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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ā The University of Alabama menās basketball team will be playing its holiday tournament early this year, heading to the Charleston Classic for the first time beginning Thursday.
The Crimson Tide (2-0) will open against Northeastern (1 p.m., CT, ESPNU) in TD Arena on the campus of the College of Charleston. The field is highlightedby five NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago,and two teams ranked in the latest AP Top 25, No. 16 Virginia Tech and No. 23 Purdue.
Each team will play three games, on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The championship game is set for Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
1] The tournament will be a sort of homecoming for junior forward Tevin Mack, who transferred to Alabama from Texas but is originally from Columbia, S.C. āIām going to have a lot of family there,ā he said. āIām going to have to get everyone tickets ā¦ itās my first time playing collegiately in my home state back home. Itās going to be exciting.ā
2] Coming off an ankle injury, junior guard Dazon Ingram estimated that heās at 80 percent phyiscally. The injury occurred when he came down on the foot of freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. during practice. He played 21 minutes during Alabamaās 81-73 victory against Appalachian State on Sunday. āAt first I had some jitters because I hadnāt played in a real game yet this year,ā he said.
3] A year ago Alabama was the fourth-youngest team in Division I and didnāt have a senior on the roster. Now it has the second-youngest player in NCAA Division I with Kira, who is only 17. He went from six points and seven assists against Southern to 21 points vs. Appalachian State. āI think the eye-opening moment was when we started practice officially,ā coach Avery Johnson said about the freshmanās adjustment. āHe got knocked down a couple of times, and the physicality of playing against a Dazon Ingram, or even though A.J. Jr. isnāt that tall heās a pretty stocky guy.ā
4] Northeastern (1-1) is similar to Alabamaās last opponent, Appalachian State, in that it has a veteran roster with nearly everyone returning. āVery, very, very experienced, clever guards,ā Johnson said. āThey know how to play the game.ā Jordan Roland is the leading scorer, averaging 21.0 points, and Vasa Pusica has 4.5 assists per game.
5] If Alabama wins, it could have a rematch with Virginia Tech from last yearās NCAA Tournament on Friday morning (10 a.m. CT). It could be an important barometer of the teamās progress without Collin Sexton, who is now in the NBA. The Crimson Tide won 86-83 when Sexton scored 21 of his team-high 24 points in the second half (six field goals and 10 of 14 free throws). The game featured 10 lead changes and never saw either club go ahead by more than seven points.The Huskies play Ball State on Thursday.
Five things to know about Alabama basketball at the Charleston Classic - Bama Central
The Crimson Tide (2-0) will open against Northeastern (1 p.m., CT, ESPNU) in TD Arena on the campus of the College of Charleston. The field is highlightedby five NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago,and two teams ranked in the latest AP Top 25, No. 16 Virginia Tech and No. 23 Purdue.
Each team will play three games, on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The championship game is set for Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
1] The tournament will be a sort of homecoming for junior forward Tevin Mack, who transferred to Alabama from Texas but is originally from Columbia, S.C. āIām going to have a lot of family there,ā he said. āIām going to have to get everyone tickets ā¦ itās my first time playing collegiately in my home state back home. Itās going to be exciting.ā
2] Coming off an ankle injury, junior guard Dazon Ingram estimated that heās at 80 percent phyiscally. The injury occurred when he came down on the foot of freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. during practice. He played 21 minutes during Alabamaās 81-73 victory against Appalachian State on Sunday. āAt first I had some jitters because I hadnāt played in a real game yet this year,ā he said.
3] A year ago Alabama was the fourth-youngest team in Division I and didnāt have a senior on the roster. Now it has the second-youngest player in NCAA Division I with Kira, who is only 17. He went from six points and seven assists against Southern to 21 points vs. Appalachian State. āI think the eye-opening moment was when we started practice officially,ā coach Avery Johnson said about the freshmanās adjustment. āHe got knocked down a couple of times, and the physicality of playing against a Dazon Ingram, or even though A.J. Jr. isnāt that tall heās a pretty stocky guy.ā
4] Northeastern (1-1) is similar to Alabamaās last opponent, Appalachian State, in that it has a veteran roster with nearly everyone returning. āVery, very, very experienced, clever guards,ā Johnson said. āThey know how to play the game.ā Jordan Roland is the leading scorer, averaging 21.0 points, and Vasa Pusica has 4.5 assists per game.
5] If Alabama wins, it could have a rematch with Virginia Tech from last yearās NCAA Tournament on Friday morning (10 a.m. CT). It could be an important barometer of the teamās progress without Collin Sexton, who is now in the NBA. The Crimson Tide won 86-83 when Sexton scored 21 of his team-high 24 points in the second half (six field goals and 10 of 14 free throws). The game featured 10 lead changes and never saw either club go ahead by more than seven points.The Huskies play Ball State on Thursday.
Five things to know about Alabama basketball at the Charleston Classic - Bama Central
