Alabama Welcomes South Carolina for Important Showdown on Saturday - University of Alabama Athletics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will begin its final homestand of the regular season when it welcomes South Carolina to Coleman Coliseum on
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The Crimson Tide and Gamecocks are set to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team will begin its final homestand of the regular season when it welcomes South Carolina to Coleman Coliseum on Saturday night. The contest, which will be the only game played between the two teams this season, will tipoff at 7:30 p.m. CT and televised on SEC Network.
Alabama and South Carolina will meet for the 47th time overall, with the Crimson Tide owning a 30-16 edge in the series history. UA enters the contest having won four straight and six of the last seven games played between the two teams. The Tide has been even better at home, owning a 15-2 overall mark when hosting the Gamecocks. Alabama has claimed five straight wins over USC in Coleman Coliseum and having won 15 of the 17 games played in Tuscaloosa in the series.
This marks the eighth time in program history that the Crimson Tide has played on Leap Day, owning a 4-3 overall record. The last Leap Day that UA played came on Feb. 29, 2012 vs. Auburn (won, 55-49).
Promotions
- Leap Day ticket special – Two tickets for $29
- Papa Murphy's pizza to the first 100 students
- Saturday's game will be televised on SEC Network with Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Pat Bradley (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 enters the contest vs. South Carolina owning the No. 39 overall NET Ranking (as of 2/28) and the No. 17 overall strength of schedule. The Crimson Tide leads all SEC teams in strength of schedule, while its NET Ranking is fifth-best in the league.
- UA is coming off a hard-fought 80-73 loss at Mississippi State last Tuesday night in Starkville, Miss. Worse than suffering the seven-point loss was that junior guard and second-leading scorer John Petty Jr. went down with a right arm injury just over eight minutes into the game and did not return. Despite losing one of its leaders, the Crimson Tide fought hard as the game saw 16 lead changes and six ties throughout the contest.
- UA has had 15 games of 80 or more points and eight games of scoring 90 or more this season. The program record of games of scoring 80 or more points is 17 which was set on three occasions (1986-87, 1978-79 and 1976-77). The 1971-72 team had a school record 12 games of 90 or more points with nine such games occurring in 2001-02 and 1974-75.
- Alabama currently tops the league in assists per game both overall (14.6) and in SEC play only (14.9). No Crimson Tide team has led the conference in assists per game in all games or in conference games since the league began documenting the statistic in 1998-99.
- Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr., who is averaging 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists on the season, is the only player in the SEC, one of three in power 5 programs and one of only eight around the nation to average at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists per game.
- Junior Herbert Jones, playing with essentially one hand, has been an important presence for the Crimson Tide since being reinserted in the starting lineup after missing the previous three games with a fractured left wrist (vs. Arkansas, vs. Tennessee, at Georgia). Earning the Hard Hat Award in three of the four games since reclaiming his starting position, the left-handed forward is averaging 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 offensive rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks per game – all team-leading numbers.
- Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr., currently has 958 points in his career and is on pace to join James "Hollywood" Robinson as the only players in program history to reach 1,000 points in only two seasons. Robinson accomplished the feat in his 57th game of his career (25th game of his sophomore season). Lewis will be playing in his 63rd career game when the Tide takes on the Gamecocks on Saturday night.
- UA enters Saturday's contest ranked No. 2 in the nation in three-point field goals made per game at 11.0 and is third nationally in scoring offense (83.0 points per game). Furthermore, Alabama ranks No. 3 in the nation in threes attempted (872) and is No. 4 in three made (309) – both of which are single-season program records.
- Three UA players average double digits, while six average 8.0 ppg or better on the year to lead the Alabama offense. Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr. (17.9 ppg) tops the team and ranks fourth in the SEC in scoring average, while junior John Petty Jr. (15.0 ppg) ranks second on the squad and 12th in the league. Combined the duo produces the second-highest combined points by any two players on the same team in the SEC (32.9 ppg).
- Lewis, a two-time SEC Player of the Week (1/27 & 2/17), leads the SEC and ranks 11th nationally in minutes per game (37.29), while also leading UA and ranking among the league leaders in scoring, assists (3rd - 5.1 apg) and steals (t3rd - 1.9 spg). A first-team All-SEC preseason honoree, he also tops the team in field goals made (183) and attempted (399), and is shooting 45.9 percent from the field, 36.0 percent from beyond the arc and 78.5 percent from the charity stripe.
