| MBB/WBB Men’s Basketball Hosts Texas A&M on Saturday Afternoon -- 2:30 CT SECN

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama returns to Coleman Coliseum for its only home game in the current four-game stretch when it hosts Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon. It marks the first of two games between the teams this season, as the Tide will play the return game on Feb. 19 in College Station, Texas (8 p.m. CT on SEC Network).

The Crimson Tide owns a 12-6 edge in the all-time series against the Aggies heading into Saturday's showdown. The two teams have played some exciting games, as 11 of the 18 contests in the series have been decided by single digits. In fact, five of the last six games between the two teams have been decided by a single possession, highlighted by last year's SEC Tournament quarterfinal contest in which Collin Sexton's floater at the buzzer gave the Tide a 71-70 victory.

Alabama had its five-game winning streak snapped with an 88-79 loss at LSU last Tuesday night. The Tide managed to score 51 points in the second half and whittle a double-figure deficit down to four points late in the contest, but could not pull off the victory. As a result, the loss snapped Alabama's five-game winning streak in the series, which included three straight victories at LSU.

PROMOTIONS
• 80's Day
  • T-shirt giveaway to first 1,000 fans – north, east, west entrances
  • Fanny pack giveaway to first 500 students – west entrance
  • Sweatband giveaway to first 500 students – west entrance
• Halftime recognition of the 1988-89 SEC Championship team

THE BROADCAST
• Saturday's game will air 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, Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.
NOTES YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Alabama had its season-best five-game winning streak snapped in its last outing, falling at LSU 88-79 last Tuesday night. The Tigers led by as many as 19 points early in the second half before the Crimson Tide rallied to cut the lead to four points with just over two minutes remaining. Alabama outscored LSU, 51-45, in the second half, including knocking down 18-of-20 free throws over the final 20 minutes of play but it was not enough to overcome a 15-point halftime deficit.
• The Crimson Tide opened its league slate when it defeated then-No. 13 Kentucky, 77-75, on Jan. 5. That victory not only gave head coach Avery Johnson his first win over the Wildcats since coming to Alabama in 2015, it also snapped a 10-game losing streak in the series. Moreover, Johnson improved to 12-10 when playing teams ranked in the Associated Press Top-25, which is impressive considering the Tide had lost 21 consecutive games against ranked opponents prior to his arrival.
• Prior to the start of league play, Alabama went on the road to face a stiff test at Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 30 and came away with a 79-69 victory, giving the Tide its first true road win of the season. Alabama has also captured victories over Penn State (73-64) on Dec. 21 and Liberty (84-75) on Dec. 18 in Huntsville, Ala., for the Rocket City Classic. The streak began back on Dec. 9 with a 76-73 home win over Arizona to finish the month of December with a 4-1 record.
• With one more block, senior Donta Hall will become just the seventh player in program history to record 200 blocks for his career. He enters the Texas A&M game with 199 career swats, which is the most of any player currently playing in the SEC. Additionally, Hall ranks third among all active league players in rebounds with 666 and is tied for second among the conference in double-doubles for this season (6) and ranks third in the same category for his career (11).
• The Tide is one of the top rebounding teams in the nation entering the second week of conference play. Alabama has won the rebounding battle in 13 of its 14 games this season. For the year, Alabama ranks fourth in the SEC and 34th nationally in rebounding margin (+6.4), outrebounding the opposition by an average of 38.9-32.5.
• With the SEC-Big 12 challenge still looming, Alabama's non-conference strength of schedule ranked No. 31 in the nation, according to CBSSports.com. The Tide's non-league slate included four teams that were picked to win their conference: Stephen F. Austin (Southland), Georgia State (Sun Belt), Northeastern (Colonial Athletic Association) and UCF (American Athletic Conference). Alabama also faced off with Murray State (Nov. 26), who was picked to finish second by a narrow margin to Belmont in the Ohio Valley Conference.
• Alabama will next begin a two-game road swing with a contest at Missouri on Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network. It will mark the only meeting between the two teams this season.

