For the first time since the 1986-87 season, Alabama basketball is unbeaten through its first three conference games. The Crimson Tide is coming off an impressive 86-71 victory over Florida on Tuesday and will look to continue its momentum as it travels to Auburn on Saturday for an 11 a.m. CT tipoff. The Tigers are winless since the beginning of SEC play and are coming off a 72-61 defeat to Ole Miss earlier this week.
Here’s all the information you need to know about Saturday's game.
How to watch
Who: Alabama (8-3, 3-0 in the SEC) at Auburn (6-5, 0-3)
When: 11:00 a.m. CT, Saturday, Jan. 9
Where: Auburn Arena, Auburn, Alabama
Watch: ESPN2 (play-by-play: Beth Mowins, analyst: Dan Dakich)
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (play-by-play: Chris Stewart; analyst: Bryan Passink; sideline Roger Hoover)
Alabama projected starting five
Herbert Jones: 6-foot-8, 210 pounds, senior
Stats: 12.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 43.5% FG, 50.0% 3-pt
Jaden Shackelford: 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 13.3 ppg., 4.5 rpg, 1.6 apg, 38.3% FG, 35.9% 3-pt
John Petty Jr.: 6-foot-5, 184 pounds, senior
Stats: 12.6 ppg., 5.2 rpg, 2.4 apg, 44.4% FG, 35.6% 3-pt
Joshua Primo: 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, freshman
Stats: 6.4 ppg., 3.2 rpg, 0.9 apg, 40.3% FG, 31.6% 3-pt
Jordan Bruner: 6-foot-10, 225 pounds, graduate student
Stats: 6.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 50.0% FG, 28.0% 3-pt
Auburn projected starting five
Justin Powell: 6-foot-6, 205 pounds, freshman
Stats: 11.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 4.7 apg, 42.9% FG, 44.2% 3-pt
Allen Flanigan: 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 13.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.9 apg, 50.0% FG, 39.0% 3-pt
Devan Cambridge: 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 7.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.8 apg, 31.8% FG, 26.2% 3-pt
Jaylin Williams: 6-foot-8, 230 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 11.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.0 apg, 53.3% FG, 41.0% 3-pt
JT Thor: 6-foot-10, 205 pounds, freshman
Stats: 7.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.1 apg, 42.6% FG, 24.0% 3-pt
Notes and quotes
— According to Alabama head coach Nate Oats, Jahvon Quinnerly will miss Saturday’s game as he continues to deal with a medical condition. The redshirt sophomore point guard missed Alabama’s victory over Florida earlier this week with the illness. Following that game, Oats neglected to open up on Quinerly’s condition due to privacy reasons but stated it is “definitely not a season-ending injury or anything.” Through 10 games, Quinerly is averaging 13.0 points and a team-high 3.4 assists. He is shooting 48 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from 3.
— Auburn leads the SEC with 113 made 3s over 11 games. The Tigers rank fifth in the conference shooting 34.3 percent from beyond the arc. Auburn also leads the SEC with 329 3-point attempts. Six Tigers players have attempted 25 or more 3s this season.
“We can’t give any of those guys shots,” Oats said. “You are able to switch a few more things because everybody’s playing on the perimeter a little bit more, but I think (Jaylin) Williams and (JT) Thor are able to punish the switch inside a little bit, so we don’t want to want to switch a ton, but you can do that some to take away the 3. They hit an inordinate amount of 3s late in the shot clock too, so when you get down under three seconds they really pound the 3 hard. We just got to make sure we guard it out.”
— Alabama has the opportunity to win five straight games for the first time since Oats took over the team last season. Friday, the head coach was asked how close the program is to achieving what he envisioned when he took the job.
“I think the culture’s come a long way,” Oats said. “I really like where our guys are at. As far as playing hard, playing together, playing unselfish, having skilled guys on the floor, we’ve got a really good team. I like our team a lot.
“I think it’s close to what we envisioned, to be honest with you. We can always get better. Each guy can work individually on his own. We as a program and a staff can get better, but it’s getting pretty close to what I wanted. Now, we’re nowhere close to arriving because we’ve got tons of improvements to make. But as far as having skilled players all over the floor and having shooting on the floor and getting the guys together every night to give us an effort that deserves a win, I think we’re getting close.”
— Saturday’s game will mark the 163rd meeting between Alabama and Auburn on the hardwood. The Crimson Tide owns a 96-66 edge in the series. The programs split their two games last season with Alabama winning 83-64 in Tuscaloosa and Auburn securing a 95-91 overtime victory in Auburn.
— Alabama has dropped five consecutive games in Auburn Arena. The Tide’s last win on the Plains came on Feb. 17, 2015 when it beat the Tigers, 79-68. In all, Alabama owns a record of 26-33 when playing Auburn on its home floor. Since Auburn Arena opened in 2010, Alabama has a record of 3-7.
“We’re going to have to play hard,” Oats said. “The last time we went into their gym they were ready to go, and we weren’t. We were down 16-0 before you could blink your eyes. You’re scrambling the rest of the game when you give them a 16-point lead. We can’t do that this game. We’ve got to come out ready to go on the defensive end. We’ve got to take care of the ball offensively.”
