Alabama Closes Out Four-Game Homestand With Oakland Friday Night

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will conclude its four-game home streak to begin the year by welcoming Oakland on Friday night in Coleman Coliseum. The contest, which will be the Tide's last home game for three weeks (Dec. 11 vs. No. 15 Houston), will tip off at 7 p.m. CT and can be viewed on SEC Network+.

Alabama is coming off a 73-68 win over in-state foe South Alabama last Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum. The win improved the Tide to 3-0 on the year, which is the best start since beginning the 2017-18 campaign by winning its first five contests.

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) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call, and Tom Stipe (engineer) turning the dials. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Notes You Need To Know

The Crimson Tide comes into Friday night's contest having won 13 consecutive home games dating back to a 73-71 loss to Western Kentucky on Dec. 19, 2020. The streak began in the very next game vs. East Tennessee State (won, 85-69) on Dec. 22, 2020, as Alabama won its final 10 homes games of the 2020-21 campaign. The 13-straight home wins is the longest home winning streak since claiming a school-record 24-straight home wins from March of 2010 to December of 2011.
The Crimson Tide is currently ranked No. 6 in KenPom's offensive tempo, 12th in offensive efficiency rankings and No. 36 in defensive efficiency. Through its opening three contests, Alabama is averaging 90.0 points per game, while shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 33.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Alabama is off to a hot start on the offensive end of the floor, thanks in large part to the play of senior Keon Ellis. Ellis, a native of Eustis, Fla., is averaging a 17.0 points and leads the team in rebounding (9.3 rpg), steals (2.3 spg) and free throws made (12) and attempted (14). Furthermore, he also has a team-leading plus-minus of +64 across the Tide's first three contests.
Alabama will face what is arguably the toughest non-conference schedule in the nation this season. The Tide will 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 most recent AP Poll and three of last year's final four teams. In all, the Tide will play 16 games versus teams that are either ranked or receiving votes in the AP top-25 poll.
Darius Miles is off to a hot start to the 2021-22 season, averaging 11.0 points a game, while knocking down 13-of-20 (.650) shots from the field and 6-9 (.667) to lead the Crimson Tide in three-point field goal percentage.
Now in the second full week of the college basketball season, Alabama remains ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25. The Crimson Tide also checked in at No. 13 in the Ferris Mowers USA Today Coaches Poll, which was released back on Oct. 28. It was the first time since 2011 that Alabama began 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 Alabama backcourt entered the season as arguably one of the top backcourts in the nation, and so far it has not disappointed. Across the Tide's first three games, guards Jaden Shackelford (19.3 ppg), Keon Ellis (17.0 ppg), Jahvon Quinerly (14.3 ppg) and JD Davison (6.7 ppg) have combined to score 57.3 of the team's 90.0 points per game average. In addition, the four have combined to knock down 24 of the 33 made threes on the season, 59 of the 100 made shots and 30 of the 37 made free throws.
Up Next: Alabama will travel to Orlando, Fla., to compete in the ESPN Events Invitational, which will be played Nov. 25, 26 and 28 at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex. The Crimson Tide will open the event against Iona, who they matched up against in the 2021 NCAA Tournament first round, winning 68-55.

About Alabama

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.
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.
The Crimson Tide is led by four players who average double figures in Jaden Shackelford (19.0 ppg), Keon Ellis (17.0 ppg), Jahvon Quinerly (14.3 ppg) and Darius Miles (11.0 ppg). The quartet combine to account for 68 percent (61.3 of the 90.0 points per game average), 88 percent of the three-pointers made (29 of 33), 66 percent field goals made (66 of 100) and 68 percent of the total free throws made (25 of 37).
As a team, Alabama is averaging 90.0 ppg and outscoring the competition by an average of 16.7 points per game (90.0-73.3). The Tide is averaging 11.0 threes made per game, while shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 33.0 percent from beyond the arc. UA also owns a rebounding margin of +7.3 (45.7-38.3) for the year.
The Crimson Tide ranks 36th nationally in defensive efficiency entering the contest. For the year, Alabama has held opponents to an average of 73.3 points per game while limiting foes to 42.1 percent shooting from the field and just 26.8 percent from beyond the arc.
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.
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 1,720-1,068-1 (.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.

About Oakland

Oakland, picked to finish sixth in the Horizon League preseason poll, enters the contest in Tuscaloosa with a 2-1 overall record, with both victories coming in the last week. After a narrow loss at West Virginia to open the season (lost, 60-53), the Grizzlies secured a 56-55 road win at Oklahoma State a week ago before most recently toppling Toledo, 80-59, at home Wednesday night.
Oakland's victory at Oklahoma State last Friday night marked the 11th win over a Power 5 program and first since defeating Clemson in the opening round of the 2017 National Invitation Tournament.
Oakland is one of the top defensive teams in the nation, allowing just 58.0 points per game while limiting the opposition to only 38.7 percent shooting from the field and 21.7 percent from beyond the arc. In fact, none of their three opponents have crossed the 60-point mark in a contest this season.
Graduate transfer Jamal Cain (Marquette) has been a dominating presence inside for the Grizzlies in the early part of the season, going for 29 points and 17 boards in the 21-point win over Toledo. He is averaging team highs of 19.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game. Jalen Moore (12.3) and Trey Townsend (11.0) also average in double figures. All three average over 35 minutes per game, with Townsend leading the way having played all 120 minutes (40.0 mpg) across the Grizzlies three games on the year.
Moore, who led the led NCAA Division I in assists per game last season, is also averaging 7.0 assists per game. A preseason first team honoree, Moore averaged 17.9 points, 8.4 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.7 steals while also tallying a team-leading 10 double-doubles, the most in the country by a player below 6-foot.
Kampe is in his 38th season at the helm of the Oakland men's basketball program. He is the third-longest tenured active coach in Division I, only behind Jim Boeheim (Syracuse, 46th season) and Mike Krzyzewski (Duke, 42nd season). Kampe's 645 career wins (645-493) rank 12th among active Division I coaches.

Last Time Out

Guards Jaden Shackelford and Keon Ellis each scored 18 points to lead the No. 14/13 Alabama men's basketball team to a 73-68 victory over South Alabama Tuesday night.
Shackelford also added 10 rebounds to collect his second career double-double, while Ellis added six boards and three steals in the victory. Darius Miles was the only other UA player to reach double-digits at 10, while center Charles Bediako added eight points five rebounds and five blocked shots in the victory.

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