Men’s Basketball Faces South Carolina Tuesday in SEC Home Opener

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will play its first Southeastern Conference home game of the season, as the Crimson Tide face South Carolina, Tuesday evening at Coleman Coliseum.

The Crimson Tide's matchup against the Gamecocks features the SEC's top scoring offense in Alabama (91.8 ppg) and the league's best scoring defense in South Carolina (63.0 ppg). Tuesday's matchup is also highlighted by two of the best scorers in the conference in Alabama's Mark Sears (No. 1, 19.4 ppg) and South Carolina's Meechie Johnson (No. 3, 18.2 ppg).

The Broadcast

Tuesday's game is set for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff and will be aired on the SEC Network with Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Jon Sunvold (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 is looking to start 2-0 in the SEC for the fourth straight season
Alabama head coach Nate Oats became the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 career wins at Alabama with UA's win over Liberty, surpassing Wimp Sanderson (150 games)
Alabama has scored 1,285 points this season (91.8 ppg), the most any UA team has scored in the first 14 games of the season, surpassing the 2000-01 team (1,176 points)
Alabama is one of six schools in the country that has two players on its current roster that has scored at least 1,500 points throughout their career in Aaron Estrada (1,641 points) and Mark Sears (1,589 points)
Alabama has posted the toughest non-conference schedule, as its opponents have compiled a .719 winning percentage, posting a combined 115-45 record, which ranks No. 1 in the nation
The Crimson Tide owns the No. 1 ranked offense, according to KenPom
The Tide are currently ranked No. 6 in the NET, the second-highest ranked team in the SEC behind Tennessee (No. 5)
Sears is one of five players in Division I and the only Power 5 player in the country that has at least 270 points, 30 three-pointers, 50 assists and 60 rebounds this season
One of the best players in the SEC, Sears ranks No. 1 in the SEC in scoring (19.4 ppg), No. 5 in field goal percentage (53.0), and No. 9 in assists (3.7 apg)
Alabama is one of two schools in the SEC (Kentucky) that has two players rank in the top-10 in assists per game in Estrada (No. 5, 4.2 apg) and Sears
Alabama's trio of Estrada, Nelson and 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)

About South Carolina

South Carolina's four transfers (Stephen Clark, Ta'Lon Cooper, B.J. Mack and Myles Stute) have played a combined 430 combined games including 299 starts
The Gamecocks posted a 12-1 record during its non-conference schedule, recording their best start to a season since the 2015-16 season
Cooper ranks No. 6 in the country and No. 1 in the SEC in assist/turnover ratio (4.3)
The Alabama-South Carolina matchup features two of the best scorers in the SEC, as Alabama's Mark Sears ranks No. 1 in scoring (19.4 ppg) and South Carolina's Meechie Johnson ranks No. 3 (18.2 ppg)
South Carolina is one of eight SEC teams ranks in the top-50 in the NET Rankings
The Gamecocks rank No. 18 in the country and No. 1 in the SEC in scoring defense (63.0 ppg)
South Carolina is the SEC's top defensive rebounding team in the SEC, grabbing a league-best 31.4 defensive rebounds per game

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