Alabama Men’s Basketball Faces Ohio State in the Opening Round of the Emerald Coast Classic

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 17/15 Alabama men's basketball team will play its first game away from Coleman Coliseum this season when it faces Ohio State in the first round of the Emerald Coast Classic Friday at 6 p.m. CT.

The Crimson Tide's offense has been exceptional to start the season, as the Tide ranks No. 1 in the nation in effective field goal percentage (66.2) and free throws made per game (24 FTs made per game), No. 3 in points per game (101.8) and No. 3 in three-point field goal percentage (48.9).

Across its first four games of the season, Alabama has scored 407 points, which is the most in program history since the 1956-57 season (424 points). UA enters the contest as one of five teams in the country that is averaging 100 points per game (101.8 ppg).

The Broadcast

Friday's game is set for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff and will be aired on the CBS Sports Network with Jordan Kent (play-by-play) and Jordan Cornette (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 Bob Horner (engineer) is turning the dials. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Notes You Need To Know

Alabama head coach Nate Oats is 3-1 against Big Ten opponents during his tenure at UA, including winning the last three games
UA has an effective field goal percentage of 66.2, which ranks No. 1 in the country
The Crimson Tide is averaging 101.8 points per game, which ranks No. 3 in the country and the best among Power Five programs
The Crimson Tide is the only SEC team averaging over 88.0 points per game on offense
UA is shooting 48.9 percent from three-point range, which ranks No. 3 in Division I
Alabama is averaging 57 percent from the field, which ranks No. 4 in the nation
Mark Sears ranks No. 1 in the SEC in field goal percentage (64.7), No. 2 in scoring (19.5 ppg), and No. 4 in assists (4.5 apg)
Alabama is one of five schools in Division I with both football and men's basketball programs ranked in the Top 25 (Arizona, James Madison, Tennessee and Texas)
In the last four seasons, Alabama has won a league-best 80 games overall and 41 SEC contests
Senior transfer Grant Nelson was named to the Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List, which annually recognizes the top player in college basketball and the Karl Malone Award Watch List for the top power forward in Division I
Alabama's trio of Aaron Estrada, Nelson and Mark Sears have each scored over 1,000 points throughout their college career, which is tied for the third most in the country (St. John's & TCU with four each)
In his first five years at Alabama, head coach Nate Oats has won 96 games which is the most by a coach in UA program history

About Ohio State

The program brought in four freshmen this season that made up the No. 8 class in 2023
Last season, Ohio State was one of the least experienced teams in the country in terms of games played. This season, they are one of the youngest in terms of age.
Ohio State's average age of 20.15 at the start of the season is tied for the 11th youngest roster in the country
Head Coach Chris Holtmann's teams have won an opening-round game in the NCAA Tournament in six of the last eight years in which the NCAA Tournament was contested
Ohio State's Bruce Thornton ranks No. 17 in the country in assist/turnover ratio (6.5)
The Buckeyes rank No. 1 in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds per game (13.67)
Zed Key ranks No. 7 in the Big Ten averaging 9.0 rebounds per game
Ohio State is the only team in the Big Ten that has two players ranked in the top 15 in points per game in Bruce Thornton (No. 13, 16.3 ppg) and Roddy Gayle Jr. (No. 15, 15.3 ppg)
OSU was picked to finish seventh in the Big Ten Preseason Poll

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