Alabama basketball failed to find much of a rhythm during its non-conference season. Tuesday, the Crimson Tide will look to get back on the right foot before opening up SEC play. Following its narrow loss to Western Kentucky over the weekend, Alabama will close out its non-conference slate with a home game against East Tennessee State.
Here’s all the information you need to know about the game.
How to watch
Who: Alabama (4-3) vs. East Tennessee State (4-3)
When: 6:30 p.m. CT, Tuesday, Dec. 22
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa Alabama
Watch: SEC Network + (play-by-play: Roger Hoover, analyst: Trevor Releford)
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (play-by-play: Chris Stewart; analyst: Bryan Passink)
Alabama projected starting five
Herbert Jones: 6-foot-8, 210 pounds, senior
Stats: 14.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 47.9% FG, 54.5% 3-pt
Jaden Shackelford: 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 12.3 ppg., 5.0 rpg, 1.4 apg, 34.2% FG, 31.4% 3-pt
John Petty Jr.: 6-foot-5, 184 pounds, senior
Stats: 12.0 ppg., 5.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 38.4% FG, 28.3% 3-pt
James Rojas: 6-foot-8, 220 pounds, redshirt junior
Stats: 4.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 31.0% FG, 23.1% 3-pt
Jordan Bruner: 6-foot-10, 225 pounds, graduate student
Stats: 6.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, 47.1% FG, 27.8% 3-pt
East Tennessee State projected starting five
David Sloan: 6-foot, 180 pounds, senior
Stats: 9.3 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 4.0 apg, 37.0% FG, 50.0% 3-pt
Ledarrius Brewer: 6-foot-5, 195 pounds, junior
Stats: 15.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.1 apg, 44.6% FG, 36.6% 3-pt
Vonnie Patterson: 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, senior
Stats: 5.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.1 apg, 38.9% FG, 16.7% 3-pt
Damari Monsanto: 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, redshirt freshman
Stats: 6.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, 30.4% FG, 21.1% 3-pt
Silas Adheke: 6-foot-8, 245 pounds, graduate senior
Stats: 6.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.0 apg, 70.4% FG
Notes and quotes
— Alabama has the shooters, the ball just isn’t going in the net. Despite the talent on the Tide’s roster, it is averaging just 75.6 points per game, down 6.4 points from last year.
“We didn’t really expect that coming into the year with the offensive weapons we’ve had,” head coach Nate Oats said Monday. “We’ve got to get the ball moving a little bit better. We’ve got to get guys playing a little bit better on the offensive end.”
— Alabama has especially struggled from beyond the arc where it is hitting just 29.3 percent of its shots, down from 34.9 percent last season. During its loss to Western Kentucky over the weekend, the Tide missed several wide-open 3s. According to Oats, that led to hesitation from his players later in the game which only worsened the problem.
“We can’t pass up open shots when we get them,” Oats said. “I don’t care how many we miss. That’s just a recipe for disaster. We got to get them to the right guys. We have to have the right guys open. But we can’t pass open shots. I feel like we had shooters passing up open shots Saturday.”
— While Alabama’s overall scoring is down, Herbert Jones has seen an uptick in his offensive performance of late. The senior is averaging a team-high 14 points per game and also leads the team shooting 54.5 percent (6 of 11) from 3. That’s quite the difference from last year when Jones averaged 7.9 points per game and shot just 7.1 percent (1 of 14) from beyond the arc.
“Obviously the jump shot dropping helps… I think having the ball in his hands a lot more, he’s more aggressive going to the rim,” Oats said. “He’s still got to get better finishing the ball. He missed some at-the-rim, shots that he needs to make frankly, and he knows that. So if he’s scoring at the rim like he should be and he will be — I’m pretty confident he’s going to start making those — his scoring’s going to go up even more from there.”
— Oats said the team’s overall scoring should increase once redshirt sophomore point guard Jahvon Quinerly better figures out the system. The former McDonalds All-American sat out last season after transferring from Villanova. He has been in a slump in recent games, averaging 6.33 points over his last three outings. Quinerly had 9 points against Western Kentucky over the weekend but turned the ball over six times in 21 minutes.
“He’s just got to get used to the pace of it, the speed of the game and all that,” Oats said. “I think once he does, his skill level’s obviously there.”
— Following Tuesday night’s game, Alabama will open up SEC play on Dec. 29 when it hosts Ole Miss. Oats said he believes a tough non-conference schedule has prepared his team for its upcoming conference slate.
