Alabama left Knoxville with its first road win in 16 attempts and a 12-3 record, including a perfect 2-0 to start the conference slate. Perhaps more significantly, the team is receiving votes in the AP rankings for the first time since 2012-13. Monday’s rankings showed seven votes for the Crimson Tide – not enough for the team to break into the rankings, but a good sign for a team attempting to develop an NCAA Tournament resume.
“We practice every day and we just try to go out and play hard,” senior guard and captain Levi Randolph said. “It felt good to go out and win on the road. Wherever you go in the SEC, it’s tough to win on the road. It’s a big step for us and we just want to continue to improve as a team.”
Now Alabama heads to South Carolina to attempt to build a road winning streak. Alabama coach Anthony Grant will be matched up against his former high school teammate, South Carolina coach Frank Martin. The Crimson Tide will be matched up against a team similar to itself. The Gamecocks (9-5, 0-2 SEC) is a fast-paced team that places an emphasis on defense first.
“We’re looking forward to the third SEC game,” Grant said. “We’re still relatively young in the SEC season. We’ve got two games in. They’ve got two games in. We’re really impressed watching their team on film. They have some great non-conference wins. Obviously, the first two games for them, at home against Florida and on the road against Ole Miss, they didn’t get the result they wanted. I think Frank is doing a great job with this group. They play extremely hard. They are one of the best defensive teams in the country. They play fast offensively. They have good personnel and good depth, so, it will be a great challenge for us.”
Alabama’s own defense has vastly improved since the start of its season. In the first seven games of the 2014-15 slate, Alabama conceded an average of 80 points per game, a 46 percent shot rate from the floor, and held one opponent to fewer than 60 points. The situation reached its nadir in a loss at Xavier, when Alabama conceded 97 points. Since then, the Crimson Tide has averaged 50.9 points conceded per game and a field goal percentage against of only 35.2 percent. Seven opponents have failed to score more than 60 points.
“I think our team has done a great job of really facing the challenges that are in front of us,” Grant said. “I think we realized that to be as good as we can be, as good as we want to be, it all starts on the defensive end.”
