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Alabama Ready For SEC Road Opener at No. 7/6 Tennessee on Saturday Night - Alabama Athletics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will play its first true road game of the season when it travels to take on No. 7/6 Tennessee on Saturda...
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will play its first true road game of the season when it travels to take on No. 7/6 Tennessee on Saturday night inside Thompson-Boling Arena. The contest, which will tip off at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN2, will be the only game played between the two teams in the regular season.
This marks the second consecutive trip to Knoxville in which Alabama will play a Tennessee team ranked among the top-10 in the nation. The last time the Tide played inside Thompson-Boling Arena came on Jan. 19, 2018 when UA dropped a narrow 71-68 decision to then-No. 3 Tennessee.
The last time the Crimson Tide defeated a team ranked inside the top-10 came when UA toppled then-No. 4 Auburn, 83-64, on Jan. 16, 2020. The last time an Alabama team captured a true road win over team ranked among the AP top-10 came on Feb. 21, 2004 when it downed then-No. 4 Mississippi State, 77-73, in Starkville, Miss.
In the only meeting between the two teams last season, Tennessee captured a 69-68 victory in Coleman Coliseum. The two rivals were scheduled to play the first game of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, March 12, but play was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Broadcast
- Saturday's game will be available on ESPN2 with Karl Ravech (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (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.
Team Notes
- Alabama won for the fifth time in its last seven games when it captured an 82-64 victory over Ole Miss last Tuesday night in the SEC opener for both teams. The Crimson Tide led from start to finish behind Jahvon Quinerly's career-high 24 points off the bench.
- According to KenPom.com, Alabama's strength of schedule ranks No. 63 in the non-conference which is fourth-best among all SEC teams. Including the 7-0 Volunteers, the Crimson Tide's 10 opponents on the season have a combined record of 53-22 (.707). Furthermore, seven of the opening 10 opponents are ranked in the Ken Pomeroy top-100 RPI, while four are among the top-60 (all numbers as of 1/1).
- John Petty Jr. has made 16 three-pointers on the year, pushing his career total to 250 made threes. He now needs only 14 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 659 career attempts from deep is 80 shy of breaking Williams' program record of 738 three-point shots.
- Alabama has collected 1,697 wins in program history and is just four wins shy of becoming the third team in SEC history to reach 1,700 program victories, joining Kentucky (2,319) and Arkansas (1,713).
- Alabama boasts four players who average in double figures in Jaden Shackelford (13.4), Jahvon Quinerly (13.1), John Petty Jr. (12.1) and Herbert Jones (12.1). Together, the four combine to account for 50.7 of the Tide's 77.3 points per game – approximately 66 percent of the total scoring average.
- After playing nine contests this season, Saturday's contest will be first true road game for the Crimson Tide this season. It begins a stretch in which Alabama will play road contests in three of its next four games, including Tennessee, at Auburn (1/9) and at Kentucky (1/12). The only home contest will be next Tuesday what the Tide hosts the Florida Gators (1/5 at 6 p.m. CT).
- Reaching the 80-point mark usually means good things for the Crimson Tide. This season, Alabama is a perfect 6-0 on the year when scoring 80 or more points and 0-3 when failing to reach the mark. Last season, UA had 16 games of scoring 80 or more points which was second-best in program history (program record is 17 which was set on three occasions – 1986-87, 1978-79 and 1976-77). The Tide went 12-4 in those contests bringing its record to 18-4 when reaching 80 points in a game under second-year head coach Nate Oats.
About Alabama
- Alabama enters Saturday's road contest at Tennessee sporting a 6-3 record on the season and a 1-0 mark in SEC play. Most recently, the Crimson Tide captured the third win in the last four games and the fifth win over its last seven contests with an 82-64 victory over Ole Miss last Tuesday night. With the win, UA improves to 6-0 on the year when scoring more than 80 points in a game, however, the Tide is 0-3 when scoring under 80.
- Four Crimson Tide players are averaging 12.0 or more points per game for head coach Nate Oats in the early part of the season. Guard Jaden Shackelford (13.4 ppg) leads the way, followed by guards Jahvon Quinerly (13.1 ppg) and John Petty Jr. (12.1 ppg) along with forward Herbert Jones (12.1 ppg) are each averaging in double figures.
