| MBB/WBB Alabama Hosts Arizona in Non-Conference Sunday Afternoon Showdown (Noon CT, ESPN)

UA Press Release

Official News Releases
Staff
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will welcome PAC-12 foe Arizona at noon CT on Sunday in Coleman Coliseum. Alabama and Arizona will meet for the second consecutive season when the two teams square off in Sunday's contest which will be televised on ESPN. The home-and-home series began last year when the Crimson Tide dropped an 88-82 decision to the Wildcats in Tucson, Ariz.

This marks the fourth meeting in series history between Alabama and Arizona, and the first time the two teams have met under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum. Despite the loss at Arizona last year, the with the Crimson Tide owns a 2-1 lead in the series. Each of the previous two games prior to last year we played in the NCAA Tournament.

THE BROADCAST
• Sunday's game will air on ESPN with Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes on the call.
• The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network, Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

PROMOTIONS
• Free Krispy Kreme doughnuts for students (west entrance only)
• Halftime performance by Red Panda

NOTES YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Former Alabama point guard Justin Coleman makes his return to Coleman Coliseum on Sunday afternoon as a part of the Arizona men's basketball team. Coleman played for two seasons at The Capstone. In two seasons in Tuscaloosa, Coleman played in 67 games and made 16 starts from 2014-16, while averaging 6.1 points, 2.4 assists and 22.1 minutes per contest over the two-year stretch.
• Alabama has been a dominant team on the boards through the team's first eight games of the season. The Crimson Tide has outrebounded every opponent it has played on the year and has pulled down 40 or more rebounds in five of the eight games this season. UA enters the game on Sunday with a +7.4 advantage on the glass which ranks fourth-best in the SEC.
• Freshman Kira Lewis Jr. and sophomore Alex Reese have been an impressive offensive combination over the Tide's last four games. During the stretch, both Lewis (19.3 ppg) and Reese (12.8 ppg) have averaged a combined 32.1 points per game between the duo. Lewis is shooting 53.3 percent (24-of-45) from the field and 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from beyond the arc over the four-game stretch, while Reese is shooting 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from beyond the arc and 85.7 percent (12-of-14) from the free throw line.
• Alabama boasts a balanced offensive attack that averages 75.8 points per game and is outscoring the opposition by +3.9 points per contest (75.8-71.9). Only two Crimson Tide players average double figures through six games (Kira Lewis Jr. - 14.9 ppg and John PettyJr. - 11.8 ppg), while five others are averaging between 8.0 ppg and 9.6 ppg.
• Alabama is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time this season. The slump began on Nov. 29 when the Crimson Tide fell at UCF, 70-64. Alabama battled back from a double-digit first half deficit and briefly held a lead in the second half. However, the Knights used timely shooting and a big advantage at the free throw line (36 attempts compared to Alabama's 14) to seal the victory. Most recently, the Tide dropped a heartbreaks to Georgia State, 83-80, when the Panthers' Malik Benlevi drained a three-pointer at the buzzer. Alabama led in that contest by as many as 22 points (qith 14:35 remaining in the second half. However, Georgia State outscored the Tide 44-19 the rest of the way to shock the Coleman Coliseum crowd.

ABOUT ALABAMA

• Alabama dropped its second consecutive contest when it fell 83-80 to Georgia State on Tuesday night inside Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide led by 21 at halftime and held a 22-point lead with just under 15 minutes remaining before allowing the Panthers to storm back for the victory.
• Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. leads a balanced scoring attack that features seven Alabama players averaging 8.0 points per game or more. Lewis' 14.9 points per game tops the Tide, while sophomore John Petty is second on the team with 11.8 ppg. Petty leads UA in minutes (31.8 mpg) as well as three-pointers made (16) and attempted (46), while Lewis is the team leader in total assists (20) and free throw shooting (23-of-26, .885).
• Junior Dazon Ingram is the Crimson Tide's third-leading scorer at 9.6 ppg, while adding 5.3 rebounds and a team-leading 2.8 assists per game. Senior Donta Hall tops the Tide in total dunks (12), rebounds (7.4) and blocks (2.1) per game, while adding 8.4 points per contest. Meanwhile, sophomore Herbert Jones averages 8.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He also is considered one of the top defenders in the Southeastern Conference, as he tops UA with 13 charges taken and 7 steals.
• As a team, Alabama enters its game Sunday as one of the top rebounding teams in the SEC. The Tide has outrebounded all eight of its opponents on the year and owns a +7.4 advantage on the glass (38.9-31.5). UA is shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 31.7 percent from beyond the arc on the year, while outscoring the competition by 3.9 points per game (75.8-71.9).
• Alabama welcomed back three of its top four and nine of the top 11 scorers from last season's squad. Leading the list of returnees is Hall, who paces all returning players in scoring (10.6 ppg), rebounding (6.6 rpg), blocks (2.0 bpg), dunks (75) and field goal percentage (.726) .

