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Alabama Returns Home to Square Off Against Furman Tuesday Night - University of Alabama Athletics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – For the first time since Nov. 25, Alabama will play under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum when it hosts Furman on Tuesday night at 8 p.m.
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The Crimson Tide and Paladins will tip off at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – For the first time since Nov. 25, Alabama will play under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum when it hosts Furman on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
Saturday's contest marks the second consecutive year that the Crimson Tide and Paladins will meet on the hardwoord, and the third meeting between the teams in series history. Alabama secured a hard fought 81-73 win in last year's conteast which was also played in Coleman Coliseum. A recap and box score from that contest can be found on page eight of the game notes package.
Most recently, Alabama had its two-game home winning streak snapped when it fell to Clemson, 64-56, last Saturday in the Holiday Hoopsgiving event which was held in Atlanta, Ga. It marked the fourth consecutive game the Tide played away from Tuscaloosa. The Tide held a one-point lead with just over six minutes to go in that contest, however, the Tigers finished the game on a 10-1 spurt to secure the victory.
The Broadcast
- Tuesday's game will be available on SEC Network with Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Daymeon Fishback (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.
- Alabama recorded a season-best 17 steals in the loss to the Tigers last Saturday night, led by Jordan Bruner's career-best five swipes in the contest. The last time an Alabama team had more than 15 steals in a game came on Feb. 20, 2013 when UA recorded 18 steals against Mississippi State.
- John Petty Jr. has made a team-leading 11 three-pointers on the year, pushing his career total to 245 made threes. He now needs only 19 more treys to become the program's all-time leader in the category, which is currently held by Brian Williams (1996-99) who made 263 career threes at Alabama. Furthermore, his 639 career attempts from deep is 100 shy of breaking Williams' program record of 738 three-point shots.
- Last Saturday's game vs. Clemson ended a season-long stretch of four consecutive games played away from Tuscaloosa. However, Tuesday night's contest will begin a four-game homestand – the longest of the season – which will end with the conference opener and the final game in 2020 which will be played against Ole Miss on Dec. 29.
- Alabama has collected 1,694 wins in program history and is just six wins shy of becoming the third team in SEC history to reach 1,700 program victories, joining Kentucky (2,319) and Arkansas (1,712).
- The Clemson began a stretch of four games in a 10-day span, including two against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the latest national rankings. Following the game against undefeated Clemson (5-0), the Crimson Tide will host Furman (5-1) on Dec. 15, Western Kentucky (5-2) on Dec. 19 before closing the stretch against East Tennessee State (1-3) on Dec. 22. Combined, the Tide's last four non-conference opponents are 16-6.
- Alabama enters Tuesday's contest against Furman sporting a 3-2 record on the season. The Crimson Tide had its two-game winning streak snapped when it fell to Clemson, 64-56, in the Holiday Hoopsgivnig event that took place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
- Four Crimson Tide players are averaging 12 or more points per game for head coach Nate Oats in the early part of the season. Guards John Petty Jr. (13.8 ppg) and Jahvon Quinerly (13.6 ppg) lead the way, with forward Herbert Jones (12.8 ppg) and Jaden Shackelford (12.2 ppg) closely behind.
- Jones, considered one of the top defensive players in the entire nation, leads the team in rebounding (6.4 rpg), steals (1.4 spg), charges taken (2), Blue Collar Points (108, 27.0 BCP per game) and Hard Hat Awards (4). He enters the Clemson contest with much improved offensive numbers. In addition to averaging double digits, Jones is collecting 2.2 assists per contest, while shooting 46.7 percent from the field (21-of-45) and 37.5 percent from beyond the arc (3-of-8).
- The trio of Petty (11-of-33), Shackelford (9-of-25) and Quinerly (6-of-19) have combined to hit 26 of the Tide's 44 three-pointers made this season (26-of-77, 33.8 percent).
- As a team, Alabama is outscoring the opposition by 5.4 points per contest (75.0-69.6) while shooting 40.1 percent from the field, 29.1 percent from deep and 73.7 percent from the charity stripe. The Tide ranks third in the SEC in turnover margin (+3.6) and is fourth in steals (8.8 spg) and three-pointers made per contest (8.8).
- 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. Petty was selected to the 2020 Jerry West Award Watch List for the nation's top shooting guard. He was also tabbed preseason All-SEC by Blue Ribbon Yearbook.
- Head coach Nate Oats is in his second season at the helm of the Crimson Tide program and owns a record of 19-17 (.528) during his time at the Capstone. Oats, who is in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach, owns a career record of 115-60 (.657).
- Furman enters the contest at Alabama with a 5-1 record, including a 1-1 mark in true road contests. The Paladins have played impressively through the early part of the season, outscoring opponents by 24.2 points per game (85.8-61.7), while shooting 50.0 percent from the field, 33.1 percent from three-point range and 75.2 percent from the charity stripe.
- The Paladins returned four starters from a 2019-20 squad that posted a 25-7 record and finished second in the league with a 15-3 mark. Prior to the season starting, Furman was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Southern Conference by the league's media and picked second by the league's men's basketball coaches. Additionally, Mike Bothwell, Noah Gurley and Clay Mounce were selected to the preseason all-conference team.
- Bothwell enters Tuesday's contest at Alabama leading the team in scoring (17.7 ppg), assists (4.2 apg), steals (2.0 spg) and minutes played (30.3 mpg) through six games this season. Meanwhile, both Mounce and Gurley have had fast starts to the season. Mounce ranks second on the team with 15.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while Gurley ranks third with 13.8 points and 5.3 rebounds a game, while topping the team with 1.4 blocks per game.
- Forward Jalen Slawson is also averaging double digits at 10.7 ppg and leads the Paladins in field goal percentage (63.6 percent) and rebounding (5.8 rpg).
- Head coach Bob Richey is in his fourth season at the helm of the Furman men's basketball team and his 10th as a part of the Paladins program (spent six seasons as an assistant coach). The 37-year old head coach has impressed since taking over the team as he owns a record of 78-27 (.743) overall mark which includes setting the program mark for wins in a season with 25 which he has reached in consecutive years (25-8 in 2018-19 and 25-7 in 2019-20).