- Jones, considered one of the top defensive players in the entire nation, leads the team in rebounding (6.3 rpg), three-point field goal percentage (.462, 6-of-13), charges taken (3), Blue Collar Points (193.5, 21.5 BCP per game) and Hard Hat Awards (4). He enters league play with much improved offensive numbers. In addition to averaging double digits, Jones is collecting 2.1 assists per contest, while shooting 46.8 percent from the field (37-of-79).
- The trio of Petty (16-of-53), Shackelford (20-of-55) and Quinerly (11-of-32) have combined to hit 47 of the Tide's 85 three-pointers (55.3 percent and have 140 of the team's 279 (50.2 percent) total attempts from beyond the arc.
- As a team, Alabama is outscoring the opposition by 6.9 points per contest (77.3-70.4) while shooting 41.8 percent from the field, 30.5 percent from deep and 67.5 percent from the charity stripe.
- 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 22-18 (.550) during his time at the Capstone. Oats, who is in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach, owns a career record of 118-61 (.659).
About Tennessee
- The Tennessee Volunteers own a perfect 7-0 record on the season and a 1-0 mark in SEC play as it comes into Saturday's contest in what will be the only game it will play against the Crimson Tide during the regular season. The Vols are coming off arguably it's most impressive win of the season when it captured a 73-53 win over No. 12/12 Missouri last Wednesday night in Columbia, Mo. It was the largest margin of victory against a ranked opponent on the road in program history. It was the fifth straight game that UT has won by at least 20 points.
- Tennessee enters the contest leading the NCAA in scoring defense at 52.7 points per game. The Volunteers are also limiting the opposition to 36.2 percent shooting from the field and 27.1 percent from beyond the three-point line while outrebounding opponents by 11.0 rebounds per game (40.0-29.0).
- Victor Bailey Jr. (12.6 ppg), John Fulkerson (11.7 ppg) and Jaden Springer (11.7 ppg) lead a balanced scoring attack as each average in double figures this season. Meanwhile, guard Santiago Vescovi tops the Vols with 4.3 assists and three-point shooting (15-of-33, 45.5 percent) while scoring 9.0 ppg.
- Guard Josiah-Jordan James is averaged 8.9 ppg while adding 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and a team-leading 1.7 steals per game. Forward Yves Pons, the 2020 SEC Defensive Player of the Year, gives Tennessee six players who average at least 8.0 points a contest with 8.3 ppg while also contributing 6.0 rebounds and a team-leading 1.6 blocks per contest.
- In addition to scoring defense, Tennessee leads the SEC scoring margin (+27.0, 79.7-52.7), field goal percentage defense (36.2 percent), rebounding defense (29.0), turnover margin (+7.4) and assist/turnover margin (1.5). The Vols rank second in the league in free throw percentage (76.3 percent) and rebounding margin (+11.0) and rank third in blocked shots (5.0), three-point percentage (38.3 percent) and three-point field goal percentage defense (27.1 percent).
- Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes is in his sixth season at Tennessee and his 34th year as a collegiate head coach. During his six years in Knoxville, Barnes has guided the Volunteers to a record of 112-64 (.636) and owns a career record of 716-378 (.654).
Alabama-Tennessee Series History
- Saturday's contest will mark the 150th meeting in series history between to two schools, which is the sixth-most common opponent in program lore. The Crimson Tide owns a 79-70 edge in the all-time series.
- In the only game played between the two teams last season, Tennessee took a 69-68 win from Alabama back on Feb. 4, 2020 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Volunteers used a plus-24 advantage at the free throw line – Tennessee finished 23-of-32 from the foul line while Alabama was 5-of-8 – forced 20 turnovers and pulled down 19 offensive rebounds to help secure the one-point win.
- The two teams were set to square off in the opening round of the 2020 SEC Tournament in Nashville on March 12, however, the tournament was canceled approximately one hour prior to the teams' scheduled noon ET tipoff.
- Despite the loss last season, the Tide has won seven of the last 12 meetings and 15 of the last 24 games between the two teams. However, 12 of the last 17 games have been decided by 10 or fewer points.
- The Tide owns a record of 22-44 when playing the Volunteers in Knoxville. Entering Saturday's contest, Alabama has dropped three straight and six of the last seven games played in Thompson-Boling Arena. The last time UA won at UT came on Jan. 10, 2015. In that contest, Alabama held Tennessee to just 38 points in a 56-38 victory. It was the fewest points Alabama has allowed a Tennessee team since a 70-37 victory on Feb. 24, 1958.
- The series began during 1913-14 campaign.
