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How to watch: No. 8 Alabama basketball vs. Vanderbilt

Tony_Tsoukalas

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Staff
Feb 5, 2014
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After having its game at Texas A&M postponed earlier this week, No. 8 Alabama basketball will return to action Saturday as it hosts Vanderbilt inside Coleman Coliseum. The matchup is a meeting between the top and bottom teams in the SEC standings as Crimson Tide (17-5, 12-1 in the SEC) leads the conference by three games while the Commodores (6-11, 2-9) are one of just three SEC teams with an overall losing record.

Here’s all the information you need to know about Saturday’s game.

How to watch

Who: Alabama (17-5, 12-1 in the SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (6-11, 2-9)

When: Noon CT, Saturday, Feb. 20

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Watch: SEC Network (play-by-play: Mike Morgan, analyst: Mark Wise)

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: 11.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.0 apg, 46.7% FG, 52.8% 3-pt

Jaden Shackelford: 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 13.9 ppg., 4.0 rpg, 2.3 apg, 39.9% FG, 33.6% 3-pt

John Petty Jr.: 6-foot-5, 184 pounds, senior

Stats: 13.4 ppg., 5.1 rpg, 2.2 apg, 45.6% FG, 39.6% 3-pt

Joshua Primo: 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, freshman

Stats: 8.8 ppg., 3.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, 44.2% FG, 42.4% 3-pt

Alex Reese: 6-foot-9, 230 pounds, senior

Stats: 5.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.7 apg, 35.9% FG, 25.8% 3-pt

Vanderbilt projected starting five

Scotty Pippen Jr.: 6-foot-3, 170 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 20.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 5.2 apg, 43.6% FG, 37.1% 3-pt

Maxwell Evans: 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, senior

Stats: 7.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.5 apg, 42.4% FG, 37.3% 3-pt

Jordan Wright: 6-foot-6, 226 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 8.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.5 apg, 50.5% FG, 50.0% 3-pt

Clevon Brown: 6-foot-8, 232 pounds, redshirt senior

Stats: 3.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.2 apg, 48.6% FG, 9.1% 3-pt

Dylan Disu: 6-foot-9, 220 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 14.9 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 50.0% FG

Injury report

Alabama might see its starting big man back on the floor in the near future. During his Friday Zoom call with reporters, Nate Oats provided an update on Jordan Bruner, stating the injured forward experienced a setback a couple of weeks ago but should be close to returning to action for the Tide.

Bruner suffered a meniscus injury against Kentucky on Jan. 12 and has missed Alabama’s last nine games.

“He's back to where he is shooting this week and he's been able to go through some drills,” Oats said. “I think we are going to have some guys warm up tomorrow and see how they feel, go through walkthroughs. We were hoping we could have him back by the Arkansas game [on Feb. 24]. It's close. It's very close.

Bruner, a graduate transfer from Yale, started 13 games for Alabama before suffering the injury. The 6-foot-10, 225-pound forward is averaging 7.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and a team-high 1.2 blocks per game. He’s shooting 50.7 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from beyond the arc.

“He's been in a lot more drills in the last couple days of practice,” Oats said. "Up until this week, he hadn't been able to do anything outside of some spot shooting, free throws and some stationary ball-handling. They are amping everything up now. He's close to where he could be back.

"I think it would be great to get him back. He was playing great. I don't know if he can come back and play at the same level when he left but he should be pretty good, I would think."

Notes and quotes

— Alabama will recognize seven seniors for its Senior Day on Saturday as Tyler Barnes, Jordan Bruner, Britton Johnson, Herbert Jones, John Petty Jr., Alex Reese and Kendall Wall will all be honored before the game.

“That will be special for this group of seniors,” Oats said. “You think back to when Herb, Petty and Reese came in, that was a pretty highly-rated class that came in. Now these three guys are still with them. We added Bruner with them and we’ve got three walk-ons — Tyler’s been here the longest, B.J.’s graduating this year and Kendall came this year. It’s a special day for those guys."

— Alabama is two wins away from clinching at least a share of the SEC regular-season championship. The Tide last won the regular-season title in 2002. Alabama has a three-game lead over Arkansas with five games remaining on its schedule.

— Saturday’s noon matchup against Vanderbilt marks another early game for Alabama. The Tide’s last two losses came in early tipoffs as they dropped 11 a.m. matchups against Oklahoma and Missouri.

“We addressed the fact that we really haven’t played great in these 11 o’clock, noon tips,” Oats said. “We’ve got to adjust and do a better job ourselves. But it’s an exciting week, exciting times. We’re looking forward to playing the game and understand the ramifications of how this affects us being able to win a regular-season championship and the seeding and everything that goes with it.”

— Herbert Jones was one of 30 players across the nation who was named to the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team last week. Additionally, the Alabama forward was selected to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Midseason watch list. Only five other players in the nation join Jones on both lists, including Western Kentucky’s Charles Bassey, Baylor’s Jared Butler, Pittsburgh’s Justin Champagnie, Baylor’s Davion Mitchell and Southern California’s Evan Mobley.

— Vanderbilt features one of the best point guards in the conference in Scotty Pippen Jr. The son of six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen ranks second in the SEC in scoring (20.3 points per game) and assists (5.2 per game).

“He’s really good,” Oats said. “He was good last year as a freshman, and he may be the most improved kid in the league. He’s really playing at a high level, so you got to pay a lot of attention to him. He does everything. He shoots at a high level. He gets in the paint. He does a great job of playing under control when he gets in the paint. He finds guys. His assist numbers are high. So he’s obviously a huge focal point of their offense and what makes them go.”
 
Roll Tide. Be glad to see some Bama hoops action again. Been a long week since last Saturday.

I want this SEC regular season championship for the Tide.
 
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