Alabama Begins Home Stretch by Hosting Arkansas in Saturday Matinee

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team Alabama will begin its final season stretch by playing four of the next six games under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum when it welcomes the Arkansas Razorbacks for a Saturday afternoon matinee. The two teams, which will mark the only regular season contest between the squads this season, will tipoff at 11 a.m. CT on SEC Network.

The Crimson Tide is coming off an impressive 97-83 road win at Ole Miss, which snapped a two-game losing streak and gave UA its second road victory in league play (2-4). Alabama hit 14-of-22 three-pointers for a single-game season-best 63.6 percent. Guard Jaden Shackelford scored a career-high 30 points and tied his career high of eight made threes en route to the 14-point win.

Arkansas comes into Saturday's game having won nine consecutive contests (eight straight in against SEC competition) to improve to 19-5 overall and 8-3 in SEC play. Most recently, the Razorbacks toppled No. 1 Auburn, 80-76, last Tuesday night in front of a record home crowd of 20,327. Guard JD Notae had 28 points to lead the Hogs to the program's second win ever versus the nation's top-ranked team (2-11).

The Broadcast

Saturday's game will be available on SEC Network with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Carolyn Peck (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 (courtside) 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

NET RANKING FACTS: Alabama has a NET Ranking of No. 22 in the nation as of 2/10 which is fifth-best in the SEC... UA is the only team in the nation to have defeated four teams among the NET Top 10 (No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 3 Houston, No. 8 Baylor and No. 10 Tennessee)... Of the seven games remaining on the regular-season slate, two are Q1 opponents and four are Q2 ... UA is tied for the seventh-most Quad 1 wins in the nation (6)... Alabama is the only team in the nation to have not played a Quad 4 opponent.
According to the other metric rankings, Alabama is ranked in the following (as of 2/10): No. 18 KenPom.com, No. 20 Sagarin, No. 20 ESPN.com BPI and No. 22 in the NCAA NET rankings. The Tide's "Best" NET wins (Quad 1) include: Gonzaga (No. 1), Houston (No. 3), Baylor (No. 8), Tennessee (No. 10), LSU (No. 16) and at Florida (No. 48).
The Tide ranks No. 11 in the nation in offensive efficiency by Ken Pomeroy (as of 2/10), which would stand as the Tide's second-most efficient offense over the last 20 years of KenPom.com's end-of-year ranking (finished No. 9 in 2005). Pomeroy also ranks the Tide No. 13 in average possession length, No. 15 in adjusted tempo and No. 74 in defensive efficiency.
The Crimson Tide owns a 5-3 record vs. teams ranked in the AP Top 25 this season. The five ranked wins is tied for second-most in the nation (Texas Tech), trailing Marquette (6) by one and stands the second-most in a single season, one shy of matching the 2017-18 squad that finished with six top-25 wins.
All five of its ranked wins came against top-15 teams, giving Alabama the national lead in top-15 wins (5). The Crimson Tide has defeated then-No. 3 Gonzaga (91-82 in Seattle), then-No. 14 Houston (83-82), then-No. 14 Tennessee (73-68), then-No. 13 LSU (70-67) and then-No. 4 Baylor (87-78).
Alabama owns a record of 2-2 in games that have come down to a single possession (3 or fewer points) and is 3-4 in two possession contests (5-6 points) on the year.
Of the Tide's seven remaining regular season contests, two will be Quad 1 opponents while four others will be Quad 2 contests. Both of the Q1 games (at Kentucky and at LSU) will be road contests while four of the five Q2 games will be played in Tuscaloosa.
UA ranks No. 11 in the nation in offensive efficiency by Ken Pomeroy (as of 2/10), which would stand as the program's second-most efficient offense over the last 20 years of KenPom.com's end-of-year ranking (finished No. 9 in 2005).
The Tide's schedule ranks No. 1 in the nation in every major rating system including: Average Opponent NET Ranking, KenPom.com, ESPN BPI, Sagarin Rankings and RealTimeRPI.
Alabama recently played one of the toughest stretches played in college basketball in nearly 15 years having faced three consecutive teams that were ranked in the Associated Press Top-5. The Crimson Tide opened the stretch with a win over then-No. 4 Baylor (87-78) followed by losses at No. 1 Auburn on Feb. 1 (100-81) and vs. No. 5 Kentucky (66-55). It was the first time since the 2008-09 season that any Division I team faced three-straight AP Top-5 teams (Rutgers).
UP NEXT: Alabama will close out the two-game homestand by welcoming Mississippi State to Coleman Coliseum on Wednesday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. CT. It will be the second meeting between the rivals this season, as the Bulldogs took a narrow 78-76 victory in Starkville, Miss., back on Jan. 15.

