Alabama Returns Home to Square Off With Stephen F. Austin on Friday Night - Alabama Athletics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will play its lone home game during the current five-week span when it welcomes the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks to Coleman Colis...
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will play its lone home game during the current five-week span when it welcomes the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks to Coleman Coliseum on Friday night. The Crimson Tide (3-4) and Lumberjacks (7-1) will play for a second consecutive year when the two teams tip off at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
The game vs. SFA will be the first of only five games in the month of December for the Tide. In addition to hosting the Lumberjacks, Alabama's lone other home game will come on Dec. 29 – a span of 23 days – when UA hosts Richmond. That contest will also be the final game of the month. Tonight's game comes after having to wait 17 days to play in Coleman since its last home game when it hosted Furman on Nov. 19, which means the SFA game will be the only true home game for the Tide in a span of just over five weeks between Nov. 19 and Dec. 29.
In between the Tide's two December home contests, Alabama will square off at Penn State (Dec. 14), vs. Samford (Birmingham, Ala. on Dec. 18) and vs. Belmont (Huntsville, Ala. on Dec. 21) for the remaining games of the month.
The last meeting between the Tide and Lumberjacks teams took place a year ago in Nacogdoches, Texas in front of a sold-out crowd at William R. Johnson Coliseum in what was considered the biggest home game in SFA program history. The Crimson Tide captured a hard-fought 79-69 victory over the Lumberjacks in that contest, which was the first meeting between the two teams in series history.
Promotions
- First 1,000 fans in the building will get a free t-shirt
- Toy Drive
- $5 tickets with donation of unwrapped toy
- Baby Reindeer Race
- Big Al's Kids Club Night
- $5 tickets for all Kids Club members
- Photos with Santa
- Stocking Decoration
- Friday's game will air on SEC Network+ with Eli Gold (play-by-play), Wimp Sanderson (analyst) and Meggi Hetzel (analyst) on the call.
- The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network, Roger Hoover (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.
- Friday night's game will feature two of the fastest-paced teams in the nation according to the latest Ken Pomeroy stats (as of 12/4). Alabama enters the contest ranked sixth in the nation in adjusted tempo (78.8) while Stephen F. Austin (76.7) checks in at No. 12 in the nation in the category. Furthermore, the Crimson Tide ranks ninth nationally in average possession length (14.5) according to KenPom.com, while the Lumberjacks rank 64th overall. Last season, head coach Nate Oats' Buffalo team finished 11th in the nation in adjusted tempo (73.6) and ranked fourth in average possession length (14.4).
- Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr. is the only player in the SEC who averages at least 18.0 points and 4.5 assists per game entering this weekend's action. The Tide's starting point guard, who was a preseason First Team All-SEC selection, comes into the game against Stephen F. Austin averaging 19.1 points and 4.6 assists per game, which rank No. 4 and No. 9 in the SEC, respectively.
- At last week's Battle 4 Atlantis, John Petty Jr. was the Tide's most impressive player. Averaging 33.0 minutes per game over the three games played in the event, Petty averaged 22.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 54 percent (21-of-39) from the field, 61 percent (14-of-23) from beyond the arc and 92 percent (11-of-12) from the charity stripe.
- Most recently, the Crimson Tide closed the 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis, which was played in the Imperial Ballroom of the Atlantis Resort in Paradise Island, Bahamas, with a 1-2 record. Alabama, which was joined by then-No. 11 Oregon and Iowa State with matching 1-2 records during the three-day event, opened with a nine-point loss to then-No. 6 North Carolina. After falling to Iowa State in the second round, the Tide captured its lone win of the event with an 83-68 victory over Southern Miss.
- UA shot a scorching 72.7 percent from the field (16-of-22) and from beyond the arc (8-of-11) in the second half of its victory over the Golden Eagles. The Tide secured the win by knocking down eight of its final nine shots from the field. It marked the team's best half of shooting since March 21, 2011 when Alabama connected on 75.0 percent of its field goal attempts in the second half vs. New Mexico.