“I will say this, I feel we played a lot tougher competition than almost everybody,” Oats said. “Obviously Kentucky’s playing a really hard schedule and there are a few other SEC teams that have played the level of teams we played. Most of them have not. I think we’ll be more ready in that regard.”
Here’s all the information you need to know about the game.
How to watch
Who: Alabama (4-3) vs. East Tennessee State (4-3)
When: 6:30 p.m. CT, Tuesday, Dec. 22
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa Alabama
Watch: SEC Network + (play-by-play: Roger Hoover, analyst: Trevor Releford)
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (play-by-play: Chris Stewart; analyst: Bryan Passink)
Alabama projected starting five
Herbert Jones: 6-foot-8, 210 pounds, senior
Stats: 14.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 47.9% FG, 54.5% 3-pt
Jaden Shackelford: 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 12.3 ppg., 5.0 rpg, 1.4 apg, 34.2% FG, 31.4% 3-pt
John Petty Jr.: 6-foot-5, 184 pounds, senior
Stats: 12.0 ppg., 5.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 38.4% FG, 28.3% 3-pt
James Rojas: 6-foot-8, 220 pounds, redshirt junior
Stats: 4.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 31.0% FG, 23.1% 3-pt
Jordan Bruner: 6-foot-10, 225 pounds, graduate student
Stats: 6.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, 47.1% FG, 27.8% 3-pt
East Tennessee State projected starting five
David Sloan: 6-foot, 180 pounds, senior
Stats: 9.3 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 4.0 apg, 37.0% FG, 50.0% 3-pt
Ledarrius Brewer: 6-foot-5, 195 pounds, junior
Stats: 15.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.1 apg, 44.6% FG, 36.6% 3-pt
Vonnie Patterson: 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, senior
Stats: 5.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.1 apg, 38.9% FG, 16.7% 3-pt
Damari Monsanto: 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, redshirt freshman
Stats: 6.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, 30.4% FG, 21.1% 3-pt
Silas Adheke: 6-foot-8, 245 pounds, graduate senior
Stats: 6.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.0 apg, 70.4% FG
Notes and quotes
— Alabama has the shooters, the ball just isn’t going in the net. Despite the talent on the Tide’s roster, it is averaging just 75.6 points per game, down 6.4 points from last year.
“We didn’t really expect that coming into the year with the offensive weapons we’ve had,” head coach Nate Oats said Monday. “We’ve got to get the ball moving a little bit better. We’ve got to get guys playing a little bit better on the offensive end.”
— Alabama has especially struggled from beyond the arc where it is hitting just 29.3 percent of its shots, down from 34.9 percent last season. During its loss to Western Kentucky over the weekend, the Tide missed several wide-open 3s. According to Oats, that led to hesitation from his players later in the game which only worsened the problem.
“We can’t pass up open shots when we get them,” Oats said. “I don’t care how many we miss. That’s just a recipe for disaster. We got to get them to the right guys. We have to have the right guys open. But we can’t pass open shots. I feel like we had shooters passing up open shots Saturday.”
— While Alabama’s overall scoring is down, Herbert Jones has seen an uptick in his offensive performance of late. The senior is averaging a team-high 14 points per game and also leads the team shooting 54.5 percent (6 of 11) from 3. That’s quite the difference from last year when Jones averaged 7.9 points per game and shot just 7.1 percent (1 of 14) from beyond the arc.
“Obviously the jump shot dropping helps… I think having the ball in his hands a lot more, he’s more aggressive going to the rim,” Oats said. “He’s still got to get better finishing the ball. He missed some at-the-rim, shots that he needs to make frankly, and he knows that. So if he’s scoring at the rim like he should be and he will be — I’m pretty confident he’s going to start making those — his scoring’s going to go up even more from there.”
— Oats said the team’s overall scoring should increase once redshirt sophomore point guard Jahvon Quinerly better figures out the system. The former McDonalds All-American sat out last season after transferring from Villanova. He has been in a slump in recent games, averaging 6.33 points over his last three outings. Quinerly had 9 points against Western Kentucky over the weekend but turned the ball over six times in 21 minutes.
“He’s just got to get used to the pace of it, the speed of the game and all that,” Oats said. “I think once he does, his skill level’s obviously there.”
— Following Tuesday night’s game, Alabama will open up SEC play on Dec. 29 when it hosts Ole Miss. Oats said he believes a tough non-conference schedule has prepared his team for its upcoming conference slate.
“I will say this, I feel we played a lot tougher competition than almost everybody,” Oats said. “Obviously Kentucky’s playing a really hard schedule and there are a few other SEC teams that have played the level of teams we played. Most of them have not. I think we’ll be more ready in that regard.”
