TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After upsetting the No. 1 team in the country for the second time this season, Alabama returns to the friendly confines of Coleman Coliseum to host Memphis.
Saturday's 71-65 win against Houston on the road came with their fare share of accolades as Alabama was ranked in the top five in both the coaches poll and AP Top 25 which were released on Monday.
During his media availability, Oats harped on consistency after finding success early in the season.
"We've kind of talked to our guys about let down being inconsistent last year, a lot in the offseason this year," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "We're going to see it now. Memphis is a really good team. This isn't we're playing a bad team and are worried about a letdown, like if you win if you play well. We could play a really good game just not shoot the ball and Memphis could beat us because they're a good team."
Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup.
How to watch
Who: No. 4 Alabama (8-1) vs. Memphis (8-2)
When: 8 p.m. CT, Tuesday, Dec. 13
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Watch: ESPN2 (play-by-play: Tom Hart; analyst: Fran Fraschilla)
Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network (play-by-play: Chris Stewart; analyst: Bryan Passink; engineer Tom Stipe)
Alabama's projected lineup
Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, junior
Stats: 14.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.3 apg, 43.6% FG, 44.4% 3-pt
Nimari Burnett: 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 7.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.8 apg, 42.2% FG, 34.5% 3-pt
Brandon Miller: 6-foot-9, 200 pounds, freshman
Stats: 17.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.7 apg, 37.9% FG, 42.9% 3-pt
Noah Clowney: 6-foot-10, 210 pounds, freshman
Stats: 9.4 ppg, 8.3, rpg, 1.1 apg, 47.8% FG, 26.5% 3-pt
Charles Bediako: 7-foot, 225 pounds, freshman
Stats: 5.2 ppg, 6.7, rpg, 1.0 apg, 40.0% FG
Memphis’ projected lineup
Kendric Davis: 6-foot, 170 pounds, fifth-year senior
Stats: 18.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 4.9 apg, 38.8% FG, 31.4% 3-pt
Alex Lomax: 6-foot, 190 pounds, fifth-year senior
Stats: 8.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.5 apg, 44.8% FG, 23.1% 3-pt
Jayden Hardaway: 6-foot-5, 207 pounds, redshirt senior
Stats: 6.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.6 apg, 37.7% FG, 34.4% 3-pt
DeAndre Williams: 6-foot-9, 205 pounds, fifth-year senior
Stats: 14.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 3.0 apg, 56.4% FG, 35.7% 3-pt
Chandler Lawson: 6-foot-7, 215 pounds, senior
Stats: 5.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.6 apg, 57.5% FG, 33.3% 3-pt
Quinerly’s message on Memphis
Alabama's matchup with Memphis has a bit of a déjà vu feel to it.
Last season when the two teams played, Alabama fell to Memphis on the road 92-78 in a turnover-laden, cold shooting night. It was the team's second loss of the season but started the team's run of inconsistent performances as Alabama went 5-5 mark over its next 10 games.
On Monday, last year's blowout defeat and what ensued was brought up by one of the members who experienced that loss firsthand — Jahvon Quinerly.
"He talked about it after practice today. (He said) we know what happened last year," Nate Oats told reporters. "We've got some business take care of this year like we got to be locked in, the whole program has talked about it. It's not a team we want to be up and down, up and down. We're up right now. We need to be better on Tuesday than we were on Saturday."
Youth vs. Experience
Along with the rematch, this year's Alabama-Memphis matchup pits Memphis' experience against Alabama's youth.
The Tigers' projected starters are all seniors or older along with leading scorers Kendrick Davis and DeAndre Williams are both fifth-year seniors. With its veteran group, the Tigers are off to a fast start going 8-2 in their first 10 games including a win against No. 19 Auburn.
Similar to its team from last year, defense continues to be Memphis' bread and butter. The Tigers rank No. 19 in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.
"If you look at their top 10 guys, nine of the 10 are seniors. I think five of those nine, four or five those nine are fifth-year seniors. I mean, DeAndre Williams is 26 years old and he's older than some guys on our support staff. Like they've got leadership, they've got experience, they've got a lot of stuff you're looking for in college basketball so and they're winning."
As for Alabama, the youth continues to drive the rest of the team accounting for more than 79% of the team's scoring this season. Brandon Miller leads the team in scoring with 17.9 points per game the highest average of all true freshmen in the nation. Even with Miller's struggles against Houston and North Carolina, Oats praised his ability to play through his cold shooting nights.
"They're a lot more mature than maybe a typical freshman class and emphasis nine seniors, but age doesn't always equal maturity," Oats said. "I think we've got some really mature freshmen even though they're younger. I think they've shown some maturity."
The emergence of Noah Clowney
While Miller's struggles haven't slowed down Alabama's torrent pace, it has allowed a fellow true freshman to blossom in Noah Clowney.
The former No. 13 center in the 2022 class was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for the second-consecutive week. Against the Cougars, Clowney recorded his first career double-double en route to a new career high in rebounds.
He's currently in the top 75 in rebounds in the nation as Alabama remains the lone program in the country to have two freshmen be in the top 75.
"We knew he was athletic," Oats said. "We knew we worked hard in the gym all the time, but you can't it's really hard to tell how. You know, we knew his intellectual on the phone. Sometimes that doesn't translate to the court. He's really smart on the court, like really smart, sometimes that's hard to predict. ... We're really happy with him."
Game Notes
— Alabama is ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 Poll, the highest ranking for the Tide since 2006-07 (Ranked No. 4).
— For the second straight week, Noah Clowney has been named SEC Freshman of the Week. Alabama is the first team since 1965-66 (Duke) with multiple wins over the AP No. 1 team before the New Year.
— Alabama’s win over No. 1 Houston was the Tide’s first true road victory over the nation’s top-ranked team in almost 40 years, dating back to Jan. 28, 1983 when UA won at then-No. 1 UCLA, 70-67.
— Alabama head coach Nate Oats has won five straight games when playing a team who played in the previous year’s Final Four (3-0 last year, 2-0 this year).
— Alabama is 5-7 all-time against the No. 1 team in the country, most recently defeating No. 1 Houston on Dec. 10 and No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 27.
— Alabama is 5-4 against AP top-5 teams since Nate Oats’ arrival in 2019.
— Nate Oats’ five AP top-5 wins is the most in program history.
— Brandon Miller is averaging 17.9 points per game, the most by any freshman in the country and No. 65 overall.
— Miller is the only freshman in the country to rank in the top 65 in points per game (No. 65) and rebounds per game (No. 65).
— Miller is averaging 3.0 three-pointers per game, which ranks No. 34 in the country.
— Alabama is the only school in Division I to have two freshmen rank in the top 75 in rebounds per game, as Miller ranks No. 65 (8.4 rpg) and Noah Clowney ranks No. 73 (8.3 rpg).
— Alabama ranks No. 1 in the country in rebounds per game (49.6), defensive rebounds per game (33.3), offensive rebounds per game (16.2) and No. 2 in rebound margin (+12.9).
— Alabama’s newcomers have scored 589 of the Tide’s 739 points this season.
