Alabama Looks to Snap Streak Saturday Night at Mississippi State

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 24/25 Alabama men's basketball team will look to snap its two-game skid when it makes the short 80-mile trek to Starkville, Miss., to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

It marks the first of two contests played between the longtime rivals, as the Bulldogs make the return trip to Tuscaloosa Feb. 16 (6 p.m. CT).

Saturday's game will mark the 207th meeting between the teams – the most games played against any single opponent in program history. UA owns a 129-77 edge in the all-time series which also is the most wins against in single team in program history.

In its last trip to Starkville, Alabama snapped a three-game losing streak inside at Humphrey Coliseum with its 64-59 victory to clinch the league's regular season title. It was the Tide's fourth win over the last seven games played in Starkville, where it holds a 41-57 (.418) all-time record.

Alabama is coming off a second-straight loss – the Tide's first two-game losing streak since suffering back-to-back losses to end the 2019-20 campaign – as it fell to No. 4/4 Auburn, 81-77, Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum. The loss snapped the Tide's 17-game home winning streak, as UA fell to 7-1 this season under the arched roof.

The Broadcast

Saturday's game will be available on SEC Network with Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Daymeon Fishback (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 while Tom Stipe (engineer) is turning the dials. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Notes You Need To Know

The Crimson Tide comes into the game ranked No. 24 by the Associated Press and No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll according to the most recent national rankings, which were revealed Monday afternoon.
In addition to its national rankings, Alabama is ranked in the following (as of 1/13): No. 17 Sagarin, No. 18 KenPom.com, No. 19 ESPN.com BPI and No. 23 in the NCAA NET rankings. The Tide's "Best" NET wins (Quad 1) include: Houston (No. 4), Gonzaga (No. 5), Tennessee (No. 10), Florida (No. 50).
The Crimson Tide is one of five SEC schools that are ranked in this week's AP poll, which is tied with the Big 12 and Big Ten for tops among all conferences. Joining Alabama from the SEC is Auburn (No. 4), LSU (No. 12), Kentucky (No. 18) and Tennessee (No. 22).
Alabama is the only team in the country to have three wins versus teams ranked in the top 10 of the NCAA NET rankings (No. 4 Houston, No. 5 Gonzaga and No. 10 Tennessee).
The Crimson Tide is the only team in the nation to have not played a Quad 4 opponent this season. The Tide owns a record of 4-3 vs. Quad 1 teams, 3-1 vs. Quad 2 and 4-1 vs. Quad 3 foes.
According to the most recent KenPom rankings (as of 1/6), the Tide ranks No. 9 in the nation in offensive efficiency, No. 11 in average possession length and No. 26 in adjusted tempo. The site also ranks UA No. 57 in the nation and defensive efficiency.
The Tide's schedule ranks No. 1 in the nation in average opponent NET ranking. In addition, Alabama's schedule strength is rated No. 1 by RealTimeRPI, No. 3 in the Sagarin rankings, No. 3 by KenPom.com and No. 4 by ESPN BPI.
Graduate transfer Noah Gurley has stepped up his game in conference play. Across the Crimson Tide's four SEC contests, the Fayette, Ga., native is averaging 10.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per contest, while shooting 66.7 percent (16-of-24) from the floor and 62.5 percent (5-of-7) from beyond the arc.
NET RANKING FACTS: Alabama is tied for second in the nation in Quad 1 wins (4) and ranks in a tie for fourth in combined Q1 and Q2 wins (7)... The Tide is the only team in the nation that owns two NCAA NET top-5 and three NCAA NET top-10 wins (No. 4 Houston, No. 5 Gonzaga, No. 10 Tennessee)... The Tide is the one team in the nation to have not played a Q4 opponent... Alabama boasts the No. 1 Average Opponent NET Rank in the nation.
UP NEXT: The Crimson Tide will begin a two-game homestand when it welcomes No. 12/12 LSU to Coleman Coliseum for its second consecutive top-15 home match-up. The contest, which is the first of two games played between the teams this season, is slated to tip at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN2.

