No. 14/13 Men's Basketball Travels to Square Off at No. RV/25 Florida in Final Regular Season Road Contest - Alabama Athletics
The No. 14/13 Alabama men's basketball team will face its fourth top-25 opponent Saturday night, travelling to Gainesville, Fla., to take on No. RV/25 Florid...
Tuesday nightās contest in Gainesville will mark the Crimson Tideās fourth top-25 opponent across its last five contests
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ā The No. 14/13 Alabama men's basketball team will face its fourth top-25 opponent Saturday night, travelling to Gainesville, Fla., to take on No. RV/25 Florida Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT. The contest will mark the second meeting in two weeks between the Crimson Tide and Gators, with UA taking a narrow 98-93 overtime victory on Feb. 24 in Coleman Coliseum.
The Tide (20-9, 12-4 SEC) enters the contest in second place in the conference standings, two games ahead of the Gators (20-9, 10-6). With a win Saturday, Alabama would not only secure the season sweep but would also earn its 13th SEC win, marking the first time since 1986-87 that a UA team has earned back-to-back 13-league wins.
The Broadcast
Tuesday's game is set for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff and will be aired on ESPN with Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jimmy Dykes (analyst) and Marty Smith (sideline) 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
- Since head coach Nate Oats arrived at Alabama in 2019-20, the Crimson Tide has won a league-best 61 SEC contests
- The Crimson Tide have earned back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2012-2013
- Alabama is 17-22 against AP Top-25 opponents under Oats
- Alabama has scored 100 points in nine games this season which is the most by an SEC school since Kentucky's 1995-96 team (nine games)
- Alabama is one win away from back-to-back seasons with 13 SEC wins for the first time since 1986-87
- Per KenPom, Alabama has the highest offensive efficiency rating (127.9), the second highest rating since 1999 (Wisconsin, 129)
- Mark Sears was named 1 of 5 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, which annually recognizes the top point guard in Division I
- Sears is one of two Division I players and the only Power 5 player that has 595 points, 120 rebounds, 120 assists and 65 three-pointers this season
- Sears is one of five players in Division I and the only guard that is scoring 20 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field
- Sears has recorded 20 points or more in 19 games this season which is the most since Reggie King in 1977-78 (19 games)
- Sears ranks No. 1 in the SEC in scoring (20.7 ppg), No. 5 in field goal percentage (51.0) and No. 6 in assists (4.2 apg)
- Alabama is one of three schools (Purdue and Wright State) in the country that has two players on its current roster that has scored at least 1,700 points throughout their career in Sears (1,953 points) and Estrada (1,861 points)
Just a crazy thought ...
