5 Things To Know About the Alabama Crimson Tide

At 8 p.m. ET tonight, your No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. The reigning SEC champions were voted to finish second in the league this year behind Kentucky, but have had a bit of a rocky road. We’ll have a thorough scouting report for you later today, but to get us rolling, here are five quick things to know about the Crimson Tide.

1. They have one of the oddest resumes in college basketball

Alabama is 14-8 this season, 4-5 in SEC play. If you look just at the win column, they have one of the most impressive records in college basketball:

• Dec. 4: WIN vs. No. 3 Gonzaga (91-82)
• Dec. 11: WIN vs. No. 14 Houston (83-82)
• Dec. 29: WIN vs. No. 14 Tennessee (73-68)
• Jan. 19: WIN vs. No. 13 LSU (70-67)
• Jan. 29: WIN vs. No. 4 Baylor (87-78

…and then you look at the loss column.

• Nov. 25: LOSS to Iona (72-68)
• Dec. 14: LOSS at Memphis (92-78)
• Dec. 21: LOSS to Davidson (79-78)
• Jan. 8: LOSS at Missouri (92-86)
• Jan. 11: LOSS to No. 4 Auburn (81-77)
• Jan. 15: LOSS at Mississippi State (78-76)
• Jan. 25: LOSS at Georgia (82-76)
• Feb. 1: LOSS at No. 1 Auburn (100-81)

Now, there isn’t any shame in losing to Auburn. Iona, Davidson, and Mississippi State are good squads too. Once upon a time, Memphis played decent basketball. But to lose to Missouri and Georgia? Yikes.

2. They still love the three

A contributing factor to a few of those bad losses: three-pointers, or lack thereof. If you don’t recall the shot charts from Alabama’s games last season, Nate Oats loves himself some three-point shots. The Crimson Tide lead the SEC and rank eighth nationally in threes attempted at 653, or 29.7 per game. For comparison, Kentucky has attempted 408 threes this season, or 18.5 per game.

Even with that many attempts, Alabama is only connecting on 31.4%, which ranks 11th in the SEC and 290th in the country. (Kentucky’s making 35.3%, which ranks 1st in the SEC, 100th nationally.) In Alabama’s loss at Georgia, they shot 9-34 from the outside (26.5%). On nights they’re hot, you’re in trouble; on nights they’re not, you’ve got a good shot.

3. Jaden Shackelford and Jahvon Quinerly lead the way

Guards Jaden Shackelford and Jahvon Quinerly are the best scoring duo in the SEC, averaging a combined 32.4 points per game. Shackelford leads Alabama with 17.6 points per game and, even though he’s only 6’3″, is the Crimson Tide’s second-leading rebounder with 5.7 boards per contest. Shackelford has scored 20 or more points in four of Alabama’s last five games. Jahvon Quinerly is the second-leading scorer (14.8 points per game) and leads the team in assists (4.3 per game). Another guard, Keon Ellis, leads the team in rebounding with 6.2 per game. In Alabama’s wins this season, they’ve outrebounded their opponent by six. In their losses, they’ve lost the rebounding battle. Oscar Tshiebwe should have a field day down low tomorrow.

4. It’s their third-straight game against a Top-5 opponent

The Cats are catching the Crimson Tide at the end of a tough road. This will be Alabama’s third straight game against an AP Top-5 opponent, the first such streak since the 2008-09 season (Rutgers). The Crimson Tide beat No. 4 Baylor in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and lost at No. 1 Auburn on Tuesday. Alabama is 5-2 against AP Top 25 ranked opponents this year, with all seven games coming against teams ranked inside the top 15. No wonder their schedule is ranked the toughest in the county.

5. Kentucky hasn’t won in Tuscaloosa since 2017

Here’s a surprising stat: the Cats haven’t won in Coleman Coliseum since 2017. Last year’s team lost to the No. 9 Crimson Tide 70-59 and the 2018-19 team lost by a bucket, 77-75, when Tyler Herro’s three bounced off the rim at the buzzer. Tevin Mack hit six threes in the first half of that one. This season, Alabama is 10-1 at home, the only loss to Auburn.

BONUS: Juwan Gary’s mask and JD Davidson’s hair

Sophomore forward Juwan Gary got elbowed in the face vs. LSU and since, has been sporting a custom mask that makes him look like Batman.

Freshman guard JD Davison has the wildest hair in college basketball:

That, my friends, is a lewk.