How to watch: Alabama Crimson Tide basketball vs. Stephen F. Austin

Alabama basketball returns home from its trip to the Bahamas as it takes on Stephen F. Austin on Friday night. The Crimson Tide is coming off an 83-68 win over Southern Miss in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament last week and is looking to record back-to-back victories for the first time this season. To do that, Alabama will have to get past a Stephen F. Austin team which previously upset then-ranked No. 1 Duke inside Cameron Indoor Stadium earlier this season. Here’s all the information you need to know about the game.

Who: Alabama (3-4) vs. Stephen F. Austin (7-1)

When: 7:00 p.m. CT, Friday, Dec. 6

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Watch: SEC Network+ (play-by-blay: Eli Gold; analyst: Wimp Sanderson; sideline Meggi Hetzel)

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (play-by-play: Roger Hoover; analyst: Bryan Passink)

Kira Lewis Jr.: 6-foot-3, 165 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 19.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.6 apg, 46.7% FG, 36.8% 3-pt

Jaden Shackelford: 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, freshman

Stats: 11.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.7 apg, 37.7% FG, 28.6% 3-pt

John Petty Jr.: 6-foot-5, 184 pounds, junior

Stats: 15.1 ppg., 7.4 rpg., 2.1 apg., 44.6% FG, 45.5% 3-pt

Herbert Jones: 6-foot-7, 205 pounds, junior

Stats: 8.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.0 ap., 53.8% FG

Javian Davis: 6-foot-9, 242 pounds, junior

Stats: 8.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.0 apg, 55.6% FG

John Comeaux: 5-foot-11, 182 pounds, senior

Stats: 7.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 3.3 apg, 45.2% FG, 36.4% 3-pt

Roti Ware: 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, junior

Stats: 6.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 1.5 apg, 33.3% FG, 20.0% 3-pt

Kevon Harris: 6-foot-6, 216 pounds, senior

Stats: 19.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.4 apg, 49.1% FG, 38.9% 3-pt

Nathan Bain: 6-foot-6, 205 pounds, senior

Stats: 4.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.9 apg, 54.2% FG, 50.0% 3-pt

Gavin Kensmil: 6-foot-7, 255 pounds, junior

Stats: 13.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.5 apg, 65.2% FG

— Alabama continues to battle injuries as two of its key players were limited during practice this week. Junior forward Alex Reese has been held out during practice while battling a foot injury he sustained last week. Meanwhile, graduate transfer guard James “Beetle” Bolden is still nursing injuries to his left hand and wrist.

Alabama head coach Nate Oats on Reese: “He’s a pretty tough kid, and my guess is he’d give it a go and we’ll see how healthy he is during the game.”

Oats on Bolden: “It’s still bothering him. We tried resting him all week to try and get it to heal. He took a shot, kind of a numbing agent to help him in the three games down in the Bahamas. Obviously, it worked well because we needed him to make shots like he did against Southern Miss.”

— Stephen F. Austin leads the nation in steals per game (12.8) and turnovers forced per game (26.0). That’s bad news for an Alabama team that has struggled with turnovers this season, giving up the ball an average of 18.1 times.

“Our analytics guys told us if (SFA) continue at the rate they are, this will be the highest turnover rate defensively in the last 18 years in all of Division I basketball,” Oats said.

— Stephen F. Austin enters Friday’s contest committing 24.8 fouls per game, the fourth-highest average in the nation. Through seven games, Alabama is shooting 69.9 percent from the free-throw line.

“We know we’re going to get fouled,” Oats said. “I don’t think they even care about fouling people, they just want to play hard. And referees a lot of times quit calling fouls after you keep fouling the whole game. So, hopefully, we can continue to get fouls the whole game, but whether they do or not we’re going to have to step up to the line and make free-throws.”

— Stephen F. Austin made headlines earlier this season when it pulled off an upset at Duke by beating the then-ranked No. 1 Blue Devils 85-83 in overtime. The win snapped Duke’s 150-game non-conference home winning streak and gave the Blue Devils their first-ever loss to a non-major team when ranked No. 1.

“I know (SFA head coach Kyle Keller) well,” Oats said. “He’s a good coach, gets his kids to play really hard. And they went in and they didn’t back down. I mean, Duke had a lead on them out of the gate and they just hung in there, hung in there. They’re a good team… We’re going to have our hands full on Friday.”

— Friday night’s game will feature two of the fastest-paced teams in the nation according to the latest Ken Pomeroy stats. Alabama enters the contest ranked fifth in the nation in adjusted tempo (77.3) while Stephen F. Austin (76.4) checks in at No. 11 in the nation in the category.

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