No. 25 Alabama Looks to Continue Winning Ways Wednesday Night vs. Mississippi State

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 25 Alabama will close out its two-game homestand by welcoming Mississippi State to Coleman Coliseum Wednesday night at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2. 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.

The Crimson Tide is coming off its second-straight win by outlasting Arkansas, 68-67 last Saturday afternoon inside Coleman Coliseum. The win snapped the Razorbacks' nine-game winning streak and improved the Tide to 3-2 in one possession games this season.

On the heels of its back-to-back victories, Alabama checked in at No. 25 in the nation in the Associated Press Week 15 Top 25 rankings (No. 26 in Coaches Poll), which were released Monday. It is the first time since Week 10 that the Crimson Tide is back in the national rankings and the 11th week this season UA is among the nation's top 25.

The Broadcast

Wednesday's game will be available on ESPN2 with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (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

For the first time in five weeks, the Crimson Tide has returned to the Associated Press Top-25 rankings, checking in at No. 25 in this week's poll. Alabama is also the first team out of the Ferris Mowers USA Today Coaches Poll (55 votes, No. 26) according to the most recent national rankings, which were revealed Monday afternoon.
UA ranks No. 14 in the nation in offensive efficiency by Ken Pomeroy (as of 2/14), 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). Pomeroy also ranks the Tide No. 10 in average possession length, No. 15 in adjusted tempo and No. 66 in defensive efficiency.
According to the other metric rankings, Alabama is ranked in the following (as of 2/14): 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), Baylor (No. 4), Houston (No. 5), Tennessee (No. 10), LSU (No. 16), Arkansas (No. 33) and at Florida (No. 49).
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 3-2 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.
Guard JD Davison was named the SEC Freshman of the Week Monday after averaging 14.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game in the Tide's wins over Ole Miss and Arkansas. Davison, who earned his second weekly honor of the year (SEC Freshman of the Week for Dec. 6), becomes the first Crimson Tide rookie to earn the accolade twice in the same season since John Petty Jr. was honored twice during the 2017-18 season.
NET RANKING FACTS: Alabama has a NET Ranking of No. 21 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. 4 Baylor, No. 5 Houston and No. 10 Tennessee)... Of the six games remaining on the regular-season slate, two are Q1 opponents and three are Q2 ... UA is tied for the eighth-most Quad 1 wins in the nation (6)... Alabama is the only team in the nation to have not played a Quad 4 opponent.
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.
UP NEXT: Alabama will close out the week when it travels to Lexington, Ky., to take on No. 4/3 Kentucky on Saturday, Feb. 19, at noon CT on CBS. The two teams will meet for the second time in two weeks as the Wildcats captured a 66-55 victory over the Crimson Tide in Coleman Coliseum back on Feb. 5.

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 (17.3 ppg), Jahvon Quinerly (13.9 ppg) and Keon Ellis (11.6 ppg). The trio combines to account for 54 percent (42.8 of the 80.4 points per game average), 70 percent of the three-pointers made (157 of 229), 51 percent field goals made (357 of 703) and 54 percent of the total free throws made (199 of 373).
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 (4.0 apg) while also ranking among the team leaders at 8.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest. Bediako has been a strong inside presence, collecting 6.4 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 7.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
As a team, the Crimson Tide is averaging 80.4 points per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 31.2 percent from beyond the arc. Defensively, Alabama is giving up 75.5 points per game while allowing the opposition to shoot 43.1 percent from the floor and 32.1 percent from deep. UA is the top three-point shooting team in the SEC, connecting on 229-of-734 treys this season for an average of 9.2 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 1,733-1,077-1 (.616), which includes an 821-634 (.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 Mississippi State

Mississippi State enters the contest having dropped six of its last eight games since defeating Alabama on Jan. 15, to drop to 14-10 overall and 5-6 in league play. Most recently, the Bulldogs dropped a narrow 69-65 decision at LSU, which marked the fifth time in the last six defeats that the game was within single digits.
Preseason All-SEC First Team honoree Iverson Molinar, who accounted for a game-high 24 points to go along with six boards, four assists and two steals in the first meeting between the teams, leads the offensive charge at 18.4 ppg, which ranks third in the conference. He also tops the team and ranks ninth in the SEC with 3.9 assists per game while also leading the league in free throws made (111), attempted (124) and percentage (89.5 percent).
In addition to Molinar, four other MSU players average 9.0 points per better, three of which are part of a talented class if incoming transfers. Garrison Brooks (North Carolina) collects 11.5 points and a team-leading 6.9 rebounds per game, D.J. Jeffries (Memphis) averages 9.7 points and 4.8 rebounds and Shakeel Moore (North Carolina State) collects 9.4 points and leads MSU in three-point shooting (36-of-102, 35.3 percent).
Forward Tolu Smith, who has only played in 11 games this season due to a foot injury, ranks second in both scoring average (12.6 ppg) and rebounds (6.3 rpg). Former Alabama forward and transfer Javian Davis has played in 23 contests this season and is averaging 4.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per contest.
As a team, Mississippi State is outscoring the competition by an average of 6.0 points per game (72.7-66.7) and ranks second in the league with a +7.2 advantage on the glass (36.5-29.3). MSU leads the SEC in rebounding defense (29.3).
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 531-298 (.644) record – Northern Arizona (79-59), Pittsburgh (89-40), UCLA (233-107) and Mississippi State (130-92, .585). 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 208th time in series history and the second time this season. Mississippi State defeated Alabama,78-75, back on Jan. 15 in Starkville, Miss.
UA owns a 129-78 edge in the all-time series, including wins in 15 of the last 20 contests played between the two teams
Both the 207 games played and the 129 wins against Mississippi State marks the most for Alabama against any single opponent in each category in program history
In the first meeting between the two teams this season, the Bulldogs held on to take a 78-76 victory over the Tide back on Jan. 15. A box score from that contest can be found below.
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.
Alabama owns a record of 80-17 in all-time games against the Bulldogs at home, including a 43-9 mark at Coleman Coliseum. UA has defeated MSU in five straight and 11 of the last 12 games played under the arched roof.
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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