Alabama basketball has its first Power Five test of the season after a 4-0 start to nonconference play.
The Crimson Tide, which jumped to No. 17 in the latest AP Poll, now travels to Destin, Florida for the Emerald Coast Classic. Alabama’s 98-67 home win over Mercer served as the first round of the classic, and the Crimson Tide now faces Big Ten side Ohio State in round two.
After its test against the Buckeyes, Alabama will play either Oregon or Santa Clara in the championship round of the classic. If Alabama wins, it will play the winner of the Oregon-Santa Clara game at 6 p.m. Saturday. If the Crimson Tide loses to Ohio State it will face the loser of the game between the Ducks and Broncos at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Here's everything you need to know about the Crimson Tide’s matchup against the Buckeyes:
How to watch
Who: No. 17 Alabama (4-0) vs. Ohio State (3-1)
When: 6:15 p.m. CT, Friday, Nov. 24
Where: Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Florida.
Watch: CBS Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Jordan Kent, Analyst: Jordan Cornette)
Listen: (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink, Engineer: Bob Horner)
Alabama's projected starters
Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, junior
Stats: 19.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.5 apg 64.7% FG, 66.7% 3-pt
Aaron Estrada: 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, Graduate Student
Stats: 15.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, 54.8% FG, 56.3% 3-pt
Rylan Griffen: 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 7.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.8 apg, 53.3% FG, 50.0% 3-pt
Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, senior
Stats: 13.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, 53.1% FG, 33.3% 3-pt
Nick Pringle: 6-foot-10, 230 pounds, senior
Stats: 8.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.3 apg, 78.9% FG
Ohio State’s projected starters
Roddy Gayle Jr.: 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 14.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 4.0 apg, 54.5% FG, 30.8% 3-pt
Bruce Thornton: 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 15.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 4.5 apg, 38.3% FG, 38.1 3-pt
Evan Mahaffey: 6-foot-6, 200 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 3.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, 35.7% FG, 83.3% FT
Jamison Battle: 6-foot-7, 220 pounds, fifth Year senior
Stats: 11.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.3, 40.0% FG, 39.1% 3-pt
Felix Okpara: 6-foot-11, 235 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 4.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.3 apg, 57.1% FG, 50.0% FT
Defense, defense, defense
Alabama coach Nate Oats continued to preach defensive improvement from the Crimson Tide ahead of the Emerald Coast Classic.
He might sound like a broken record at the podium so far this season and while Alabama’s offense isn’t a finished product, Oats really hasn’t had much to complain about.
Alabama ranks No. 1 in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency according to KenPom, has the No. 1 scoring offense averaging 101.8 points per game and is shooting an NCAA-best 57% from the field so far this season.
Those numbers aren’t sustainable and the Crimson Tide hasn’t played a Power Five team yet, but they explain why Alabama’s offensive development has taken a backseat so far this campaign. Alabama has improved on the defensive end over its first four games, and Ohio State presents an opportunity to show that the Crimson Tide can slow down stronger opposition.
“Gotta get our defense better," Oats said. "That’s been our focus in practice. Ohio State's (a) typical Big Ten team. Tough, physical, gonna put some pressure on our defense (and) on our rebounding.”
The Buckeyes rank No. 50 in the country according to KenPom, 43 spots higher than Indiana State, Alabama’s highest-ranked opponent so far this season. Ohio State has three wins over mid-major opponents and a loss to then-No. 15 Texas A&M.
Oats was complementary of Ohio State's scoring ability and even recruited the Buckeyes two scorers this season, Bruce Thornton and Roddy Gayle Jr. Thornton leads Ohio State in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per game. Thornton also leads the Buckeyes in assists with 4.5 per game and steals averaging 1.8 per contest. Gayle averages 14.8 points per game.
Ohio State forward Zed Key has led the Buckeyes on the glass and has been impactful off the bench so far this season. He's averaging 7.2 rebounds along with 11.8 points per game as Ohio State's sixth man.
Pringle and Pressure
Alabama center Nick Pringle responded to Oats’ challenge to be more dominant in the paint for Alabama with 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks in 19 minutes of action against Mercer.
Oats praised Pringle for his recent efforts and said Alabama’s first Power Five test of the season gives Pringle a chance to elevate his game further.
“Nick's gotten significantly better,” Oats said. “Now he's going to have to guard some real posts that try to punch it to, that can really score. He's going to have to be different. His ball screen defense got significantly better. His rim protection got better. Help defense is there. Everything got a lot better for Nick over the last two weeks and hopefully, we can continue to see him progress and be the leader we need him to be on the interior.”
With more talented forwards to contend with, rim pressure on both ends of the floor will be vital for the Crimson Tide on Friday. As Pringle looks to sustain his strong form in the post, Oats also challenged West Virginia transfer Mohamed Wague to find his role in Alabama's system.
“He's got all of the want to, all the athleticism, toughness, physicality,” Oats said. “He's got all that. He’s just got to figure out how we want him to guard because it's definitely a lot different than what they were doing at West Virginia.”
Thanksgiving turkey with a side of postseason
“College basketball, NFL games and some turkey.”
That’s how Oats described his Thanksgiving this year. As he prepares for the Ohio State game Alabama’s coach made sure to give his team time to celebrate the holiday on the road.
“When you’re together on the road you have all your meals together,” Oats said. “So we'll have a couple of meals together on Thanksgiving Day but we'll make sure we have the turkey and mashed potatoes and dressing and whatever else goes with a Thanksgiving meal.”
While Alabama’s players are sacrificing a more traditional Thanksgiving this year, they are being rewarded with an experience that can help the Crimson Tide in March.
“This will be the only time that you play two teams in one weekend before the NCAA Tournament outside of the SEC tournament,” Oats said. “We kind of told them ‘Let's prep like it's the NCAA tournament.’”
Preparing for the Emerald Coast Classic certainly doesn’t come with the same amount of pressure as preparing for the first and second weekends of March Madness, but it gives Alabama’s players and staff an opportunity to scout multiple teams at the same time, while staying focused on the game in front of them.
"We're trying not to be surprised by anything we might see on Santa Clara (or) Oregon's defensive side of the ball," Oats said. "We kind of took what those two teams might do and did a little bit of that (on) Sunday and Monday."
After an off day Tuesday, Oats said Ohio State will be the focus of Alabama’s prep until the two teams clash Friday night. Oregon and Santa Clara will tip off at 8:30 p.m., following Alabama's game against Ohio State.
With a postseason approach to a November tournament Alabama will have a good gage as to how prepared it is for even more difficult nonconference games in the month of December.
Game notes
— Alabama head coach Nate Oats is 3-1 against Big Ten opponents during his tenure at UA, including winning the last three games.
— The Crimson Tide owns the No. 1 ranked offense and No. 23 defense according to KenPom, as UA is one of 10 teams in Division I to be ranked in the top-23 in both offense and defense.
— UA is shooting 48.9 percent from three-point range, which ranks No. 3 in Division I.
— Mark Sears ranks No. 1 in the SEC in field goal percentage (64.7), No. 2 in scoring (19.5 ppg), and No. 4 in assists (4.5 apg).
— Alabama is one of five schools in Division I with both football and men’s basketball programs ranked in the Top 25 (Arizona, James Madison, Tennessee and Texas).
— In his first five years at Alabama, head coach Nate Oats has won 96 games which is the most by a coach in UA program history.
