Alabama Begins Phil Knight Invitational Against Michigan State

PORTLAND, Ore. – Alabama and Michigan State will square off in the opening round of the Phil Knight Invitational at the Moda Center, home of the Portland Trailblazers. This will be the first meeting between the Tide and the Spartans since Dec. 23, 1998 (MSU won 75-58) as Alabama goes into the game ranked No. 18 in the country while Michigan State is No. 12.

The Broadcast

Monday's game will be aired on ESPN with Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) and Bill Walton (analyst) on the call.

The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Roger Hoover (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Notes You Need To Know

The Crimson Tide are looking to start the season 5-0 for the first time since 2017-18.
Brandon Miller was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 21.
Brandon Miller is averaging 20.2 points per game, the most by any freshman in the country and No. 40 overall.
Miller is averaging 3.75 three-pointers per game, which ranks No. 12 in the country.
Alabama ranks No. 1 in the country in rebounds per game (56.0), offensive rebounds per game (19.5) and rebound margin (24.5).
Alabama's newcomers have scored 294 of the Tide's 339 points this season.
Noah Clowney ranks No. 21 in the country averaging 10.5 rebounds per game and No. 1 in the SEC.
Charles Bediako ranks No. 19 in the country averaging 4.0 offensive rebounds per game.
Alabama has made 44 three-pointers this season, the most under Nate Oats in the first four games of the season.
The Tide are making 11 three-pointers per game, which ranks No. 14 in Division I.
Alabama welcomes the highest ranked recruiting class in program history, including McDonald's High School All-Americans Jaden Bradley and Brandon Miller, along with four-start prospects Noah Clowney and Rylan Griffen.
The Tide is one of seven schools in the country (Arizona, Creighton, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA) to have a player named to the Bob Cousy, Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar watch lists this preseason.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats used to work Michigan State basketball camps during the summer when he was head coach at Romulus High School in Michigan.

About Michigan State

Michigan State has started the 2022-23 season with arguably one of the toughest opening months in college basketball. In 2016-17, the Spartans faced No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Kentucky and No. 10 Arizona. This year, the Spartans will face five teams ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 (Gonzaga, No. 6; Indiana, No. 11; Kentucky, No. 15; Illinois: No. 16; Alabama, No. 18). Since 2009-10, Michigan State is one of only six teams (including that 2016-17 team) to play at least four AP ranked opponents in the month of November. Michigan State is the only team to play two teams in the top 4, with No. 2 Gonzaga and No. 4 Kentucky in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis (credit: Sportsradar).
The Spartans return nine letterwinners from last year's team that finished 23-13 overall and 11-9 in the Big Ten and reached the NCAA Tournament for the 24th-straight season. Head Coach Tom Izzo welcomes back five players who started at least one game last year, and a trio of seniors – forwards Malik Hall and Joey Hauser and guard Tyson Walker – who have combined to play 278 games and started 177 games in their careers.
The Spartans welcome four freshmen to the 2022-23 team. The freshmen class includes a group of players expected to make contributions immediately: forward Jaxon Kohler, guard Tre Holloman and center Carson Cooper, as well as walk-on guard Nick Sanders.
The Spartans return more than 50 percent of their rebounds (55.1%), with second-leading rebounder Hauser (5.3 rpg) and Hall (4.6 rpg, third on the team) among the returnees.

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