Alabama
Faulkner
Alabama Opens 2016-17 Hoops Season with Exhibition vs. Faulkner
11/2/2016 3:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Eagles set to tipoff at 7 p.m. CT Thursday night
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama men's basketball team will play its first game of the 2016-17 campaign when it welcomes the Faulkner Eagles to Coleman Coliseum on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. CT. It will be the lone exhibition game of the year for the Crimson Tide.
Thursday's exhibition game will be available online on SEC Network+ with Chris Stewart and Wimp Sanderson on the call. There will be no radio broadcast. Fans can follow along with livestats (accessed through RollTide.com), as well as game updates available on Twitter on @AlabamaMBB.
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OPENING TIP
- Faulkner head coach Scott Sanderson, who is in his third season at the helm of the Eagles program, is the son of longtime Alabama head coach and Hall of Famer Wimp Sanderson. The elder Sanderson, who is the network analyst for Thursday's contest, was the head coach at Alabama from 1980-92, compiling a career record of 267-119 (.692) and owns the most wins by a head coach in program history. He would go on to reach 10 NCAA Tournaments and made six Sweet 16 appearances. Sanderson helped lead Alabama to five SEC Tournament titles during his 12 years at the helm of the program.
- Scott Sanderson is the former head coach at the University of Mobile and Lipscomb University. He replaced his older brother Jim Sanderson, who retired from the position after 24 years.
- Alabama returns two starters and eight letterwinners from last season's 18-15 team that reached the National Invitation Tournament. The Crimson Tide will have to find a way to replace three of its top four scorers and its top three assist leaders from the 2015-16 squad. Part of that void will be filled with the return of redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram, who started each of the first seven games of the year before suffering a season-ending foot injury. At the time of his injury, Ingram was leading the team in assists and rebounds from his point guard position. Head coach Avery Johnson also welcomes back senior forward Shannon Hale, who returns as the team's leading scorer at 10.8 points per game. Â Â
- Alabama will next be in action when it opens the 2016-17 regular season when the Tide hosts the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Friday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. CT. The contest, which will mark the first game of the Las Vegas Main Event, will air on SEC Network+.
QUICK HITS
• Hale not only returns as the team's leading scorer, but he also tops all returnees in threes attempted (131) and free throw percentage (.747), while ranking second on the list in threes made (43) and minutes per game (24.6). Junior forward Riley Norris, who started 19 games a year ago, averaged 7.5 points and a team-leading 5.3 rebounds per contest as a sophomore. Norris also led Alabama in threes made (45) and total offensive rebounds (54), while ranking second in three-point field goal percentage (.375) and steals (26). Meanwhile, Ingram was averaging 7.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists through his first seven games before suffering a season-ending injury.Â
• Alabama welcomes a pair of fifth-year graduate transfers in Corban Collins and Bola Olaniyan. Collins, who came to The Capstone from Morehead State, earned second team All-Ohio Valley Conference honors last season, while leading the team in scoring (11.0 ppg), three-point shooting (57-of-134/.425) and assist-to-turnover ratio (90 assists and 36 turnovers). Olaniyan transferred to Alabama from Southern Illinois where he earned a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference Most Improved team. He ranked second in MVC in rebounds per game (8.8) and led the league in offensive rebounds per game (3.0) while adding 7.8 points per contest.
• In addition to Collins and Olaniyan, Avery Johnson also welcomes to the lineup junior Nick King (Memphis) and sophomore Avery Johnson Jr. (Texas A&M), who each sat out the 2015-16 season due to NCAA transfer rules. Furthermore, forward/center Daniel Giddens transferred from Ohio State but will have to sit out the 2016-17 campaign.
• Alabama reached the 2016 National Invitation Tournament, marking the third time in the last four years and 14th time overall the Tide has reached the NIT. It was the 33rd postseason appearance in program history (19 NCAAs and 14 NITs) and marked the fifth time in the last six years an Alabama team has reached a postseason tournament (four NITs, one NCAA).
• Alabama set a new home attendance record in head coach Avery Johnson's first year. The Crimson Tide averaged 13,110 fans per game, which ranked as the highest single-season per game attendance average in program history (full note on page 10). Furthermore, the Tide ranked second in the nation in increased attendance, improving 2,934 fans per game from 10,176 in 2014-15 to 13,110 last season.
• The Tide had five home sellouts during the 2015-16 season. It was the most games sold out in a single season at Alabama since selling out six during the 2006-07 campaign.
• Alabama was one of just 15 teams in the nation to have beaten four teams ranked in the AP Top 25 last year. In the four years prior to last season (2011-15), the Tide was a combined 0-18 vs. top-25 opponents.
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