The University of Alabama men’s basketball team will play its only exhibition game of the 2017-18 season on Monday night, hosting a perennially pesky Alabama-Huntsville team in a 7 p.m. game at Coleman Coliseum.
“The guys have obviously been playing against themselves for quite a long time now and when they get a chance to play against an opponent not named Alabama, that’s something they are really looking forward to,” Alabama men’s basketball coach Avery Johnson said in previewing the matchup last week.
UAH went 26-8 last season under veteran coach Lennie Acuff, winning the Gulf South Conference tournament for a second time in three years. The Chargers were picked to finish third in the GSC this season in that conference’s preseason media poll.
“Coach (Acuff) is a legend. He’s been coaching for 27 years, 500-plus victories. They played an exhibition game in 2011 and JaMychal Green, who is in the NBA now, had to bail us out. We’re going to have to play and with the way we’ve been playing defense recently in practice, I’m not going to be surprised by anything. We love offense, but playing on the defensive end is something we’re still trying to mature into. We have to improve in that area.”
At least five freshmen — Collin Sexton, John Petty, Herb Jones, Galin Smith and Alex Reese — are expected to see action Monday night. Two of the Crimson Tide’s veterans, Riley Norris (hip) and ArMond Davis (knee), are not expected to play Monday night.
“We’re hoping we can wear teams down with the depth of our roster,” Johnson said.
The Crimson Tide’s game against UAH will be the second game of a doubleheader at Coleman Coliseum. In the first game, Stillman College will play the University of Mobile with tipoff at 4:30 p.m. CT.
Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil@tidesports.com or 205-722-0225.