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 (16.1 ppg), Jahvon Quinerly (15.4 ppg) and Keon Ellis (12.1 ppg). The trio combines to account for 53 percent (43.6 of the 82.5 points per game average), 69 percent of the three-pointers made (105 of 151), 52 percent field goals made (242 of 473) and 50 percent of the total free throws made (108 of 217).
The Tide youth has also shined this season. 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, ranks second on the team in assists (4.3 apg) while also ranking among the team leaders at 8.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest. Bediako has been a force on the inside, collecting 6.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks a game. Meanwhile, sophomore Juwan Gary has also been a force, averaging 9.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
As a team, Alabama is averaging 82.5 points per contest, which ranks second the SEC and is 13th nationally, and is ranked No. 9 in the nation in offensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com (1/13). The Tide is outscoring the competition by an average of 7.7 points per game (82.1-74.4) and own a +4.0 (40.4-36.4) advantage on the boards. The Tide is averaging 9.4 threes made per game, while shooting 45.8 percent from the field, 32.1 percent from beyond the arc and 70.0 percent from the charity stripe.
Defensively, the Crimson Tide is ranked 57th nationally in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com. For the year, Alabama is allowing opponents to average 74.4 points per game while limiting foes to 43.1 percent shooting from the field and 30.1 percent from beyond the arc.
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.
The Tide holds an all-time record of 1,728-1,072-1 (.616), which includes an 817-630 (.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 Mississippi State

Mississippi State enters the contest having won five of its last six games to improve to 11-4 overall and 2-1 in the SEC. Most recently, the Bulldogs handed Georgia its third consecutive loss to open league play with an 88-72 victory over Georgia Wednesday night.
Preseason All-SEC First Team honoree Iverson Molinar, who had game highs of 28 points and seven assists in the win over Georgia, leads the offensive charge at 17.5 ppg, which ranks third in the conference, and 4.5 assists a contest, which is seventh-best in the SEC.
Four other MSU player average in double digits in addition to Molinar, three of which are part of a talented class if in-coming transfers. Garrison Brooks (North Carolina) collects 10.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, D.J. Jeffries (Memphis) averages 10.7 points and 5.1 rebounds and Shakeel Moore (North Carolina State) collects 10.5 points and leads MSU in three-point shooting (26-of-69, 37.7 percent). In all, the Bulldogs' four new transfers this season (Rocket Watts, Michigan State) combined to amass 2,891 career points.
Forward Tolu Smith, who has only played in five games this season due to a foot injury, collects an average of 14.2 points and a team-best 7.8 rebounds per game. Former Alabama forward and transfer Javian Davis has played in 14 contests this season and is averaging 5.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per contest.
As a team, Mississippi State is outscoring the competition by an average of 11.5 points per game (75.4-63.9) and owns a +9.3 advantage on the glass (38.4-29.1). MSU leads the SEC in free throw percentage (73.4 percent) and rank second in rebound margin and rebounding defense (29.1).
Ben Howland, who is in his seventh season at the helm of the program. In four different stints as a head coach, Howland has a 528-292 (.644) record – Northern Arizona (79-59), Pittsburgh (89-40), UCLA (233-107) and Mississippi State (127-86, .596). He led UCLA to three-consecutive Final Fours, including a national runner-up finish in 2006.

Alabama-Mississippi State Series Notes

The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs will meet for the 207th time in series history and the first of two contest played between the rivals this season. Mississippi State will return the trip to Tuscaloosa on Feb. 16 (6 p.m. CT on ESPN2/ESPNU).
UA owns a 129-77 edge in the all-time series, including wins in 15 of the last 19 contests played between the two teams
Both the 206 games played and the 129 wins against Mississippi State marks the most for Alabama against any single opponent in each category in program history
Last season, Alabama swept all three contests against MSU with a pair of wins during the regular season followed by a victory in the 2021 SEC Tournament quarterfinals. The Tide began last season's series by capturing an 81-73 victory in Coleman Coliseum (1/23/21), followed by a 64-59 victory in Starkville (2/27/21) – a win that clinched the 2021 regular season title. UA then opened its SEC Tournament championship run with an 85-48 victory (3/12/21) to advance to the semifinals. The box score from that contest can be found below.
In its last trip to Starkville, Alabama snapped a three-game losing streak inside at Humphrey Coliseum with its 64-59 victory to clinch the league's regular season title. It was the Tide's fourth win over the last seven games played in Starkville, where it holds a 41-57 (.418) all-time record.
The series, which first began during the 1912-13 season, has seen 14 overtime contests including the 2008-09 season's double-overtime affair. The Tide owns an 8-6 lead in such games.
Sixty-seven of the meetings have been decided by five or fewer points.

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