— Alabama enters Saturday’s game with 1,699 wins in program history. When the Tide reaches 1,700 victories it will become only the third team in SEC history to reach 1,700 wins, joining Kentucky (2,321) and Arkansas (1,717). UA will be the 34th team in NCAA history to achieve the milestone.
Here’s all the information you need to know about Saturday's game.
How to watch
Who: Alabama (8-3, 3-0 in the SEC) at Auburn (6-5, 0-3)
When: 11:00 a.m. CT, Saturday, Jan. 9
Where: Auburn Arena, Auburn, Alabama
Watch: ESPN2 (play-by-play: Beth Mowins, analyst: Dan Dakich)
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (play-by-play: Chris Stewart; analyst: Bryan Passink; sideline Roger Hoover)
Alabama projected starting five
Herbert Jones: 6-foot-8, 210 pounds, senior
Stats: 12.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 43.5% FG, 50.0% 3-pt
Jaden Shackelford: 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 13.3 ppg., 4.5 rpg, 1.6 apg, 38.3% FG, 35.9% 3-pt
John Petty Jr.: 6-foot-5, 184 pounds, senior
Stats: 12.6 ppg., 5.2 rpg, 2.4 apg, 44.4% FG, 35.6% 3-pt
Joshua Primo: 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, freshman
Stats: 6.4 ppg., 3.2 rpg, 0.9 apg, 40.3% FG, 31.6% 3-pt
Jordan Bruner: 6-foot-10, 225 pounds, graduate student
Stats: 6.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 50.0% FG, 28.0% 3-pt
Auburn projected starting five
Justin Powell: 6-foot-6, 205 pounds, freshman
Stats: 11.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 4.7 apg, 42.9% FG, 44.2% 3-pt
Allen Flanigan: 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 13.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.9 apg, 50.0% FG, 39.0% 3-pt
Devan Cambridge: 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 7.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.8 apg, 31.8% FG, 26.2% 3-pt
Jaylin Williams: 6-foot-8, 230 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 11.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.0 apg, 53.3% FG, 41.0% 3-pt
JT Thor: 6-foot-10, 205 pounds, freshman
Stats: 7.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.1 apg, 42.6% FG, 24.0% 3-pt
Notes and quotes
— According to Alabama head coach Nate Oats, Jahvon Quinnerly will miss Saturday’s game as he continues to deal with a medical condition. The redshirt sophomore point guard missed Alabama’s victory over Florida earlier this week with the illness. Following that game, Oats neglected to open up on Quinerly’s condition due to privacy reasons but stated it is “definitely not a season-ending injury or anything.” Through 10 games, Quinerly is averaging 13.0 points and a team-high 3.4 assists. He is shooting 48 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from 3.
— Auburn leads the SEC with 113 made 3s over 11 games. The Tigers rank fifth in the conference shooting 34.3 percent from beyond the arc. Auburn also leads the SEC with 329 3-point attempts. Six Tigers players have attempted 25 or more 3s this season.
“We can’t give any of those guys shots,” Oats said. “You are able to switch a few more things because everybody’s playing on the perimeter a little bit more, but I think (Jaylin) Williams and (JT) Thor are able to punish the switch inside a little bit, so we don’t want to want to switch a ton, but you can do that some to take away the 3. They hit an inordinate amount of 3s late in the shot clock too, so when you get down under three seconds they really pound the 3 hard. We just got to make sure we guard it out.”
— Alabama has the opportunity to win five straight games for the first time since Oats took over the team last season. Friday, the head coach was asked how close the program is to achieving what he envisioned when he took the job.
“I think the culture’s come a long way,” Oats said. “I really like where our guys are at. As far as playing hard, playing together, playing unselfish, having skilled guys on the floor, we’ve got a really good team. I like our team a lot.
“I think it’s close to what we envisioned, to be honest with you. We can always get better. Each guy can work individually on his own. We as a program and a staff can get better, but it’s getting pretty close to what I wanted. Now, we’re nowhere close to arriving because we’ve got tons of improvements to make. But as far as having skilled players all over the floor and having shooting on the floor and getting the guys together every night to give us an effort that deserves a win, I think we’re getting close.”
— Saturday’s game will mark the 163rd meeting between Alabama and Auburn on the hardwood. The Crimson Tide owns a 96-66 edge in the series. The programs split their two games last season with Alabama winning 83-64 in Tuscaloosa and Auburn securing a 95-91 overtime victory in Auburn.
— Alabama has dropped five consecutive games in Auburn Arena. The Tide’s last win on the Plains came on Feb. 17, 2015 when it beat the Tigers, 79-68. In all, Alabama owns a record of 26-33 when playing Auburn on its home floor. Since Auburn Arena opened in 2010, Alabama has a record of 3-7.
“We’re going to have to play hard,” Oats said. “The last time we went into their gym they were ready to go, and we weren’t. We were down 16-0 before you could blink your eyes. You’re scrambling the rest of the game when you give them a 16-point lead. We can’t do that this game. We’ve got to come out ready to go on the defensive end. We’ve got to take care of the ball offensively.”
— Alabama enters Saturday’s game with 1,699 wins in program history. When the Tide reaches 1,700 victories it will become only the third team in SEC history to reach 1,700 wins, joining Kentucky (2,321) and Arkansas (1,717). UA will be the 34th team in NCAA history to achieve the milestone.
