The next two weeks will be a nice litmus test for Alabama basketball. The No. 16 Crimson Tide begins a grueling three-game stretch Saturday as it travels to Seattle to take on No. 3 Gonzaga. From there, Alabama will host No. 15 Houston before traveling to No. 18 Memphis.
Saturday’s game figures to be the toughest matchup in the trio as Gonzaga opened the season as the nation’s top team before dropping two spots after last week’s loss to Duke, the nation’s current No. 1 team
Here’s all the information you need to know about Saturday’s game.
How to watch
Who: No. 16 Alabama (6-1) vs. No. 3 Gonzaga (7-1)
When: 7:00 p.m. CT, Saturday, Dec. 4
Where: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Wash.
Watch: ESPN2 (play-by-play: Roxy Bernstein; analyst: Sean Farnham)
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (play-by-play: Chris Stewart; analyst: Bryan Passink)
Alabama's projected lineup
Jahvon Quinerly: 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, redshirt junior
Stats: 14.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.6 apg, 42.5% FG, 26.2% 3-pt
Jaden Shackelford: 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, junior
Stats: 18.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.4 apg, 41.9% FG, 39.1% 3-pt
Keon Ellis: 6-foot-6, 175 pounds, senior
Stats: 13.3 ppg., 7.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, 55.6% FG, 46.7% 3-pt
Juwan Gary: 6-foot-6, 218 pounds, redshirt sophomore
Stats: 8.6 ppg, 6.8, rpg, 0.6 apg, 63.3% FG, 0.0% 3-pt
Charles Bediako: 7-foot, 225 pounds, freshman
Stats: 7.1 ppg, 4.9, rpg, 1.0 apg, 64.7% FG
Gonzaga projected lineup
Andrew Nembhard: 6-foot-5, 193 pounds, senior
Stats: 9.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 5.4 apg, 46.0% FG, 30.0% 3-pt
Rasir Bolton: 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, senior
Stats: 11.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 52.4% FG, 45.7% 3-pt
Julian Strawther: 6-foot-7, 205 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 14.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 0.9 apg, 51.3% FG, 42.5% 3-pt
Drew Timme: 6-foot-10, 235 pounds, junior
Stats: 17.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.4 apg, 62.2% FG, 12.5% 3-pt
Chet Holmgren: 7-foot, 195 pounds, freshman
Stats: 13.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, 71.0% FG, 36.8% 3-pt
A big test
Gonzaga features one of the best frontcourts in the nation in junior forward Drew Timme and freshman center Chet Holmgren.
Timme was named Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year last season, serving as the leading force in the Bulldogs’ run to the NCAA Tournament national championship game. The 6-foot-10, 235 pound forward is off to a great start this year, leading the team with 17.4 points per game while shooting 62.2% from the floor and averaging 5.8 rebounds.
Holmgren joined Gonzaga as the No. 1 overall player in this year’s class. The 7-foot, 195-pound center is extremely athletic for his size and also has the ability to knock down shots from the perimeter as evidenced by his 36.8% success rate from beyond the arc over his first eight games. Holmgren is also averaging 13.8 points and 7.0 rebounds and leads the team with 3.6 blocks per game.
“They’re both very good players in their own right, and they’re both tough matchups and tough covers,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “But this will be a good test for our bigs defensively.”
Alabama has a promising freshman big of its own in Charles Bediako. The 7-foot, 225-pound Canadian is averaging 7.1 points and 4.9 rebounds while leading the team with 1.7 blocks per game. The Tide also has 6-foot-11, 230-pound redshirt freshman Alex Tchikou who is recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon that kept him out all of last year.
As far as power forwards are concerned, Alabama brought in 6-foot-8, 215-pound graduate forward Noah Gurley this offseason. The Furman transfer has had a slow start to his Tide career but saw his shooting pick up during last week’s ESPN Events Invitational. Alabama also has 6-foot-6, 218-pound Juwan Gary who can play down low. The redshirt junior has already recorded two double-doubles through five appearances this season.
A tough run
A few eyebrows were raised this offseason when Alabama players learned that they would be facing off against three of the nation’s top teams in consecutive games. However, you won’t catch the Tide complaining about the upcoming three-game stretch of Gonzaga, Houston and Memphis.
“I feel like it’s more of an exciting feeling,” Alabama guard Jaden Shackelford said. “We’ve got a chance to go out here and play against three of the top teams in the country in a row. I feel like this is a good stretch to see where we are as a team again as we did in this past tournament. I feel like it’s big for us, and I feel like this stretch is really going to show us what we’re made of.”
Added Oats: “We want to play good teams like this and see where we’re at,” Oats said. “If we want to be one of the better programs in the country, you have to play the best teams in the country and this is one of those games.”
Bad timing?
If there’s one thing Alabam would change about Saturday’s matchup, it’d be the timing. Despite the magnitude of the matchup, it will play second fiddle to Tide fans as Alabama’s No. 3-ranked football team squares off against No. 1 Georiga in the SEC Championship Game earlier in the day.
The SEC Championship Game will kick off at 3 p.m. CT on CBS and should be wrapped up before Alabama basketball and Gonzaga tip off at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2. While Oats doesn’t expect too much support from the crowd inside Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday, he hopes Tide fans will be able to tune in from afar.
“We knew it was going to be on that day from the time we scheduled it,” Oats said. “It was the only time we can schedule it, so it is what it is. We won’t probably have a ton of fans out there, but hopefully, it lines up where a lot of people can watch it on TV. I’m sure Gonzaga will have plenty of fans out there, so I don’t think they’ll have any problem filling the arena.”
Alabama fans will have their shot at seeing the Tide square off against Gonzaga next year as the two teams are set to meet in Birmingham’s Legacy Arena next season. Dates for that game have yet to be announced.
Game notes
— According to the KenPom rankings, Alabama is No. 11 in the nation in offensive efficiency (113.3 points per 100 possessions) and No. 29 in defensive efficiency (91.7 points allowed per 100 possessions). Gonzaga ranked No. 2 in offensive efficiency (120.9) and No. 10 in defensive efficiency (89.6).
— Gonzaga has a 16-9 record against SEC teams and has won eight of its last 10 contests against the conference. The Bulldogs’ last meeting against an SEC team came in a 90-67 victory over Auburn last season.
— Gonzaga head coach Mark Few is in his 23rd season as the head coach of the program. He boasts an all-time record of 636-128.
