Gonzaga vs Alabama: 2021-22 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

Nate Oats and #16 Alabama travel to Seattle to take on National Player of the Year candidate Drew Timme and #3 Gonzaga in a must-see non-conference matchup.

TV schedule: Saturday, Dec. 4 – 8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Arena: Climate Pledge Arena – Seattle, WA

Gonzaga is 38-2 since the start of last season with 36 of those wins coming by double-digits. One of those two losses came against Duke this past Friday and one of those two single-digit wins came against Tarleton State (0-6) in Gonzaga’s last outing. After obliterating then No. 2 UCLA on November 23, the Zags have looked surprisingly mortal in their last two games.

That said, Gonzaga is still one of just three teams to rank in the top 10 in both adjusted offensive (2nd) and defensive (9th) efficiency. A large reason why the offense has been so efficient is their ability to get to the rim and finish, ranking in the top 15 nationally in the percentage of their total shots that come at the rim as well as their field goal percentage on those shots at the rim, per Hoop-Math.

Preseason National Player of the Year Drew Timme (17.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG) and No. 1 overall recruit Chet Holmgren (13.8 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.5 BPG) have taken 88 total shots at the rim and made 72 of them—an 81.8% conversion rate.

Alabama is led by a dynamic guard trio of Jaden Shackelford (18.0 PPG), Jahvon Quinerly (14.6 PPG), and Keon Ellis (13.3 PPG). Under Head Coach Nate Oats, Bama has been known for their up-tempo style and 3-point shooting. While the Tide do still play fast and shoot threes, they also rank eighth in the country in 2-point FG% at 59.8%.

Alabama’s offensive style garners much of the attention, but their defensive proficiency is what transformed them into SEC regular-season and tournament champions last year, finishing third nationally in defensive efficiency. This season the offense has improved, but the defense has slipped slightly to 31st in the nation.

Gonzaga easily handled two top 10 teams in Texas and UCLA largely because of those teams’ lack of elite size and physicality. The Zags struggled against a much longer, athletic, physical Duke team.

Alabama is a mix of both—the 7-0 Charles Bediako gives them an excellent and physical defensive presence in the paint, but after that, Oats goes with three guards and either a physical 6-6 forward in or a more finesse 6-8 forward in Noah Gurley. While Alabama might not have the intimidating average height that Duke does, they are a well-coached defensive team that is incredibly physical and athletic.

Both Gonzaga and Alabama are elite offensively, well-coached, and love to play fast. This has the potential to be one of the most entertaining non-conference matchups of the season up to this point.

At the end of the day, Alabama shoots and guards the three better than the Zags. I’ll take the Tide to pull off the upset in hoops on the same day that their football team takes on No. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship on the gridiron.