GAME 19

#8/6 Auburn Tigers (16-2, 5-0 SEC) vs. Alabama Crimson Tide (12-6, 4-1 SEC)

Jan. 24, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. (CT)

Coleman Coliseum (13,474) | Tuscaloosa, Ala.

 

Television: ESPN

Play-By-Play: Karl Ravech

Color Analyst: Jay Williams

 

Radio: Auburn Sports Network

Play-By-Play: Andy Burcham

Color Analyst: Randall Dickey

 

» It’s rivalry week as No. 8-ranked Auburn (16-2, 5-0 SEC) travels North to Alabama (12-6, 4-1 SEC) for a much-anticipated Wednesday showdown for state bragging rights in Tuscaloosa.

 

» Auburn has seven Quad 1 games remaining based on the NET rankings of its remaining opponents: at Alabama (No. 9 in NET), at Miss State (No. 40), at Ole Miss (No. 70), Alabama, at Florida (No. 45), Kentucky (No. 18) and at Tennessee (No. 4).

 

» Bruce Pearl is 12-12 against Alabama during his head coaching career including 2-6 on the road in Tuscaloosa, while at Auburn.

 

» Since the 2017-18 season, Auburn and Alabama have combined to win seven SEC regular-season and tournament championships. The Tigers claimed regular-season titles in 2018 and 2022 and a tournament title in 2019, while Alabama claimed regular-season and tournament titles in 2021 and 2023.

 

» The Tigers currently boast the nation’s fourth-longest win streak (11), while Alabama Alabama has won 11-straight SEC home games at Coleman Coliseum.

 

SCOUTING ALABAMA

» Alabama head coach Nate Oats is 5-3 versus the Tigers (all with the Crimson Tide) including last year’s regular-season series sweep.

 

» The Crimson Tide is receiving votes in this week’s AP Poll (No. 29) and Coaches Poll (No. 26).

 

» Alabama currently ranks No. 4 in the country in scoring offense averaging 89.2 points per game. It is also No. 5 nationally averaging 11.3 3-pointers per game and No. 17 with a 38.9 3-point field-goal percentage accuracy.

 

SERIES HISTORY

» Wednesday night’s game is the 167th all-time meeting between Auburn and Alabama with the Crimson Tide holding a 101-65 series lead.

 

» Alabama leads 52-10 in games played in Tuscaloosa including 45-9 at Coleman Coliseum.

 

» Six of the last eight games in the series have been decided by eight points or less.

 

LAST SIX GAMES IN THE SERIES

Jan. 9, 2021              H         L, 90-94

March 2, 2021          A         L, 58-70

Jan. 11, 2022            A         W, 81-77

Feb. 1, 2022              H         W, 100-81

Feb. 11, 2023           H         L, 69-77

March 1, 2023          A         L, 85-90 (OT)

 

BACK IN THE TOP 10

» Auburn climbed five spots to No. 8 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 Poll – the Tigers’ highest ranking since finishing the 2021-22 season No. 8. They are also ranked No. 6 along with Kentucky in this week’s ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll.

 

» Auburn has now been ranked in the Top 10 in five of the last seven seasons under Coach Pearl.

 

» The Tigers are among the blue bloods of college basketball with the sixth-most Top 10 appearances in that impressive seven-year span behind Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas and Kentucky (7-of-7). Michigan State boasts the fifth most (6-of-7).

 

Team                          Seasons

Duke                           7

Gonzaga                    7

Kansas                       7

Kentucky                    7

Michigan State          6

Auburn                      5

Baylor                         5

Houston                     5

Michigan                    5

North Carolina          5

Tennessee                5

Villanova                    5

Virginia                       5

 

5-0 SEC START

» Auburn has started SEC play 5-0 with all five victories coming by at least 11 points. It marks the fifth time in program history the Tigers have won their first five SEC games including the second time in the last three seasons after opening league play 10-0 in 2022.

 

» This is also the first time in program history the Tigers have won their first five SEC games by double digits.

 

» The Tigers are currently one of just two power conference teams (Power 5 and BIG EAST) that remains undefeated in conference play. They are the only power conference team that has won all of their conference games by double digits.

 

5-0 STARTS IN SEC PLAY

Year                Start

1959               12-0

2022               10-0

2024               5-0

1999               5-0

 

Power Conference Teams Undefeated in Conference Play

Team                          Conference              Conference Record

Auburn                      SEC                            4-0

Alabama                    SEC                            4-0

North Carolina          ACC                            6-0

Oregon                       Pac-12                       5-0

 

PLAYER TO WATCH: JAYLIN WILLIAMS

» Graduate senior forward Jaylin Williams continues to play some of his basketball of his career. He led Auburn to another 2-0 week with victories on the road at Vanderbilt (W, 80-65) on Jan. 17 and at home against No. 22-ranked Ole Miss (W, 82-59) on Jan. 20. The Tigers are the lone undefeated team atop of the league standings.

 

» Williams had another perfect night from the field (7-for-7), 3-point arc (2-for-2) and free throw line (5-for-5) against the Commodores pouring in a game-high 21 points. It marked his ninth 20-point career outing. He followed that performance up with game-high tying 13 points on 71.4% shooting from the floor versus the Rebels.

 

» Williams has five 20-point games during Auburn’s 11-game winning streak during which he is averaging 15.5 points on 70.0 percent shooting from the floor, 53.6 from 3-point range and 83.3 from the free-throw line. His five 20-point games in his last 11 contests are one more than he had in 114 career games prior to the last 11 games.

 

» In SEC play, Williams is averaging a team-best 15.2 points and 5.4 rebounds and is leading the league shooting 77.1 percent from the floor. He is also shooting 88.2 percent from the free-throw line in conference play.

 

» With 1,108 career points to date he is 88 away from moving into the Top 25 of Auburn’s career scoring list. J-Will is also one game away from moving into the Top 10 for career games played (125).