No. 14/13 Alabama Welcomes South Dakota State to Coleman Coliseum Friday Night

Friday, November 12

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

7 p.m. CT

Alabama

South Dakota State

No. 14/13 Alabama Welcomes South Dakota State to Coleman Coliseum Friday Night

11/11/2021 3:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes Live Scoring Watch Live Players Preview South Dakota State

The Crimson Tide will face off against the Jackrabbits, the preseason favorite selected to win the Summit League, at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama plays the second of what will be a four-game homestand to open the season when it hosts Summit League preseason favorites South Dakota State Friday night inside Coleman Coliseum. It marks the second meeting between the two teams, with the only other appearance coming on the season opener on Nov. 9, 2012 when Trevor Lacey hit a game-winning three at the buzzer to pull out a 70-67 victory.

The Crimson Tide enters the year ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 and No. 13 in the Ferris Mowers USA Today Coaches Poll. It marks the first time since 2011 that Alabama will begin the season ranked in the AP Preseason poll, checking in at No. 19 that year. It's also the highest preseason ranking for the Tide since beginning the 2006-07 campaign at No. 11 nationally.

The Broadcast

Friday's game will be available on SEC Network+ with Roger Hoover (play-by-play) and Richard Hendrix (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 Tom Stipe (engineer) turning the dials. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Notes You Need To Know

Alabama will be looking for its first 2-0 start under Oats, who began each of the last two campaigns by splitting the first two contests. The Crimson Tide is coming off an impressive 93-64 win over Louisiana Tech in both team's season opener last Tuesday night. The 29-point victory on opening night was the largest by an Alabama team in its first game since it took down Florida A&M, 76-37, on Nov. 12, 2010.
Alabama returns 10 letterwinners and its top-two scorers from last season's 26-7 SEC Championship team. The Crimson Tide did lose four senior starters who helped lead the program to its first NCAA Sweet 16 since 2004, however, preseason first team All-SEC guards Jahvon Quinerly and Jaden Shackelford lead what is arguably one of the top backcourts in the nation.
Leading the returnees are the team's top two scorers off last season's squad in Preseason First Team All-SEC honoress Jahvon Quinerly and Jaden Shackelford. Both players, along with freshman sensation JD Davison and senior leader Keon Ellis, help make up one of the top backcourts in the nation.
In addition to receiving first team recognition from the coaches and the media, Shackelford was named to the Preseason Watch List for the Jerry West Award, while Quinerly was named to the NABC Player of the Year, Wooden Award and Bob Cousy Award Watch Lists.
Despite losing four starters, the Crimson Tide does return its top two scorers in Shackelford (14.0 ppg) and Quinerly (12.9 ppg). Both Shackelford (63-of-184) and Quinerly (52-of-120) ranked among the league leaders in total threes made, while Quinerly led the team in three-point field goal percentage at 43.3 percent. Ellis, who is poised to have a breakout season in 2021-22. Despite averaging 5.5 points a game last year, Ellis shot 50.4 percent (60-of-119) from the floor and 38.9 percent (21-of-54) for beyond the arc, both of which ranked second on the team. He is also the leading returning player in both rebounds (4.0 rpg) and steals (35) per game.
Alabama will face what is arguably the toughest non-conference schedule in the nation this season. The Tide is set to take on eight teams that were picked to win their respective league (including SEC), four foes among the nation's top-15 teams according to the Preseason AP Poll and three of last year's final four teams. In all, the Tide will face 13 teams that are either ranked or receiving votes in the preseason top-25 poll.
Up Next: Alabama will continue its four-game homestand to open the season by welcoming South Alabama to Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 6:30 p.m. CT. It will mark just the fourth meeting between the two teams and the first since Dec. 1, 2010 when the Tide took home a 72-50 win over the Jaguars.

About Alabama

Alabama is in its 109th season of basketball in 2021-22. The Tide's first season of hoops came in 1912-13. There was no season in 1943-44 due to World War II.
Alabama returns its top two scorers and 10 letterwinners from last season's SEC Championship team that went on to finish 27-6 overall and 16-2 in the SEC while claiming the 2021 SEC regular season and tournament championships.
In addition, UA welcomes the nation's No.11-ranked signing class, which includes McDonald's All-American and 5-star prospect JD Davison, as well as highly-ranked freshmen Jusuan Holt and Charles Bediako, along with highly-touted graduate transfer Noah Gurley (Furman)
UA won the program's eighth SEC regular season championship, finishing with a 16-2 league record which tied for the most wins in the conference in program history. In addition to claiming the 2021 crown, the Crimson Tide also claimed regular season titles in 1934, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1987 and 2002.
Alabama has won seven SEC Tournament titles with last year's championship game victory over LSU. It was the first tournament title by the Tide in 30 years, with the last coming in 1991. In all, the Tide has won 15 combined championships - the eight regular season titles ranking third-most and the seven tournament championships ranking second-best in the league.
The Tide holds an all-time record of 1,718-1,068-1 (.616), which includes an 815-629 (.565) record in SEC play. By capturing its 800th SEC win, Alabama joined Kentucky as the only two teams in conference history to reach the milestone. UA also became the third team in the SEC and 34th team in NCAA history to reach 1,700 program wins. Only Kentucky and Arkansas have more wins than the Crimson Tide.
UA has made 37 NCAA (21) or NIT (16) appearances in program lore. It was the program's third appearance since 2012 (also earned an at-large bid in 2018).
The Tide made its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and has reached its eighth Sweet 16 showing. Alabama owns a record of 21-21 (.512) in NCAA Tournament games.
Alabama also ranks second in the SEC in league victories and third in all-time winning percentage.

About South Dakota State

South Dakota State was picked to win the 2021-22 Summit League in a vote of the league's head coaches, SIDs and select media. The Jackrabbits received 23 of 36 first-place votes and 636 points in the poll, while North Dakota State was picked second with 606 points and Oral Roberts third with 545 points.
The Jackrabbits return all five starters and 10 letterwinners from last season's team that finished 16-7 overall and 9-3 in the Summit League. In fact, SDSU returns over 99 percent of its scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and minutes played from a year ago.
SDSU is one of the most successful basketball programs in the Summit League. The program has played in eight of the last nine postseasons, excluding 2019-20 when the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancelation of all postseason tournaments. Furthermore, The Jackrabbits have won five Summit League Tournaments since 2011-12 and at least a share of seven of the nine regular season crowns, including four straight.
Three South Dakota State players received preseason All-Summit League recognition, which include a pair of first team honorees in Baylor Scheierman and Douglas Wilson, Additionally, Noah Freidel was named to the preseason second team. Scheierman returns after leading the team in rebounding (9.2 rpg) and double-doubles (13) while adding 15.4 points per game, while Wilson was the team's leading scorer last season at 16.7 ppg.
Head coach Eric Henderson is in his fourth season at the helm of the South Dakota State program. He has an all-time record of 38-17 (.691) during that time.

Last Time Out

The No. 14/13 Alabama men's basketball team opened the 2021-22 season in impressive fashion with a 93-64 victory over Louisiana Tech in its season opener which was played Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide led from start to finish as five players reached double figures en route to the season-opening win.
Senior Keon Ellis led the team with 18 points to go along with nine rebounds and three steals, while his plus-minus of +37 led the team. Juwan Gary earned his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Jaden Shackelford added 17 points on 4-of-10 shooting from deep.
Freshman JD Davison shined in his collegiate debut, which included a highlight reel dunk in the first half that sent the crowd to its feet, as he finished with 12 points, six rebounds and a team-leading six assists. Sophomore Darius Miles added 11 off the bench, hitting all three of his three-pointers.

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