Alabama
UCF
No. 24 Alabama Set to Square Off Against UCF in Sunday Afternoon Tilt
12/2/2017 10:43:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Knights set to tip at 1 p.m. CT on ESPNU
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 24 Alabama men's basketball team will continue its three-game homestand when it welcomes the UCF Knights on Sunday afternoon in Coleman Coliseum. The contest will tip at 1 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPNU.
PROMOTIONS
• Youth Day - $1 tickets to all youth 18 and under
• Big Al Kids Club – Free mini basketball hoop for all kids club members
• Academic Achievement Day
• Free Shuttle Service – Provided to fans who park at the Soccer lot (access from 4th street). Service runs from 90 minutes before tip until 30 minutes after the game.
THE BROADCAST
• Sunday's game will air on ESPNU with Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Dino Gaudio (analyst) on the call.
• The radio broadcast can be found on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call, with the pregame show beginning at noon CT on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
OPENING TIP
• Alabama is ranked No. 24 in the nation in the latest Associated Press top-25 rankings which was released on Monday afternoon. The Tide is the second team receiving votes (No. 27) in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 poll.
• Guard Collin Sexton ranks second among all freshman at power-five schools in scoring average at 24.7 ppg. Oklahoma freshman Trae Young leads all freshman in the category with 28.8 ppg, followed by Sexton and Duke's Marvin Bagley III at 22.3 ppg.
• Last season, Alabama scored 82 points or more in only four games, with one of those games going to quadruple overtime (won 90-86 at South Carolina). The Tide has achieved the feat in four of its first seven games this year.
• Alabama and UCF will play for the fourth time in series history and the first time since Dec. 19, 1994. The Tide owns an all-time record of 3-0 against the Knights.
• At 6-1, Alabama is off to its best start to a season since the 2012-13 campaign. The Tide will be looking for its first 7-1 start since 2011-12.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama's 6-1 start is the best beginning to a season under head coach Avery Johnson, who is in his third year at the helm in 2017-18. Should the Crimson Tide defeat UCF on Sunday, it will be the first 7-1 start to a season since the 2011-12 campaign.
• Through its seven contests, the Tide is averaging 83.0 points per game and outscoring the opposition by 11.7 points per contest (83.0-71.3). As a team, Alabama is connecting on 51.6 percent from the field and 40.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Tide also owns a +1.7 rebounding advantage (38.3-36.6) and averaging 14.4 assists per contest.
• Defensively, Alabama is allowing opponents to shoot 40.6 percent from the field and 30.9 percent from deep. In addition, the Tide is averaging 6.4 steals and 6.7 blocks per game.
• Four players are averaging double-figure scoring for the Tide, led by freshman Collin Sexton's 24.7 ppg. Sexton also tops Alabama in assists (4.2 apg). Sophomore Dazon Ingram ranks second on the team in scoring averaging (12.6 ppg), rebounding (5.1 rpg) and assists (3.0 apg) a game. Freshman John Petty ranks third on the team with 12.3 ppg and tops UA in threes made (22) and attempted (53).
• Sophomore Donta Hall leads Alabama in field goal percentage (.733, 33-of-45), dunks (19), rebounds (7.1 rpg) and blocks (2.6 bpg), while adding 10.5 points a game.
SCOUTING UCF
• Alabama and UCF will meet for the fourth time in series history, and for the first time since the 1994-95 campaign, when the two teams square off at Coleman Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. The Crimson Tide owns a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series, including a 2-0 mark in games played between the two teams in Tuscaloosa.
• UCF comes into Sunday afternoon's contest having dropped three straight games after beginning the year with a 4-0 mark. Most recently, the Knights fell at home to SEC foe Missouri, 62-59, on Thursday night. Forward A.J. Davis led the team with 14 points and nine rebounds in the losing effort.
