TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After beginning its road trip to the state of Alabama on Thursday at Troy, the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team will wrap up the trip with a game at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.
The game will begin at 4 p.m. ET and air live on the SEC Network. The live radio broadcast of the game is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, or worldwide on EKUSports.com.
THE COLONELS
- For the second straight game, EKU (4-7) nearly erased a double digit second half deficit but couldn’t complete the comeback at Troy on Thursday. The Colonels sliced a 10-point Trojan lead with 6:20 left to two before falling 88-81.
- The Colonels are first in the nation in blocks (7.1 bpg). EKU is second in rebounds per game (45.00 rpg), fifth in fastbreak points (18.45 ppg), fifth in offensive rebounds per game (16.27 rpg) and 16th in scoring (86.3 ppg).
- Devontae Blanton ranks 10th in the ASUN in scoring (14.8 ppg), eighth in offensive rebounds (2.30 rpg), 10th in assists-to-turnover ratio (1.63), 10th in minutes played (29.60), 11th in assists (3.10 apg), 13th in field goal percentage (40.5 percent) and 14th in rebounding (5.90 rpg).
- EKU out-rebounded Troy by 10, 40-30. The Trojans entered the game having out-rebounded their opponents this season by 8.8 boards per game, the 29th best in the nation. The Colonels are now 38th in the NCAA in rebound margin at +7.4.
- Three Colonels rank among the top-15 in the ASUN in assists. Leland Walker (4.45) is sixth, Blanton (3.10) is 11th and Tayshawn Comer (3.09) is 12th.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
- Alabama sits at 6-5 overall after an 87-74 loss to No. 4 Arizona on Wednesday in Phoenix. The Crimson Tide have lost three straight games in the last two weeks, all to top-10 ranked teams – then fourth ranked Purdue (86-92), No. 8 Creighton (82-85) and the currently fourth ranked Wildcats.
- The Tide have the fifth ranked scoring offense in the nation at 90.5 points per game. Alabama scored 100-plus points in each of its first three games of the season and has scored 86 or more seven times in 11 games.
- Mark Sears, a 6-foot-1 senior guard and 2023 second team All-SEC selection, leads the team in scoring (20.4 ppg) and assists (3.6 apg), and is second on the team in rebounding (4.5 rpg). Aaron Estrada, a 6-foot-3 guard, is second on the squad in scoring (14.1 ppg) and assists (3.4 apg).
- Alabama’s scoring prowess has been fueled at the free throw line and the 3-point line. The Crimson Tide are fifth in the country in made free throws (20.1/game) while ranking 20th in free throw attempts (25.5/game) and 10th in percentage (78.6 percent).
- UA is 11th in the NCAA in 3-pointers (10.5/game) and 15th in 3-point attempts (28.7/game).
INSIDE THE SERIES
- Alabama leads the all-time series 2-0.
- The Tide won the first meeting 103-88 on Dec. 8, 1956 in Tuscaloosa. The two teams lest met in Birmingham on Dec. 9, 1989, a 71-52 Alabama victory.
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