TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 11/11 Alabama closes out its two-game road swing when to travels to Columbia, S.C., to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks on Tuesday night inside Colonial Life Arena. The contest, which will tip off at 5:30 p.m. CT (6:30 p.m. ET) on SEC Network, will mark the only meeting between the two teams during the regular season.
Alabama and South Carolina will meet for the 48th time overall, with the Crimson Tide owning a 31-16 edge in the series history. The Crimson Tide has won five consecutive games in the series entering Tuesday night's showdown. The two teams played only once last season, with Alabama taking a 90-86 decision in Tuscaloosa.
Most recently, the Tide is coming off its first setback in SEC play when it fell at then-No. 18/17 Missouri 68-65 last Saturday afternoon in Mizzou Arena. Alabama trailed by as many as 22 points (58-36) with 13:05 remaining and by 18 (64-44) at the 6:13 mark. However, Alabama stormed back and outscored the Tigers 21-2 over the 5:02 to make it a 66-65 game with 1:11 remaining but could not complete the comeback.
Despite the setback, the Tide still owns a healthy lead on the rest of the league. Playing the league's third-toughest schedule (according to KenPom.com) through the first 11 games of the conference season, Alabama stands three games up on Missouri (6-3 in SEC) with seven games remaining.
The Broadcast
Alabama and South Carolina will meet for the 48th time overall, with the Crimson Tide owning a 31-16 edge in the series history. The Crimson Tide has won five consecutive games in the series entering Tuesday night's showdown. The two teams played only once last season, with Alabama taking a 90-86 decision in Tuscaloosa.
Most recently, the Tide is coming off its first setback in SEC play when it fell at then-No. 18/17 Missouri 68-65 last Saturday afternoon in Mizzou Arena. Alabama trailed by as many as 22 points (58-36) with 13:05 remaining and by 18 (64-44) at the 6:13 mark. However, Alabama stormed back and outscored the Tigers 21-2 over the 5:02 to make it a 66-65 game with 1:11 remaining but could not complete the comeback.
Despite the setback, the Tide still owns a healthy lead on the rest of the league. Playing the league's third-toughest schedule (according to KenPom.com) through the first 11 games of the conference season, Alabama stands three games up on Missouri (6-3 in SEC) with seven games remaining.
The Broadcast
- Tuesday's game will be available on SEC Network with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (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 (sideline) on the call. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.
- According to the Ken Pomeroy ratings, Alabama ranks second in the nation in defensive efficiency entering its contest at South Carolina. That's a huge improvement from last season when the Tide was rated by the same site at No. 114 in the category. Alabama is also No. 33 in offensive efficiency, making it one of 13 teams in the country to rank in the top 35 in both offense and defense.
- Tuesday night's contest at South Carolina will snap a streak of playing 12 consecutive games against opponents ranked in the top 65 of KenPom.com's ratings. In fact, each of the Crimson Tide's next four opponents are rated above 80 (South Carolina: 84, Georgia: 90, Texas A&M: 124, Vanderbilt: 130).
- The Crimson Tide has grown its lead primarily due to the effort on both the offensive and defensive ends. In SEC games only, UA's defense is the most efficient in the SEC, ranking first in field goal percentage defense (.375), three-point field goal percentage defense (.251) and defensive rebounds (30.2), while ranking second in steals (9.3) and fourth in scoring defense (67.9). Offensively, UA leads the league in scoring offense (82.5), scoring margin (+14.5), three-point shooting (.396) and threes made per game (11.5), while ranking fourth in field goal percentage (.445).
- The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 8 in the NCAA NET rankings (as of 2/8) which leads all SEC teams. Alabama is also projected by ESPN's Joe Lunardi as a No. 2 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Tide is one of five SEC teams ranked among the top-30, which also includes No. 10 Tennessee, No. 24 Missouri, No. 29 Arkansas and No. 30 Florida. UA owns a combined record of 10-4 against Quad 1 (5-3) and Quad 2 (5-1) opponents.
- Nationally, Alabama currently ranks third in the NCAA in three-pointers attempted (591), fourth in threes made (210) and 10th in threes made per game (10.5) coming into its contest at South Carolina. The Crimson Tide is also third nationally in average possession length on offense (14.3) and ninth in the nation in adjusted tempo (74.3 possessions per game).
- There are several factors to look for which could decide the outcome during a game this season. Alabama owns a 13-0 record on the year when shooting 40 percent or better in a game, is 13-0 when leading at halftime and owns a 12-0 mark when reaching at least 80 points in a contest.
- John Petty Jr. became the school's all-time three-point leader with five made threes vs. Arkansas on Jan. 16. He passed the former record of 263 which was held by Brian Williams (1996-99) and currently has 280 made threes for his career. Additionally, his 728 career attempts from deep is 11 shy of breaking Williams' program record of 738 three-point shots.
- Alabama enters its contest at South Carolina atop the league standings at 10-1, three games ahead of Missouri (6-3). Most recently, the Crimson Tide traveled to Columbia, Mo., to take on Mizzou where it battled to the end, nearly made an improbable comeback, before dropping its first league contest, 68-65, last Saturday in Columbia, Mo.
- Four Crimson Tide players are averaging 11.0 or more points per game for head coach Nate Oats on the season. Guard Jaden Shackelford leads the way, averaging 13.9 ppg. Guard John Petty Jr. ranks second on the team in scoring average at 13.1 ppg, followed by forward Herbert Jones (11.9 ppg ) and Jahvon Quinerly (11.2 ppg).