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 (17.6 ppg), Jahvon Quinerly (14.3 ppg) and Keon Ellis (11.8 ppg). The trio combines to account for 54 percent (43.7 of the 80.9 points per game average), 70 percent of the three-pointers made (155 of 222), 51 percent field goals made (349 of 679) and 54 percent of the total free throws made (194 of 362).
The Tide youth has also shined this season. A pair of freshmen in guard JD Davison and center Charles Bediako have both been impressive during their rookie campaign. Davison, a consensus five star and McDonald's All-American, ranks second on the team in assists (4.1 apg) while also ranking among the team leaders at 8.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. Bediako has been a strong inside presence, collecting 6.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team-leading 1.5 blocks a game. Meanwhile, sophomore Juwan Gary has also been impressive in his second year at UA, averaging 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
As a team, the Crimson Tide is averaging 80.9 points per game while shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from beyond the arc. Defensively, Alabama is giving up a league-worst 75.9 points per game while aloowing the opposition to shoot 43.7 percent from the floor and 32.2 percent from deep. UA is the top three-point shooting team in the SEC, connecting on 222-of-705 treys this season for an average of 9.3 threes made per game – all of which leads the league.
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 1,732-1,077-1 (.616), which includes an 820-634 (.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 Arkansas

Arkansas comes into Saturday's game having won nine consecutive contests to improve to 19-5 overall and 8-3 in SEC play. Most recently, the Razorbacks toppled No. 1 Auburn, 80-76, last Tuesday night in front of a record home crowd of 20,327. Guard JD Notae had 28 points to lead the Hogs to the program's second win ever versus the nation's top-ranked team (2-11).
The Razorbacks are currently ranked No. 31 in the NET Rankings and own records of 2-3 vs. Quad 1, 6-0 vs. Quad 2, 5-2 vs. Quad 3 and 6-0 vs. Quad 4 opposition. Including Saturday's contest against Alabama, six the Razorback's final seven games will be against Q1 competition.
Three players average in double digits for the Razorbacks, led by Notae's 19.1 points per game which leads the SEC. He also tops his team in assists (3.4 apg), steals (2.3 spg), minutes (33.5 mpg), field goals made (159) and attempted (376) and threes made (51) and attempted (167). Combined with teammate Au'Diese Toney (11.0 ppg), they duo ranks third in the conference among all scoring tandems (30.1 ppg).
Forward Jaylin Williams averages 9.5 points per contest, while also topping the team and ranking second in the conference with 9.2 rebounds per game. Williams is considered one of the top defenders in the league, averaging a team-best 1.3 blocks per contest and has taken 33 charges on the year.
Arkansas leads the nation in free throws made (411) and attempted (554) entering the contest, which averages out 17.1 made and 23.1 attempted per game, while the team's 74.2 percent at the charity stripe ranks second in the SEC and 77th nationally. The Razorbacks are outscoring the competition by 10.3 ppg (78.6-68.3) while shooting 45.0 percent from the field and 30.6 percent from beyond the arc. Defensively, Arkansas is allowing foes to shoot 41.2 percent from the floor and 33.5 percent from deep, and also owns a +2.7 advantage on the boards (38.6-33.7).
Musselman owns a record of 64-24 (.727) in his third season at the helm of the Arkansas program. Now in his seventh year as a collegiate head coach, Musselman, the son of former NBA and collegiate head coach Bill Musselman, owns a record of 174-58 (.750).

Alabama-Arkansas Series Notes

Saturday's game between Alabama and Arkansas will be the 66th meeting in series history, with the Razorbacks owning a 35-30 edge in the all-time series. It will be the only contest played in the regular season between the two teams.
Last season, the two teams split the season series. In the first meeting the Crimson Tide captured a 31-point 90-59 victory in Tuscaloosa back on Jan. 16. The Razorbacks returned the favor in the second matchup, which took place in Bud Walton Arena, 81-66. The box score from that contest is below.
Alabama's last victory in the first game between the teams snapped a six-game losing streak to Arkansas in the series. Despite the setback, the Razorbacks have won eight of the last 10 games in the series.
When playing Arkansas in Coleman Coliseum, the Crimson Tide owns a 20-8 all-time record which includes last season's 31-point victory, the Tide's largest victory in SEC play since defeating Mississippi State 75-43 in Starkville, Miss., on Jan. 16, 2013.
Prior to that win, the Razorbacks had won three consecutive games in Tuscaloosa, capturing an 82-78 win a year ago on Feb. 1, 2020, a 76-73 decision on Feb. 24, 2018 and a 62-61 victory on March 2, 2016.
Fifty-five of the 65 games played in the series have come as conference opponents.
The Crimson Tide is 3-2 in overtime contests against Arkansas. All five overtime games have come since the 2003-04 season.
The series began during 1947-48 campaign.

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