ABOUT ARIZONA

• Arizona enters the contest having won three straight games, most recently capturing an 80-69 win over Utah Valley in Tucson, Ariz. The Wildcats trailed by 12, 41-29, at halftime but scored 51 second half points (51-28) and pull out the 11-point victory.
• Brandon Randolph leads four players in double figure at 17.1 ppg and has connected on a team-leading 92.3 percent (36-of-39) from charity stripe. Brandon Williams is second on the team at 12.4 ppg, while former Alabama guard Justin Coleman is third on the Wildcats at 11.8 ppg and ranks second on the team with 2.9 apg. Chase Jeter is fourth on the team at 11.7 ppg and leads Arizona in field goal percentage (40-of-60, 66.7 percent) and rebounding (7.7 rpg).
• Alabama and Arizona will square off for the fourth time in series history and the second straight season when the two teams meet on Sunday. The Wildcats claimed a narrow 88-82 victory over the Crimson Tide in a contest that took place exactly one year ago to the day (Dec. 9, 2017) in Tucson, Ariz. Prior to last year's match-up, the only other time the two teams met on the hardwood took place on neutral sites in the NCAA Tournament, both of which were won by Alabama. The Tide captured a 50-41 win in the first round of the 1985 NCAA Tournament in Albuquerque, N.M. In the last meeting between the schools, Alabama captured a 77-55 win in the second round of the 1990 tournament in Long Beach, Calif.
• The Pac-12 Conference released its annual Men's Basketball Preseason Media Poll, and the Arizona Wildcats were picked to finish fourth in the conference while receiving one first-place vote. Arizona won the regular season conference title and the Pac-12 Tournament in the same season in each of the last two seasons, marking just the second time in conference history a program has won four conference championships in two seasons.

NEWS AND NOTES

• Sunday's contest against Arizona begins an important four-game stretch for the Crimson Tide, prior to the start of conference play on Jan. 5. Following the contest with the Wildcats, Alabama will face Liberty on Dec. 18 in Huntsville at the Rocket City Classic, followed by a home contest against Penn State on Dec. 21. The Tide will close out the year with a road match-up at Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 30.
• Freshman Kira Lewis Jr. is the second-youngest player in NCAA Division I this season. Lewis, a native of Meridianville, Ala., who graduated early from high school, won't turn 18 until April 6, 2019. Only Pepperdine's Everett Perrot is younger by six days, having been born on April 12, 2001. A few other things born in 2001? iPods, Wikipedia and the first "Harry Potter" film.
• Last year, Alabama was the fourth-youngest team in Division I and did not have a senior on its active roster. This season, the Crimson Tide not only has four seniors on its 2018-19 roster, but will have a total of seven players who have graduated or will graduate throughout the course of the upcoming campaign. Both Avery Johnson Jr. and Riley Norrishave graduated and are currently pursuing their graduate degrees. Meanwhile, Donta Hall, Dazon Ingram, Daniel Giddens, Tevin Mack and Lawson Schaffer are all on pace to earn a degree this year. Only one other school in the nation (Southern Illinois) can claim to have as many as seven players who either have graduated or will graduate on its 2018-19 roster.
• Alabama was one of only four teams to finish with a winning record in the eight-team event. The Crimson Tide, who finished fifth in the event, was joined by champion Virginia Tech (3-0), runner-up Purdue (2-1) and third-place finisher Davidson (2-1).
• Alabama was picked to finish seventh in the Southeastern Conference by a vote of the league's media and head coaches.

Alabama Hosts Arizona in Non-Conference Sunday Afternoon Showdown - University of Alabama Athletics
 
Had a big lead in the first half and then let them back into it again but this time closed out a good team and played well doing it. Really impressed with Alex Reese and his improvement also that Lewis kid.

Some of our older players have regressed some.. Donte Hall, Galin Smith, Dazon and John Petty. Maybe just adjusting to roles
 
Fortunate to get the win blew a 19 pt lead at home 16-28 at the FT line 57%. Happy for the win but this team has a lot of work to do. Nothing out of J. Petty but turnovers.
 
The Red Panda is a fixture on the NBA schedule. Getting all the games I've seen her act a few times. She's dropped the stack a few times on the first attempt but hangs in there until she gets it.

She's the Jalen Hurts of bowl flipping.
 
The Red Panda is a fixture on the NBA schedule. Getting all the games I've seen her act a few times. She's dropped the stack a few times on the first attempt but hangs in there until she gets it.

She's the Jalen Hurts of bowl flipping while pedaling one-footed on a 7-foot unicycle .

You forgot something.

That in itself....is amazing....
 
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