• Davis comes into the Alabama game averaging a double-double with 10.9 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. He also tops the team in assists (2.1) and minutes (34.3) per game. Seven-foot-six junior center Tacko Fall leads the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game, while also averaging 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks a contest.
• As a team, UCF is averaging 63.7 points per game, shooting 40.9 percent from the field and just 23.8 percent from deep. The Knights are outrebounding the competition by 3.6 rebounds per game (39.9-36.3). UCF has struggled this season in turnovers, averaging 9.3 assists to 17.0 turnover per game – a -3.9 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• The coaches of The American predicted UCF to finish third in 2017-18. The Knights were selected to finish behind Cincinnati and Wichita State prior to the start of the season. Last season, UCF went 24-12 and advanced to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament. B.J. Taylor earned a spot on the Preseason All-Conference First Team, while Tacko Fall was selected to the Second Team. It was announced on Nov. 14 that Taylor is sidelined 4-6 weeks with a foot injury that occurred in the team's first game of the season.
ALABAMA RANKED AMONG THE TOP 25
• The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 24 in the nation in the newest Associated Press Top-25 poll, which was released on Nov. 27. It is the highest AP ranking for Alabama since being ranked No. 18 in the nation for the week of Feb. 7, 2006.
• After the Tide was ranked in the preseason USA Today/Coaches Preseason Poll, Alabama drops out of the rankings falls out of the top 25 and is the second team out (No. 27) in this week's poll.
• Among the other top-25 polls that have been updated this week, ESPN.com's Power rankings lists Alabama at No. 25 in the nation. The Tide checks in at No. 18 in the nation according to CBSSports.com.
• Alabama was rated No. 24 by Blue Ribbon's Preseason Top 25, while NBC Sports ranked Alabama No. 23 nationally in its preseason rankings.
SEXTON GOES FOR 40, EARNS SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
• Freshman guard Collin Sexton was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after an impressive display on the court last week.
• Sexton put on a show for the Barclays Center crowd in the championship game of the 2017 Barclays Classic last Saturday vs. Minnesota. The Mableton, Ga., native was one of three players on the court for the final 10-plus minutes and nearly helped give the shorthanded Tide an improbable come-from-behind victory be scoring 40 points in the 89-84 loss to the nation's 14th-ranked team.
• Sexton, who scored 15 points in the final seven-plus minutes, had 31 in the second half alone. His 40 points set a UA freshman scoring record and marked the ninth-most points in a single game in program history. The Mableton, Ga., native became the first Alabama player to score 40 in a game since Reggie King had 43 points against Virginia on March 12, 1979.
• Sexton began the week by scoring a then-season high 29 points in a one-point victory over UT Arlington (11/21) and followed that with 10 points and a season-high seven rebounds in a win over BYU (11/24).
NUGGETS YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Collin Sexton is the second-leading scorer among all freshman in power five conferences. Oklahoma's Trae Young leads the category with 28,2 ppg, Sexton is second at 24.7 ppg, while Duke's Marvin Bagley III ranks third at 22.2 ppg.
• Freshman Herbert Jones has drawn 10 charges already this season. Since the stat was kept at Alabama, the most charges for an entire season by a single player was Braxton Key who drew 14 charges in 2016-17, followed by Retin Obasohan's 10 charges taken in 2014-15.
• Junior Donta Hall leads the Tide with 19 dunks on the season, including a season-high five last Wednesday against Louisiana Tech. In fact, 57.6 percent of Hall's made field goals this have been dunks. Hall, who leads Alabama in field goal percentage at 73.3 percent, has made 33 field goals on the year (33-of-45), 19 of which he has flushed.
• Sexton leads the SEC in scoring average, ranks fifth in the league in field goal percentage (.505), is sixth in steals (1.5 spg), seventh in assists (4..2 apg) and eighth in three-point field goal percentage (.480). Meanwhile, Hall is third in blocks (2.6 bpg), while freshman John Petty ranks 4th in the SEC in threes page per game (3.1).
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