No. 10/11 Alabama Takes on Davidson in Tuesday Night’s C.M. Newton Classic

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 10/11 Alabama will play its final game before the Christmas holiday when it takes on the Davidson Wildcats in the C.M. Newton Classic Tuesday night at 6 p.m. CT inside Legacy Arena. The event, named in honor of the late Crimson Tide Hall of Fame head coach, originally pitted the Crimson Tide and No. 21/21 Colorado State, however, the Rams were unable to compete due to a Covid-19 outbreak within their program which opened the door to welcome the Wildcats – a game that was put together in less than 24 hours.

The C.M. Newton Classic is named in honor of the former Crimson Tide and Hall of Fame head coach, who became head coach at the University of Alabama in 1968. During his 12 seasons at UA, he led the Tide to a 221-123 record, won three straight SEC Conference titles (1974-1976) and made two NCAA tournament appearances. In addition to his coaching accolades, Newton was the first coach to integrate the men's basketball team at UA with Black student-athletes.

The Tide and Wildcats will meet for the fifth time in series history and first since Alabama defeated Davidson, 76-59, in the 1991-92 season opener (11/23/91) in Davidson, N.C. The only other meetings between the teams came during the 1960s (twice during the 1961-62 season and in 1964-65).

The Broadcast

Tuesday night's game will be available on SEC Network+ with Eli Gold (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 Roger Hoover (sideline) on the call with Top Stipe (engineer) turning the dials. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Notes You Need To Know

Alabama is making its fifth appearance in the last seven years in Birmingham's Legacy Arena and second under head coach Nate Oats (defeated Samford 105-87 on 12/18/19). The Crimson TIde is making its 72nd overall appearance in the Magic City and owns an all-time record of 47-24 (.662) when playing in Birmingham.
The Crimson Tide comes into the game ranked No. 10 by the Associated Press and No. 11 in the Coaches Poll according to the most recent national rankings, which were revealed Monday afternoon.
The Crimson Tide is one of five SEC schools that are ranked in this week's AP poll, which is tied for tops among all conferences (Big 12 also has five teams). Following Alabama is Auburn (No. 12), LSU (No. 17), Tennessee (No. 19) and Kentucky (No. 20).
Alabama leads the SEC in several categories: scoring offense (83.4), three pointers made (107), threes attempted (317) and threes made per game (9.7). Nationally, Alabama ranks among the top 40 in the following: scoring offense (12th), total threes attempted (29th), blocked shots per game (5.2/33rd), three-point field goal percentage defense (.282/36th) and threes made per game (36th).
Alabama is ranked No. 24 according to the most recent NCAA NET and No. 17 in the Ken Pomeroy rankings (as of 12/20). According to the NET rankings, UA owns a 2-1 record vs. Quad 1 opponents while its average opponent NET ranking is No. 1 in the nation.
The Tide enters the contest ranked No. 1 in the SEC and No. 12 in the nation in scoring offense at 83.4 points per game. UA also leads the league and is ranked No. 36 in the nation in threes made per game (9.6).
Jaden Shackelford leads the SEC in threes made per game (3.4), total threes made (37) and three-point field goal percentage (.420) coming into Tuesday's game. Nationally, those numbers rank 21st, 17th and 58th, respectively.
UP NEXT: The Crimson Tide will open Southeastern Conference play when it returns to action on Dec. 29, as Alabama welcomes No. 19/19 Tennessee to Coleman Coliseum for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff on ESPN2.

Gallery: (12-20-2021) 12-20-21 MBB Practice

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.
The Crimson Tide is led by three players who average double figures in Jaden Shackelford (16.5 ppg), Jahvon Quinerly (14.8 ppg) and Keon Ellis (12.7 ppg). The trio combines to account for 53 percent (44.0 of the 83.4 points per game average), 70 percent of the three-pointers made (75 of 107), 51 percent field goals made (168 of 332) and 51 percent of the total free throws made (74 of 146).
A pair of freshmen have also made their mark through the early portion of the schedule in guard JD Davison and center Charles Bediako. Davison, a consensus five star and McDonald's All-American, leads Alabama in assists (4.6 apg) while also ranking among the team leaders at 9.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. Bediako has been a force on the inside, collecting 7.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks a game. Sophomore Juwan Gary has also been coming on as of late and is averaging 8.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
As a team, Alabama is averaging 83.4 points per contest, which leads the SEC and ranks 12th nationally, while outscoring the competition by an average of 10.5 points per game (83.4-72.8). The Tide is averaging 9.7 threes made per game, while shooting 47.4 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from beyond the arc and 67.3 percent from the charity stripe. UA also owns a rebounding margin of +5.4 (41.1-35.7) for the year.
The Crimson Tide ranks 43rd nationally in defensive efficiency entering the contest. For the year, Alabama has held opponents to an average of 72.8 points per game while limiting foes to 42.3 percent shooting from the field and just 28.2 percent from beyond the arc, which ranks 36th nationally.
Alabama was picked to finish second in the league in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members. Kentucky was the preseason favorite to win this year's regular season title, followed by the Tide, Arkansas, Tennessee and Auburn to round out the top five. Both Quinerly and Shackelford were named to the SEC Preseason First Team.
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.

