Head coach Anthony Grant will face his close friend and former colleague when the Alabama men’s basketball team battles the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, Feb. 16 in Coleman Coliseum.
Grant and first-year South Carolina head coach Frank Martin were high school teammates at Miami Senior High School, and the two coached together at their alma mater early in their careers.
Martin became the Gamecock’s head coach this season after leaving Kansas State, where he coached from 2007-2012. Grant said Martin brings a lot to the Southeastern Conference, and he’s pleased to see his friend move closer to home.
“I think Frank is happy to be in our league. I think he’s happy to be closer to his family, his wife’s family,” Grant said. “I think he’s excited about the possibilities there. Our relationship is bigger than basketball, so as long as Frank’s happy with where’s he’s at I’m happy for him.”
Alabama (16-8, 8-3 SEC) comes into the game tied for second place in the SEC standings with Kentucky. The Tide has won four of its last five contests, as well as eight of its last 10. South Carolina (12-12, 2-9) has lost five-consecutive games and will look to break its current skid against the Tide.
(See also “Team tries to ‘step up to the line’ on offensive plays after low scoring streak”)
Grant said the Gamecocks possess a smaller roster, much like Alabama, but South Carolina doesn’t let its size affect its aggressiveness on the glass.
“They’re similar to us, in terms of size in the frontcourt,” Grant said. “What’s impressive is, I think, they’re in the top five in the league in offensive rebounding; at one point they were in the top five in the country in offensive rebounding.”
Grant also touched on the Tide’s lackluster shooting over the past five games. But he was quick to credit his team’s defensive efforts.
“Over the last five games we’re shooting a much lower percentage than we have all year,” Grant said. “I think at one point we were leading the conference in 3-point field goal percentage. We were in the mid-40s from the field. In the last five games we haven’t done that. But we’ve won four out of five, and a big reason for that is our guys have been committed to staying the course from a defensive standpoint. It’s allowed us to have a chance.”
Sophomore guard Levi Randolph said his team hasn’t changed its practice philosophy and intends to ride out this dry shooting spell.
“We work hard in practice every day,” Randolph said. “We come out and try to give it our all. We’ve been doing that since day one, and we’re going to continue to do that.”
The Tide ranks 12th nationally in points allowed per game with 57.3 and that is due, in large part, to Alabama’s ability to steal the ball.
Junior guard Trevor Releford has 168 steals in his collegiate career and is tied for third place program history with NBA-great Robert Horry. He needs only nine more steals to pass Senario Hillman (176) as the school’s all-time leader.
Grant said his team must not underestimate South Carolina because of its record but expect a slugfest, like most of its games this season.
“For us, the thing I tell our guys is we’ve got to understand the fight that they’re going to bring to the game, and we’ve got to be able to match and surpass that,” Grant said.
The game tips off at 3 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.