- Head coach Nate Oats showed fans why his style of play is sure to be entertaining. The Crimson Tide put up 76 shots (27-of-76, 35.5 percent) in the season-opening against Penn, which is more than any game since it posted 76 shots in a triple overtime loss at LSU on Feb. 13, 2013. Furthermore, the last time an Alabama team put up 76 shots in regulation came on Dec. 4, 2004 when it had 80 field goal attempts in a 79-72 win over Charlotte.
- Alabama will play the first of just two home games in the month of December when it welcomes Stephen F. Austin on Friday night to Coleman Coliseum. The Tide and Lumberjacks will play for just the second time in series history, with the first meeting coming just a year ago in Nacogdoches, Texas (Alabama claimed a 79-69 victory).
- Three Alabama players average double figures, while six average at least 8.5 points per game through its seven contests played. Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr. tops the squad and ranks fourth in the SEC with 19.1 points per game. He leads UA and is ninth in the league with 4.6 assists, while he also tops the team in steals (1.6 spg), minutes (37.3) and field goals made (50) and attempted (107). A first-team All-SEC preseason honoree, Lewis is shooting 46.7 percent (50-of-107) from the field and 36.8 percent (14-of-38) from beyond the arc.
- John Petty Jr. is second on the team in scoring average at 15.3 points per contest which includes four consecutive double-digit contests. The junior guard ranks second in the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (45.5 percent) and leads the team in threes made (20) and rebounding (7.3 rpg) while ranking second in steals (1.3 spg) and minutes (33.4 mpg) per game.
- Freshman Jaden Shackelford also average in double figures at 11.0 ppg. He leads the team in threes attempted as 49 of 69 field goal attempts have come from beyond the three-point line.
- Graduate senior Beetle Bolden (8.8 ppg), redshirt freshman Javian Davis (8.6 ppg) and junior Herbert Jones (8.5 ppg) are all contributing offensively.
- As a team, the Crimson Tide has been outrebounded only once in seven games played this year. Alabama owns a +3.1 advantage on the glass (40.3-37.1). Alabama has outscored the opposition by +0.4 points (79.6-79.1) and is shooting 43.8 percent from the field, 35.0 percent from beyond the arc and 69.9 percent from the foul line.
- The Tide enters the contest ranked second in the league and 50th in the nation in total rebounds per game (40.3). UA also ranks second in the SEC and is 18th nationally with 10.0 threes made per game.
- Stephen F. Austin comes into Friday night's contest having won seven of its first eight contests (7-1) to start the season, with the lone defeat coming at Rutgers back on Nov. 20 (lost, 69-57). SFA pulled off what is considered the biggest upset of the college basketball season thus far when it defeated then-No. 1 Duke, 85-83, in overtime inside Cameron Indoor Stadium on Nov. 26. The win not only gave the Blue Devils its first-ever loss to a non-major team when ranked No. 1, but it also snapped the program's 150-game non-conference home winning streak.
- SFA boasts three players who average in double figures, led by senior guard Kevon Harris who tops the team in scoring (19.4 ppg), minutes (29.6 mpg), field goals made (53) and attempted (108) and three-pointers made (14) and attempted (36). Junior forward Gavin Kensmil is second in the team in scoring at 13.5 ppg, while he also leads the Jacks in rebounding (8.4 rpg) and field goal percentage (65.2 percent). Junior forward Cameron Johnson also averages double-digits at 12.5 ppg.
- As a team, the Lumberjacks lead the nation in steals per game (12.8) and turnovers forced per game (26.0), while shooting an efficient 50.6 percent from the field which is 16th-best in the country. SFA is knocking down 32.8 percent of its three-point attempts and is 68.9 percent from the foul line. The Jacks are outscoring the competition by an average of 18.4 points per game (85.8-67.4).
- Head coach Kyle Keller is in his fourth season at the helm of the Lumberjacks' program. He boasts a career record of 67-39 (.632) which includes guiding Stephen F. Austin to the 2018 Southland Conference tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament birth.