About Davidson

Davidson enters the C.M. Newton Classic sporting an 8-2 overall record including a 4-2 mark in games played on the road (2-0 in away games and 2-2 in neutral-site contests). After dropping two of its first three games, the Wildcats have reeled off seven consecutive contests, most recently capturing a 74-54 home win over Radford last Saturday.
The Wildcats are currently ranked No. 59 according to the latest Ken Pomeroy rankings and own a NET ranking of No. 54 in the nation (both rankings as of 12/20). Davidson is 0-2 vs. Quad 1 (0-1) and Quad 2 (0-1) opponents and a perfect 8-0 when facing Quad 3 (4-0) and Quad 4 (4-0) teams.
The Wildcats are led by preseason all-conference honoree Hyunjung Lee, who tops the team in scoring (18.1 ppg), rebounding (6.9 rpg), field goal percentage (.512) and field goals made (63) and attempted (123) entering Tuesday night's contest. Meanwhile, Foster Loyer is second on the team in scoring at 15.6 ppg and ranks third in the nation in three-point shooting at 53.3 percent (32-of-60).
Two other Davidson players average in double figures in Michael Jones (11.8 ppg) and Luka Brajkovic (11.6 ppg). Brajkovic leads the team in field goal percentage (50-of-90, .556) and blocked shots (12), while Jones is the team leader in free throw shooting (.926) and steals (18).
As a team, Davidson is currently fourth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage at 41.6 percent (9.4 threes made per game) and 27th nationally in field goal percentage at 48.7 percent. The Wildcats are outscoring the competition by 11.6 points per game (75.1-63.5) and own a +1.8 advantage on the glass (32.2-30.4). Nationally, Davidson also ranks among the nation's leaders in turnovers per game (10.1/14th), assist-turnover ratio (1.54/16th) and free throw percentage (.760/36th).
Head coach Bob McKillop is one of five active head coaches with 600 or more wins at one school and the 40th head coach with at least 600 wins at the Division I level. He owns a career record of 615-375 (.621) and is currently 18th on the active wins list behind Mark Few (635).

Rich Birmingham Tradition

The Alabama men's basketball team will make its fourth appearance in the last five years in Birmingham's Legacy Arena, but this will mark the Tide's 71st game played in the Magic City.
The Tide owns an all-time record of 46-24 (.657) when playing in Birmingham. Despite losing three straight in the BJCC, Alabama has won 12 of its last 18 games played there.
UA has lost three consecutive games at Legacy Arena entering Wednesday night's contest. The last time the Tide won a game at the BJCC came nearly nine years to the day on Dec. 21, 2010 when it defeated Oklahoma State, 69-52.
Alabama's largest margin of victory when playing in Birmingham came on Dec. 9, 1955 vs. TCU, when the Tide captured an 85-46 victory (39 points). Alabama's largest margin of defeat is 26 points which happened on two occasions, both coming against Kentucky. The Tide fell 57-31 to the Wildcats on Jan. 31, 1938 and 80-54 on March 15, 1992.

About The C.M. Newton Classic

The neutral-site game, which is in its first year and will be played inside Legacy Arena, is named in honor of former Alabama basketball head coach, C.M. Newton.
Newton was a member of the University of Kentucky national championship team in 1951. After college, Newton began his coaching career at Transylvania in 1956 and became head coach at the University of Alabama in 1968.
During his 12 seasons at Alabama, Newton led the Tide to a 221-123 record, won three straight SEC Conference titles (1974-1976) and made two NCAA tournament appearances.
In addition to his coaching accolades, Newton was the first coach to integrate the men's basketball team at the University of Alabama with Black student-athletes.
Wendell Hudson of Birmingham's Parker High became the first black athlete Newton recruited to play at the University of Alabama.
In 1973, Newton put forth the first all-black starting lineup in SEC history at a holiday tournament in Louisville.
Newton helped pave the way for Black athletes to play at the University of Alabama and set the expectation for other institutions to follow. His commitment to diversity and inclusion made a difference for so many at the University of Alabama. This year's match-up will honor C.M. Newton, the legacy he made and the example he set for civil rights and equality.
HEAD COACH NATE OATS ON PLAYING IN THE C.M. NEWTON CLASSIC: "We are excited the Knight Eady group approached us about returning to play in Birmingham this year for the C.M. Newton Classic. It is always an exciting game for the fans and a great way to honor a legendary figure in college basketball. We have a lot of fans and supporters in Birmingham and playing there is something we are open to doing each and every year. It's also exciting because it will be our first opportunity to play in the newly-reconstructed Legacy Arena in front of what we believe will be an electric atmosphere."

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