No. 8/9 Alabama Begins Conference Play at No. 21/20 Mississippi State
12/27/2022 11:28:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Tide faces the Bulldogs in Starkville to tip-off SEC play
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 8/9 Alabama men's basketball travels to Starkville, Miss., for its first Southeastern Conference game of the season, facing No. 21/20 Mississippi State Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
The Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs enter the contest as two of the six SEC schools that are currently ranked in the AP Top-25 Poll. This is the first time since 2005 that Alabama and Mississippi State are meeting where both teams are ranked in the AP Top 25.
The Broadcast
Wednesday's game is set for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff and will be aired on the SEC Network with Paul Sutherland (play-by-play) and Pat Bradley (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, while Tom Stipe (engineer) is turning the dials. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.
Notes You Need To Know
- Alabama (10-2, 0-0 SEC) has won 10 non-conference games for the first time since the 2014-15 season
- UA enters SEC play ranked No. 8 in the AP Top 25 Poll, the highest ranking entering conference play since the 2002-03 season (Ranked No. 4).
- The Crimson Tide is 3-2 against AP Top-25 opponents this season, defeating then-No. 12 Michigan State (Nov. 24), then-No. 1 North Carolina (Nov. 27) and then-No. 1 Houston (Dec. 10)
- Alabama's three ranked wins before the New Year is a school record, bettering its previous high when it defeated two ranked teams in 2015 (knocked off then-No. 17 Notre Dame and then-No. 20 Wichita State)
- Alabama is the first team since 1965-66 (Duke) with multiple wins over the AP No. 1 team before the New Year
- Brandon Miller is averaging 19.3 points per game, the most by any freshman in the country and No. 34 overall
- Miller is the only freshman in the country to rank in the top 50 in points per game (No. 34) and rebounds per game (No. 48)
- Miller is one of 11 players in Division I and the only player in the SEC that has scored 230 points and record 100 rebounds this season
- Noah Clowney ranks No. 44 in the country at 8.8 rebounds per game, which is third best among freshman in the country
- Alabama ranks No. 1 in the country in rebounds per game (47.5), defensive rebounds per game (32.7), No. 4 in offensive rebounds per game (14.8) and ranks No. 3 in rebound margin (+11.2)
- Alabama is one of two teams (Arizona) to have two players rank in the Top 50 in the country in rebounds per game with Clowney ranks No. 44 with 8.8 per game and Miller ranks No. 48 (8.7)
About Mississippi State
- Through 12 games, the Bulldogs (11-1, 0-0) are among the nation's best surrendering 52.5 points per game (1st SEC • 3rd nationally) on a paltry 35.8 opponent percent field percentage (2nd SEC • 6th nationally).
- Most recently, MSU dropped its first game of the year when it lost to Drake, 58-52, back on Dec. 20 at the Battle of the Vault in Lincoln, Neb.
- State's defense limited its first 11 opponents to 60 points or less. The Bulldogs were joined by 2011-12 Virginia as the only teams during the 2000s to limit their first 10 opponents to 60 points or less.
- Historically at State, the 52.6 PPG allowed is the program's lowest 12-game average in the modern era since 1955-56, which was Babe McCarthy's first season with the Bulldogs.
- Chris Jans, a three-time WAC Coach of the Year, owns an impressive .778 winning percentage (154-44) in his seventh season as a NCAA Division I head coach, which ranks second among NCAA active coaches
- Jans is the only men's basketball coach at State to win his opening 11 contests. The previous mark was held by E.C. Hayes, who completed the 1911-12 season at 9-0 and won the opening game of the 1912-13 campaign.
- State's returning group is highlighted by D.J. Jeffries, Cameron Matthews and Shakeel Moore. The quartet combined to average 49.3 percent of the team's points, 48.4 percent of the team's rebounds, 43.9 percent of the team's assists, 52.9 percent of the team's steals and 46.9 percent of the team's blocks over 90 starts last season.
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