Alabama basketball earned its first signature win of the season by upsetting No. 4 Auburn, 83-64, on Wednesday. Following the victory, first-year head coach Nate Oats stated it was “good to get that monkey off our back,” but said the Crimson Tide (9-7, 2-2 in the SEC) will now need to go on a run as it tries to strengthen its NCAA Tournament resume. Next up on Alabama’s schedule is Missouri (9-7, 1-3) as the Crimson Tide will host the Tigers on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT inside Coleman Coliseum. Here’s all the information you need to know about the game.
How to watch
Who: Alabama (9-7, 2-2) vs. Missouri (9-7, 1-3)
When: 2:30 p.m. CT, Saturday, Jan. 18
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Watch: SEC Network (play-by-blay: Dave Neal; analyst: Debbie Antonelli)
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (play-by-play: Chris Stewart; analyst: Bryan Passink)
Alabama projected starting five
Kira Lewis Jr.: 6-foot-3, 165 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 16.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.5 apg, 43.4% FG, 32.9% 3-pt
John Petty Jr.: 6-foot-5, 184 pounds, junior
Stats: 16.1 ppg., 7.3 rpg, 2.2 apg, 47.4% FG, 48.2% 3-pt
Herbert Jones: 6-foot-7, 205 pounds, junior
Stats: 10.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.7 apg, 47.9% FG, 10.0% 3-pt
Alex Reese: 6-foot-9, 245 pounds, junior
Stats: 9.2 ppg, 4.8, rpg, 1.3 apg, 42.6% FG, 35.1% 3-pt
Galin Smith: 6-foot-9, 240 pounds, junior
Stats: 2.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.3 apg, 50.0% FG
Missouri projected starting five
Dru Smith: 6-foot-3, 203 pounds, redshirt junior
Stats: 11.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 4.3 apg, 47.3% FG, 36.4% 3-pt
Mark Smith: 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, junior
Stats: 11.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.7 apg, 42.4% FG, 40.6% 3-pt
Kobe Brown: 6-foot-7, 240 pounds, freshman
Stats: 6.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.7 apg, 43.0% FG, 24.4% 3-pt
Mitchell Smith: 6-foot-10, 221 pounds, redshirt junior
Stats: 4.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.6 apg, 33.8% FG, 27.0% 3-pt
Reed Nikko: 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, senior
Stats: 2.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.4 apg, 77.3% FG
Notes and quotes
— Oats provided an injury update on several players including forwards Galin Smith (illness), Alex Reese (knee), Herbert Jones (elbow) and guard James “Beetle” Bolden (hand/wrist). Smith was the only player in that group who was not at practice Friday.
“We’re healthy,” Oats said. “Galin had some type of stomach bug, virus. They checked for the flu, he doesn’t have it. We gave him some meds and sent him home for rest, but he’ll be ready to go tomorrow…
“Reese practiced all day today, he looked good. He got banged in the knee (against Auburn), just had a contusion. He looked better.
“Beetle looked a lot better today. I think they’re starting to get Beetle’s stuff figured out. Herb looked good. Reese looked good. Beetle looked good. G will be available tomorrow.”
— Alabama went small with its starting lineup against Auburn as the Crimson Tide inserted Jaden Shackelford at guard alongside Kira Lewis Jr. and John Petty Jr. while Herbert Jones and Alex Reese served as forwards. Friday, Oats explained the reason for making the switch was that he felt Reese could contain Auburn center Austin Wiley while the rest of his starters helped out on the perimeter.
The decision paid off as the Crimson Tide limited Wiley to 10 points and 13 rebounds while the Tigers missed their first 10 shots from beyond the arc.
— After securing its first Quadrant 1 victory of the season against Auburn, Alabama will likely be favored in its next three games against Missouri (9-7), Vanderbilt (8-8) and Kansas State (7-9). The Crimson Tide’s longest winning streak this season is three games with consecutive victories over Samford, Belmont and Richmond in December.
“You have to handle success well,” Oats said. “To me, it’s a lot harder to handle success than it is to handle failure. When you get beat, you come into the gym with a chip on your shoulder ready to fight. A lot of teams can get beat and then come back and play well and get a win. It’s hard to win, come back and get even better, play even harder and know you’ve got to still improve when you win. We’re trying to instill that here.”
— Alabama has now won seven of its last 10 games. Two of the three losses have come to ranked opposition while all three have been on the road.
— Alabama held Auburn to a season-low 64 points on Wednesday. It was the fifth time this year and the second time in the past three games that the Crimson Tide had held its opponent to under 70 points. Alabama is now 5-0 when accomplishing that feat this season. The Crimson Tide has not been beaten this year when its achieves the feat, owning a perfect 5-0 record when doing so.
— Saturday’s game against Missouri will be a battle of contrasting styles. Alabama comes into the game as the top-scoring team in the SEC at 83.2 points per game, which ranks fourth-best in the nation. Missouri leads the league in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 59.7 points per contest, which ranks No. 15 nationally.
— Missouri is outscoring its competition by 7.2 points per game (66.9-59.7) while shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from deep this season. The Tigers are third in the league and No. 42 nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.3 percent) and are fourth in the SEC and No. 36th nationally in field goal percentage defense (38.8).
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