Everything You Wanted to Know About Texas A&M at Alabama Basketball

From TV times to the promotions, the full 4-1-1 about the Texas A&M at Alabama basketball game

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men’s basketball team will close out its two-game homestand on Wednesday night when it plays host to Texas A&M inside Coleman Coliseum. 

Barring an SEC Tournament matchup, it will be the only meeting between the two teams this season.

The game will feature a contrast in styles, with the league’s top scoring offense in Alabama at 83.2 points per game facing the second-leading scoring defense in the SEC with Texas A&M at 64.0 points per game.

Time: 6 p.m. 

Where: Coleman Coliseum

TV: SEC Network with Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (analyst).

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play), Bryan Passink (analyst) and Roger Hoover (sideline). The pregame show will begin at 5 p.m. 

Series: This will be the 21st meeting between programs, with Alabama leading the series, 12-8. The two teams met twice last season with Texas A&M pulling off the sweep including a 81-80 victory at Coleman Coliseum. 

Promotions: Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night; Loaded Mac ‘n cheese bar for the first 250 students

What you need to know for Texas A&M at Alabama 

• Trying to improve its NCAA Tournament resume, Alabama has the No. 36 overall NET Ranking (as of 2/18) and the No. 4 overall strength of schedule. The Crimson Tide leads all SEC teams in strength of schedule, while its NET Ranking is fifth-best in the league.
• Coming into Wednesday night’s contest, Alabama has played five straight games that were decided by six points or less, most recently an 88-82 upset win over then-No. 25 LSU last Saturday. 
• Sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr. was named the Southeastern Conference’s Player of the Week and guard Jaden Shackelford earned the league’s Freshman of the Week. They were the first Alabama men’s basketball duo to sweep the league’s weekly awards dating back to the 1990-91 season when the SEC began what was then called the Rookie of the Week award.
• Over the last three games Lewis has averaged 24.7 points, 8.0 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. After going for a career-best 37 points in Alabama’s 105-102 overtime win at Georgia on Feb. 8, the 18-year old topped that performance by becoming the second player in UA history to record a triple-double in the 95-91 overtime loss at No. 11 Auburn on Feb. 12 (10 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists).
• Despite having a cast on his wrist, junior forward Herbert Jones pulled down a career-best 17 rebounds to go along with six points, three assists and a pair of steals and charges against No. 25 LSU last Saturday.

5 Things About Alabama

1. In the five games which Jones has missed with injuries, Alabama has a record of 2-3 including a one-point loss to Penn in the season opener, a four-point loss to Arkansas and a one-point loss to Tennessee.
2. Three UA players average double digits, while six average 8.2 points or better on the year. Lewis Jr. (17.5) tops the team and ranks fifth in the SEC in scoring average, while junior John Petty Jr. (15.2) ranks second on the squad and 10th in the league. Combined the duo produces the second-highest combined points by any two players on the same team in the SEC (32.7).
3. Petty is one of the top three-point shooters in the nation. He leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (44.7 percent, 76-of-170) and is second in threes made per game (3.0), while ranking sixth and 20th nationally in the categories, respectively. Additionally, he leads the squad and is tied for seventh in the conference in rebounding (7.1) and also tops UA in threes made and attempted while ranking second in steals (1.3) and minutes (34.3) per game.
4. Freshman Jaden Shackelford averages 14.3 points and ranks fourth in the league at 2.6 threes made per game. He also leads the team in threes attempted, as 184 of his 276 field goal attempts – approximately 67 percent – have come from beyond the three-point line. Juniors Alex Reese (9.6) and Herbert Jones (9.2) both are averaging near double digits as well.
5. Over its two games this past week, Alabama combined to make 35 three-pointers in 94 attempts, while breaking the single-game SEC record for threes made (22) and attempted (59) against Auburn. It set the program record for threes made and attempted in a season, topping the 259 made threes in 763 attempts across its 33 games in 2015-16. The Crimson Tide comes into its 26th game of the year having knocked down 269-of-766 treys this year.

5 Things About Texas A&M

1. Texas A&M is 12-12 overall and a 6-6 record in league play following its 74-69 win over Georgia. The Aggies forced the Bulldogs into 21 turnovers en route the win.
2. Senior forward Josh Nebo leads a balanced scoring attack that features seven players averaging between 6.0-11.4-points per game. Nebo leads the team in scoring and is the only Aggie to average double figures. He also tops the team in field goal percentage (.676) while his 2.1 blocks per contest not only leads the team but ranks second in the SEC and 31st in the nation. He is also second in rebounding (6.4) and minutes (28.1) per contest.
3. Junior Savion Flagg is second on the team in scoring (9.7) and ranks third in rebounding (5.1) while leading the squad with 2.5 assist per game. Freshman Emanuel Miller, who has scored 40 points in the Aggies’ previous two games, leads TAMU with 6.6 rebounds per game.
4. Texas A&M enters the contest ranked as one of the top defensive teams in the SEC and is among the top-50 teams nationally in a pair of categories. The Aggies are second in the league and 42nd in the nation at 64.0 points allowed per game, while their 40.1 field goal percentage defense is fourth in the SEC and 44th nationally. 
5. Former Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams is in his first year with the Aggies. Now in his 13th season as a head coach, Williams owns a record of 265-176 (.613).