ABOUT ALABAMA
• Alabama dropped to 10-4 on the year and 1-1 in the SEC when it fell at LSU, 88-79, last Tuesday night in Baton Rouge, La. The Crimson Tide had won five straight and eight of its last 10 before losing its first game since Dec. 4. The stretch included wins over Wichita State (90-86 on Nov. 18), Arizona (76-63 on Dec. 9), Penn State (73-64 on Dec. 21) and then-No. 13 Kentucky (77-75 on Jan. 5).
• Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. leads a balanced scoring attack that features seven Alabama players averaging 7.5 points per game or more. Three UA players average in double digits as Lewis' 14.8 points per game tops the Tide and ranks 9th in the SEC. Senior Donta Hall is second on the team with 10.8 ppg, while sophomore John Petty Jr. is collecting 10.6 ppg.
• Lewis leads UA in minutes (31.2), assists (2.9 apg), three-point field goal percentage (.375), threes made (24) and free throw shooting (47-of-55, .855). Meanwhile, Hall tops the team in total dunks (27), rebounds (8.1 rpg), blocks (1.9 bpg), double-figure contests (10) and double-doubles (6). He currently ranks among the league leaders in both rebounding (6th) and blocked shots (9th). Petty leads the Tide in threes attempted (75) and is tied for the team lead in threes made (24). Additionally, Petty ranks second on the team in minutes (30.5) and rebounding (5.1).
• Junior Tevin Mack, who scored a season-high 22 points in the win over Kentucky, is averaging 9.6 ppg, while junior Dazon Ingram (7.9 ppg) and sophomores Herbert Jones (7.7 ppg) and Alex Reese (7.5 ppg) are both averaging over seven points per contest. Ingram is second in the team with 2.7 assists per game, while Jones, who is considered one of the top defenders in the Southeastern Conference, tops UA with 15 charges taken and 16 steals.
• As a team, Alabama enters Saturday afternoon's contest as one of the top rebounding teams in the SEC. The Tide has outrebounded 13 of its 14 opponents on the year and ranks fourth in the SEC with a +6.4 advantage on the glass (38.9-32.5). UA is shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from beyond the arc on the year, while outscoring the competition by 3.9 points per game (76.7-72.8).
• Alabama welcomed back three of its top four and nine of the top 11 scorers from last season's squad. Leading the list of returnees is Hall, who paced all returning players in scoring (10.6 ppg), rebounding (6.6 rpg), blocks (2.0 bpg), dunks (75) and field goal percentage (.726).

ABOUT TEXAS A&M
• Alabama leads Texas A&M, 12-6, in the all-time series and owns a 6-3 edge when playing one another as SEC rivals. The Tide has won five of the last seven games in the series entering Saturday's contest, including claiming two of the three games played between the teams a year ago.
• Five of the last six games between the two teams have been decided by three points or less, with three of those contests coming down to a single point. Two of the three games the teams played a year ago were decided by a single possession, including the first round match-up in the 2018 SEC Tournament in which Collin Sexton drilled a running floater at the buzzer to send the Crimson Tide into the quarterfinals. That contest came on the heels of a two-point defeat to the Aggies in College Station, Texas, in the previous game which was the final game of the regular season.
• Sophomore guard TJ Starks leads the Aggies in scoring (14.5 ppg), assists (3.8 apg) and field goals made (70) and attempted (183). Sophomore Savion Flagg also averages in double figures (12.7 ppg) and leads his team in minutes (33.1) and rebounds (8.3) per game. As a team, Texas A&M enters the contest with a 6-7 record on the season and an 0-2 mark in SEC play. The Aggies are outscoring the opposition by 2.8 points per game (75.0-72.2) and own a 4.1 edge on the glass (40.5-36.4).
• Billy Kennedy, who was named the 2016 SEC Coach of the Year, is in his eighth season as the head coach of the Aggie basketball program. During his head coaching career (21 seasons), Kennedy's teams have averaged 20 wins over his last 13 seasons as a head coach, earning five league titles and making eight trips to the postseason (4 NCAA, 2 NIT, 1 CBI). He owns a record of 143-104 (.579) at Texas A&M and boasts a career mark of 354-283 (.556).

ALABAMA-TEXAS A&M – SERIES NOTES
• The contest between Alabama and Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon will mark the 19th meeting in series history and the 10th time the two teams will meet as SEC rivals.
• Alabama owns an 12-6 edge in the previous 18 games, including having won five of the last seven in the series. Most recently, the two teams played one of the most memorable games of the 2017-18 season when the Tide secured a 71-70 victory in the opening round of the 2018 SEC Tournament. In that contest, Alabama's freshman sensation Collin Sexton drilled a floater in the lane as time expired, lifting the Tide to the win and a run to the SEC Tournament semifinals. The full recap and box score from that contest can be found on page 11.
• Alabama owns a record of 6-1 when playing Texas A&M in Coleman Coliseum. The Tide's long loss to the Aggies came in Dec. 13, 2008 when A&M came to Tuscaloosa and captured an 86-78 overtime victory over the Tide.
• Alabama owns a record of 2-5 when playing Texas A&M in Reed Arena. The Tide's last win in College Station came in the regular season finale of the 2014-15 season when it captured a 61-60 victory over the Aggies on March 7, 2015.
• Eleven of the 18 contests in the series have been decided by single digits, including one overtime contest (Dec. 13, 2008). In fact, five of the last six games between the two teams have been decided by a single possession, highlighted by last year's SEC Tournament quarterfinal contest in which Collin Sexton's floater at the buzzer gave the Tide a 71-70 victory.
• The first game in the series was played in 1958-59.

Alabama Men’s Basketball Hosts Texas A&M on Saturday Afternoon - University of Alabama Athletics
 
While looking through today's schedule I noticed Bama was giving A&M 6 points this afternoon. A little surprised to see them favored that much.

I have to weigh that with being surprised A&M is 0-2 in conference play so far—barely over .500 for the season. That's surprising for a Kennedy coached team. He's seemed like a pretty solid coach to me.

Students are back. It'll be interesting to see the atmosphere in Coleman coming off of the Kentucky win.
 
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