- Petty is one of the top three-point shooters in the nation. He leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (45.0 percent, 85-of-189) and ranks second in threes made per game (3.0), while ranking fifth and 20th nationally in the categories, respectively. Additionally, he leads the squad and is 12th in the conference in rebounding (6.6 rpg) and tops UA in threes made and attempted while ranking second in steals (1.1 spg) and minutes (33.5 mpg) per game.
- Freshman Jaden Shackelford, who was named the USBWA National Freshman of the Week on Feb. 18, is third on the team and 12th in the SEC at 14.9 ppg. He also ranks third in the league three-point percentage (.360) and threes made per game (2.7), while also topping the squad in threes attempted, as 211 of his 319 field goal attempts – approximately 66 percent – have come from beyond the three-point line. Juniors Alex Reese (9.4 ppg) and Herbert Jones (8.3 ppg) and graduate senior Beetle Bolden (8.2 ppg) contribute offensively as well.
- Jones, who has been sidelined multiple games and is currently seeing limited action despite a fractured left wrist, is the team's best defender. He leads the squad in Blue Collar Points (525.5), Hard Hat Awards (14), charges taken (21) and deflections (75). Bolden has also missed time (four games) throughout the year with a variety of ailments, is one of the best perimeter defenders on the team and ranks fourth on the squad in three-point field goal percentage (.330).
- As a team, Alabama has outscored the opposition by +4.2 points (83.0-78.8) and is shooting 44.1 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from beyond the arc and 69.2 percent from the foul line. The Tide averages 39.9 rebounds per game which is tied for second-best in the SEC and 20th-best in the nation. The Crimson Tide has collected 15 games of 80 or more points and has hit 90 or more points seven times.
- Through its 15 SEC contests, Alabama leads the league in scoring offense (83.5), threes made per game (11.2), assists (14.9) and assist/turnover ratio (t1st - 1.1) . Additionally, the Crimson Tide ranks among the top five teams in league play in defensive rebounds (t2nd - 27.3), rebounding offense (3rd - 39.4), scoring margin (4th - +3.5), three-point field goal percentage (3rd - .344), offensive rebounding (3rd - 12.1), blocked shots (4th - 4.5) and three-point field goal percentage defense (5th - .298).
- South Carolina comes into its contest against Alabama in a tie for fifth place in the Southeastern Conference standings, having won four of its last six and nine of its last 13 games entering Saturday's contest in Tuscaloosa. Most recently, the Gamecocks are coming off a 94-90 overtime win vs. Georgia in Colonial Life Arena to improve to 17-11 overall and 9-6 in league play.
- Three South Carolina players average in double figures, led by senior AJ Lawson's 13.5 points per game, while freshman Jermaine Couisnard (12.2 ppg) and senior Maik Kotsar (11.1 ppg) also average double-digit scoring. Kotsar tops the team in rebounding (6.6 rpg), blocks (1.1 bpg) and steals (1.6 spg) a game, while Couisnard leads USC in assists per contest (2.9).
- As a team, the Gamecocks are outscoring the competition by +4.3 points per game (72.6-68.3) and outrebounding foes by +2.4 boards a contest (37.4-35.0). South Carolina is shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 31.2 percent from beyond the arc, however, ranks last in the SEC and 345th in the nation in free throw percentage at 61.8 percent.
- South Carolina ranks as one of the top defensive teams in the nation. The Gamecocks are second in the SEC and 19th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.390), fourth in the SEC and 25th nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense (.294) and 2nd in the league and 37th across all of Division I in turnovers forced per game (15.79).
- South Carolina is led by eighth-year head coach Frank Martin. Martin, who led the Gamecocks to a Final Four run in 2017, owns a record of 146-117 (.555) during his tenure with the Gamecocks and is 263-171 (.606) now in his 13th season as a head coach (spent five years at Kansas State).
- Alabama and South Carolina will meet for the 47th time overall, with the Crimson Tide owning a 30-16 edge in the series history.
- Alabama has won four consecutive games in the series entering Saturday night's showdown. The two teams played only once last season, with the Crimson Tide taking a 68-62 decision in Columbia, S.C.
- Alabama enters the contest having won four straight and six of the last seven games played between the two teams. The Tide has been even better at home, claiming five straight wins over USC in Coleman Coliseum and having won 15 of the 17 games played in Tuscaloosa in the series.
- The teams have met 37 times as SEC opponents with UA winning 23 of those meetings (23-14).
- Fourteen of the last 18 games between the teams have been decided by 10 or fewer points, including six coming down to just one possession. Most memorable was the dramatic quadruple overtime victory, 90-86, at South Carolina on Feb. 7, 2017.
- The series began during 1922-23 campaign.
