game followed a 90-86 home win over South Carolina to end the month of February.
UA has had 16 games of 80 or more points and nine games of scoring 90 or more this season. The program record of games of scoring 80 or more points is 17 which was set on three occasions (1986-87, 1978-79 and 1976-77). The 1971-72 team had a school record 12 games of 90 or more points with nine such games occurring in 2001-02 and 1974-75.
An SEC Player of the Year candidate, Kira Lewis Jr. has posted some impressive numbers over his last three games. Over the stretch, Lewis is averaging 28.0 points, 6.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 50.9 percent (28-of-55) from the field, 50.0 percent (9-of-18) from beyond the arc and 90.5 percent (19-of-21) from the charity stripe.
Junior Herbert Jones, playing with essentially one hand, has been an important presence for the Crimson Tide. Since being reinserted in the starting lineup after missing three games with a fractured left wrist (vs. Arkansas, vs. Tennessee, at Georgia), Jones has been a defensive force, earning the Hard Hat Award in five of the six games. Over the six-game stretch since reclaiming his starting position, the left-handed forward is averaging 7.8 rebounds, 2.7 offensive rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.1 blocks per game – all team-leading numbers. A candidate for SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Jones leads Alabama in Hard Hat points (580.5), charges (22), deflections (82) and floor dives (30).
Freshman Jaden Shackelford has scored 453 points on the year which currently ranks fifth on the program's single-season freshman scoring leaders list. The Hesperia, Calif., native needs just six points to move past current teammate Kira Lewis Jr. (458) into fourth and needs 25 to vault into third moving past Eddie Phillips' 477 points during the 1978-79 campaign.

About Alabama

Three UA players average double digits, while six average 8.0 ppg or better on the year to lead the Alabama offense. Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr. (18.5 ppg) tops the team and ranks fourth in the SEC in scoring average, while freshman Jaden Shackelford (15.1 ppg) ranks second on the squad and 11th in the league. Combined the duo produces the second-highest combined points by any two players on the same team in the SEC (33.1 ppg).
Lewis, a two-time SEC Player of the Week (1/27 & 2/17), leads the SEC and ranks 13th nationally in minutes per game (37.33), while also leading UA and ranking among the league leaders in scoring, assists (3rd - 5.3 apg) and steals (t3rd - 1.8 spg). A first-team All-SEC preseason honoree, he also tops the team in field goals made (200) and attempted (435), and is shooting 46.0 percent from the field, 36.9 percent from beyond the arc and 80.0 percent from the charity stripe.
Junior John Petty Jr., who has been sidelined with an elbow injury suffered early in the contest at Mississippi State, is one of the top three-point shooters in the nation. Despite missing the last two games, Petty leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (45.0 percent, 85-of-189) and ranks second in threes made per game (3.0), while ranking fifth and 18th nationally in the categories, respectively. Additionally, he leads the squad and is 12th in the conference in rebounding (6.6 rpg) and tops UA in threes made while ranking second in assists (2.6 apg) and minutes (33.5 mpg) per game.
Shackelford, who was named the USBWA National Freshman of the Week on Feb. 18, also ranks third in the league three-point percentage (.357) and threes made per game (2.7), while also topping the squad in threes attempted, as 227 of his 348 field goal attempts – approximately 65 percent – have come from beyond the three-point line. Juniors Alex Reese (9.1 ppg) and Herbert Jones (8.1 ppg) and graduate senior Beetle Bolden (8.7 ppg) contribute offensively as well.
Jones, who has been sidelined multiple games and is currently seeing limited action despite a fractured left wrist, is the team's best defender. He leads the squad in Blue Collar Points (580.5), Hard Hat Awards (16), charges taken (22), deflections (82) and floor dives (30). Bolden has also missed time (four games) throughout the year with a variety of ailments, is one of the best perimeter defenders on the team and ranks fourth on the squad in three-point field goal percentage (.356).
As a team, Alabama has outscored the opposition by +3.8 points (83.1-79.3) and is shooting 44.0 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from beyond the arc and 69.4 percent from the foul line. The Tide averages 39.8 rebounds per game which is second-best in the SEC and 21st-best in the nation. UA has collected 16 games of 80 or more points and has hit 90 or more points nine times.
During SEC play only, Alabama leads the league in scoring offense (83.6) and threes made per game (11.1), while ranking second in assists (14.5), assist/turnover ratio (2nd - 1.1) and defensive rebounds (27.1). Additionally, the Crimson Tide ranks among the top five teams in league play in rebounding offense (3rd - 39.3), scoring margin (4th - +2.8), three-point field goal percentage (3rd - .344), offensive rebounding (3rd - 12.2) and blocked shots (4th - 4.4).

About Missouri

Missouri comes into Saturday's season finale sporting a 14-16 overall mark and a 6-11 record in league play. Most recently, the Tigers fell on the road at Ole Miss on Wednesday night, 75-67, to drop Mizzou's SEC road record to 1-8 on the year (5-3 at home).
Guards Dru Smith and Xavier Pinson lead the team at 12.5 and 11.2 points per game, respectively. Dru also tops the team in assists (3.8 apg), steals (2.1 spg), minutes (32.7 mpg) and free throw percentage (.989). Pinson has caught fire during league play, averaging 13.5 ppg against league opponents.
Guard Mark Smith averages 9.8 ppg and leads the team in three-point shooting (50-136, .368), while forward Jeremiah Tilmon has returned to the lineup after missing significant time with an injury and is averaging 8.2 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 58.8 percent from the field to lead Mizzou in the statistic.
As a team, Missouri is one of the top defensive squads in the SEC, limiting the opposition to 65.7 points per game and holding opponents to just 41.1 percent shooting from the floor and 29.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Tigers rank third in the SEC and 19th nationally in three-point defense.
Offensively, Mizzou is outscoring the competition by +1.4 points per game (67.1-65.7) while shooting 41.0 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from deep. The Tigers ranks as one of the top free throw shooting teams in the nation, checking in at No. 19 nationally and No. 3 in the SEC at 77.9 percent.
Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin is in his third year at the helm of the program and his 12th 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 235-167 (.584) and is 49-46 (.521) in two seasons at Missouri.

Alabama-Missouri - Series Notes

Alabama and Missouri will square off in the second regular season match-up when the two meet in the season finale. The Crimson Tide captured the first meeting, 88-74, despite an SEC record 31-of-31 free throws made by the Tigers. A full recap and box score from that contest can be found on page 10.
Saturday's contest will mark the 10th meeting between the two teams as SEC rivals and 16th contest overall in the series history. The Tide owns an 11-4 edge in the all-time series, with Alabama having won seven of the last eight games over the Tigers.
The Crimson Tide's lone loss over the last seven games against Mizzou came in Coleman Coliseum on Jan. 31, 2018 when the Tigers captured a 69-60 victory. Alabama has won two straight over Missouri in Mizzou Arena. The last time UA dropped a game in Columbia, Mo., came on Jan. 18, 2014 (lost, 68-47).
It will mark only the third time in the last 10 games between the teams that the Crimson Tide has played in Columbia, Mo. Alabama's only other appearances in Mizzou Arena dating back to the 2013-14 season – both wins – came on Feb. 15, 2017 (won, 57-54) and Jan. 16, 2019 (won, 70-60).
Nine of the 15 games played between the two teams have been decided by 10 or fewer points.
The first game of the series was played on Dec. 10, 1977.

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