The No. 8 Alabama men’s basketball team (3-2) is back for game two of the Players Era Festival on Tuesday, facing UNLV at 11 p.m. CT. It’s the stark opposite of the 11 a.m. CT start time the Crimson Tide had for its Nov. 8 win at St. John’s inside Madison Square Garden.
UNLV (3-3) saw a two-game winning streak snapped in its first game at the Players Era Festival on Monday, losing 74-67 against Maryland. That is the only game against a Power Four opponent that the Runnin’ Rebels, which won the 1990 NCAA Tournament, have played this regular season.
It’s an unusually late tipoff time for Alabama. Las Vegas, home turf for the Rebels, is two hours behind Alabama’s time zone for its home games. A 9 p.m. tip on a Tuesday night is the situation at hand locally at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The Crimson Tide (3-2) lost 95-85 against No. 12 Gonzaga on Monday night, a contest that tipped off at 8:30 p.m. CT. It was a game where Nate Oats’ squad was outrebounded 48-36. The Bulldogs have now beaten Alabama in two of three all-time meetings.
Guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr., who was injured during the championship game of last season’s Players Era Festival against Oregon, will be out for the duration of this season’s iteration. He has a leg injury that is not expected to sideline him on a long-term basis, but he will not play Tuesday night.
Alabama point guard Labaron Philon scored 29 points against the Bulldogs, making 11 field goals, but also turned the basketball over six times and failed to record any rebounds. His scoring tailed off during the second half, and the rebounding differential contributed as Gonzaga eventually stretched its lead to double digits (and ultimately the final score).
Those rebounding issues, which have been problematic for the Crimson Tide in more matchups than just Monday’s, cannot persist if Alabama is to realize its hopes of being among the nation’s elite come March. Oats’ squad will have one more game to play at the Players Era Festival, regardless of Tuesday’s result opposite the Runnin’ Rebels; that contest will take place Wednesday against a to-be-determined team.
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First Half:
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