- Jones, considered one of the top defensive players in the SEC and one of 15 players from across the nation named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, leads the team in rebounding (6.0 rpg), steals (1.8 spg), Blue Collar Points (410.5, 20.5 BCP per game), deflections (70), floor dives (15) and Hard Hat Awards (10), while ranking second in charges taken (7) and blocked shots (1.0 bpg). He also boasts much improved offensive numbers during his senior season. In addition to averaging double digits, Jones is collecting 2.7 assists per contest, while shooting 46.4 percent from the field (78-of-168) and leads the team in three-point shooting (48.4 percent, 15-of-31) and free throws made (66) and attempted (86).
- The combination of Petty (49-of-122) and Shackelford (37-of-109) have combined to hit 86 of the Tide's 210 three-pointers (40.9 percent) and have 231 of the team's 591 total attempts from beyond the arc (39.1 percent). Combined, the duo is shooting 37.3 percent (86-of-231) from beyond the arc.
- As a team, Alabama is outscoring the opposition by 10.0 points per contest (79.1-69.1) while shooting 43.1 percent from the field, 35.5 percent from deep and 70.6 percent from the charity stripe.
- It's the Crimson Tide's defense that has set the tone to its fast start in SEC play. UA leads the league in defensive efficiency, ranking first in field goal percentage defense (37.5 percent) and three-point field goal percentage defense (25.1 percent), while ranking second in steals (9.3) and third in scoring defense (67.9).
- This season, the Tide welcomed back four starters and five of its top seven scorers off last year's team, three were named as All-SEC performers a year ago. Petty (Second Team All-SEC), Shackelford (All-Freshman) and Jones (All-Defensive) all earned a spot on the postseason teams. Both Petty and Jones tested the NBA waters, with Petty, who was one of the last players to withdraw his name, announcing his return in early August and Jones in mid-June.
- Alabama was predicted to finish fifth overall as voted on by a select panel of both SEC and national media members. Additionally, Petty All-SEC Preseason First Team honors by both the coaches and media members, while Jones earned a spot on the preseason second team as voted on by the league's head coaches.
- Head coach Nate Oats is in his second season at the helm of the Crimson Tide program and owns a record of 31-20 (.608) during his time at the Capstone. Oats, who is in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach, owns a career record of 127-63 (.668).
- South Carolina comes into its contest against Alabama sporting a record of 5-7 overall and a 3-5 mark in SEC play. After defeating then-No. 22 Florida, 72-66, in Gainesville, Fla., the Gamecocks returned home only to fall to Mississippi State 75-59 this past Saturday. It was USC's second conference loss at Colonial Life Arena this season (lost to Auburn 109-86 on Jan. 23.
- Three South Carolina players average in double figures, led by guard AJ Lawson's 17.3 points per game, which ranks fourth in the SEC. Lawson has been even better in league play, ranking third in scoring average at 18.5 ppg. The junior guard also leads the team in three-point shooting (33-of-91, 36.3 percent), steals (1.5 spg), minutes (30.9 mpg) and field goals made (71) and attempted (162).
- Forward Keyshawn Bryant (14.4 ppg) and guard Jermaine Couisnard (11.2 ppg) also average double-digit scoring. Bryant leads USC in blocked shots (12), ranks second in field goal percentage (.504) and is third in rebounding average (5.2 rpg), while Couisnard tops the Gamecocks in assists (3.8 apg) and ranks second in steals (1.4 spg) and threes made (21) and attempted (73). Meanwhile, junior Justin Minaya is the team's leading rebounder (6.7 rpg) and also contributes 7.8 points a contest.
- As a team, the Gamecocks are average 73.8 points and 37.3 rebounds per game while shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 31.7 percent from beyond the arc, however, ranks last in the SEC and 315th in the nation in free throw percentage at 64.2 percent. Defensively, USC is giving up 75.5 points per game while allowing opponents to shoot 44.7 percent from the floor and 34.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Gamecocks lead the SEC and rank seventh in the nation in offensive rebounding at 14.0 per game.
- South Carolina is led by ninth-year head coach Frank Martin. Martin, who led the Gamecocks to a Final Four run in 2017, owns a record of 152-126 (.547) during his tenure with the Gamecocks and is 269-180 (.599) now in his 14th season as a head coach (spent five years at Kansas State).
- Alabama and South Carolina will meet for the 48th time overall, with the Crimson Tide owning a 31-16 edge in the series history.
- Alabama has won five consecutive games in the series entering Tuesday night's showdown. The two teams played only once last season, with the Crimson Tide taking a 90-86 decision in Tuscaloosa. A full recap and box score from that contest can be found to the right.
- Alabama enters the contest having won five straight and seven of the last eight games played between the two teams. The Tide has been even better at home, claiming six straight wins over USC in Coleman Coliseum and having won 16 of the 18 games played in Tuscaloosa in the series.
- When playing at Colonial Life Arena, the Crimson Tide owns a record of 7-12 overall, however, Alabama enters this year's lone contest having won two consecutive games in Columbia, S.C. The last time the two teams played on USC's home court came on Feb. 26, 2019 when UA took a 68-62 victory. That game followed a memorable quadruple overtime victory with Alabama sneaking out a 90-86 victory on Feb. 7, 2017.
- The teams have met 18 times as SEC opponents with UA winning 24 of those meetings (24-14).
- Fifteen of the last 19 games between the teams have been decided by 10 or fewer points, including six coming down to just one possession.
