North Carolina vs Alabama: 2019-20 Battle 4 Atlantis game preview, TV schedule
By Cody Gerena
The undefeated #6 North Carolina Tar Heels will look to take down a hungry Alabama Crimson Tide team in the first round of the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis
TV Schedule: Wednesday, November 27, 2:30 PM EST on ESPN
Arena: Imperial Arena in Nassau, Bahamas
College basketball’s premier preseason tournament returns once more in the ESPN exclusive Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis. This North Carolina Tar Heels vs Alabama Crimson Tide game is in the opening quarterfinal round, and winning this tournament is a sign of good things to come this basketball season.
Every Battle 4 Atlantis winner since the first edition in 2011 has made the NCAA Tournament, including Harvard who won the first tournament that year in an upset. The past five winners have all made the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament or better and in addition to that the past two years have had the Battle 4 Atlantis champion win the national championship.
This is North Carolina’s second time in the Battle 4 Atlantis. The first time was in the 2014 edition of this tournament where they were ranked #5 in the country but lost in the first round to Butler, but they proceeded that loss by beating a ranked #22 UCLA in the consolation semifinals and a ranked #18 Florida in the fifth-place game.
The #6 North Carolina Tar Heels come into this tournament as one of the fewer and fewer remaining undefeated teams in the country at 4-0. Their best win this season was a 76-65 home opener against Notre Dame, which they then followed by beating up mid-major teams by at least double digits in each of their three games after the opening game.
The Tar Heels offense is led by star freshman guard Cole Anthony who leads the team in points per game and assists per game with 22.8 points and 4.5 assists per game. In the frontcourt is junior forward Garrison Brooks who is second on the team in points and rebounds per game with 12 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
It should also be worth mentioning that senior guard Brandon Robinson is expected to make his season début for this game. Robinson has so far missed every game due to an ankle injury. He is projected to start for this game so it’ll be interesting to see how this addition will enhance an already contending Carolina team.
Alabama walks into this game with a disappointing 2-2 start with losses to Penn by one at home and a 93-79 loss at Rhode Island. On the bright side, they are coming from a big 81-73 win against Furman which has been ranked by KenPom to be their best opponent out of the four games that they’ve played in so far this year.
The Crimson Tide offense is led by sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr. who leads the team in both points and assists per game with 21.5 points and 5 assists per game as well as being second in the team in rebounds with 6.5 per game. Alabama also has freshman guard Jaden Shackelford who is second on the team in scoring with 15.8 points per game and scored 25 points against Furman which led the team.
Both teams are coming from decent stretches of inactivity with the Tar Heels last playing on the twentieth and the Crimson Tide last playing on the nineteenth. With neither team in the top 200 for field goal percentage by team in Division 1, how will the extra few days between this game and their last one affect them?
The winner of this matchup will face the winner of the Michigan-Iowa State game the next day, with the loser facing that game’s loser.
Next. 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis preview and predictions. dark
With this being a Battle 4 Atlantis tournament game is should be expected to be entertaining and what better way to see a nice fast-paced game as both teams rank within the top 40 for tempo. In the end, North Carolina will pull away due to having better shooting and fewer turnover troubles(Alabama averages over 20 per game which is more than 7 more than North Carolina) which will allow them to be able to reach the next round.