Alabama Men’s Basketball Makes Trip to Madison Square

The Alabama men’s basketball team will head to New York City where it will square off against Oregon State on Thursday night at 6 p.m. in the championship round of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project. The contest, which will be played at Madison Square Garden, will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

 “We are excited to have the opportunity to go to New York and play in Madison Square Garden in a great tournament,” UA head coach Anthony Grant said. “We had two games here at home and now we get to advance to New York. We’re playing a very tough opponent in Oregon State. I had a chance to start looking at them and I’m really impressed with their team. They return, I think, 7 of their top 8 which is the majority of their scoring, rebounds and assists. So we’re looking at a veteran, very well coached team. Right now, the process for us is to get prepared for the challenge that lies ahead.”

The Beavers and Crimson Tide will play in the first game Thursday with both teams sporting a perfect 2-0 record. Alabama defeated South Dakota State (60-57) and West Alabama (80-49) in the Tuscaloosa Regional, while Oregon State captured wins over Niagara (102-83) and New Mexico State (71-62) in the Corvallis Regional.

 Purdue (1-1) and Villanova (2-0) will take the floor immediately after the Alabama-Oregon State match-up. The losers of those games will play at 4 p.m. CT (5 p.m. ET) Friday in the consolation game on ESPNU, with the winners competing for the 2K Sports Classic title in primetime Friday night on ESPN2.

Leading the Crimson Tide will be sophomore guard Trevor Lacey, who is off to a sensational start to the 2012-13 campaign. A native of Huntsville, Ala., Lacey is averaging 19.0 points, 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds a game this season. He is shooting 65-percent (13-of-20) from the floor and a remarkable 70-percent (7-of-10) from beyond the arc.

 In addition, Alabama guards Rodney Cooper (16.5 ppg) and Trevor Releford (16.0 ppg) are each averaging double figure scoring for Grant’s squad .

Oregon State also has a dynamic player in junior guard Ahmad Starks, who is averaging 25.5 points and 6.0 rebounds through the Beavers’ first two contests. Starks went for a career-high 33 points in the win over New Mexico State last Sunday, on his way to Pac-12 Player of the Week honors.

Thursday’s contest can be heard locally on Tuscaloosa's Sports Authority WDGM 99.1, as well as rolltide.com, while Friday’s broadcast will air on the Crimson Tide Sports Network as Chris Stewart and Bryan Passink will call all the action.