GAME NOTES: Hoping to get some momentum going as they look ahead to start of Southeastern Conference play, the Alabama Crimson Tide entertain the Mountaineers of Appalachian State on Sunday evening.

Appalachian State comes into this clash with a 3-5 record, the team hoping to put the brakes on a three-game slide. The Mountaineers dropped a 75-65 decision at Charlotte on Thursday in their most recent outing, and this is the third installment in their current four-game road trip. ASU will open Sun Belt Conference action next, as it visits Arkansas State on Jan. 3.

Alabama opened the season with three straight wins, but has since gone 4-3. The Crimson Tide bounced back from a heartbreaking 53-52 loss to nationally- ranked Wichita State by routing visiting Stillman on Friday night, 69-49. SEC action gets underway for the team on Jan. 6 at home versus Texas A&M, and it will play both UCLA and North Florida prior to that date.

This bout marks only the second meeting between these two schools on the hardwood, with Alabama winning the first at home on Dec. 20, 1986, 95-62.

Frank Eaves poured in 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds, but even his spirited effort wasn't enough to propel the Mountaineers to victory in their recent clash with Charlotte. Tommy Spagnolo logged a double-double consisting of 13 points and 11 boards, but he was guilty of six of the team's 16 turnovers, while Chris Burgess chipped in 11 points for Appalachian State, which shot 40.4 percent from floor, no thanks to a dismal 4-of-20 showing from 3-point range.

Eaves continues to pace the Mountaineers in scoring with his 16.4 ppg, doing so despite shooting just 34.8 percent from the field overall and only 25.7 percent from beyond the arc. Fortunately, he is an 84.5 percent free-throw shooter (60-of-71), the team as a whole converting 71.8 percent of its foul shots. Burgess (10.6 ppg) and Spagnolo (10.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg) are both netting double digits as well, but the Mountaineers are putting up only 62.4 ppg due in large part to their inefficiency from long range (.279).

Alabama put five players in double figures, as the team rebounded from the tough loss to Wichita State to manhandle Stillman a couple nights back. Balance was the key, as all five tallied between 12 and 14 points, with Justin Coleman finishing on the high side. Jimmie Taylor came within a whisker of logging a double-double, as he finished with 12 points and nine boards. Overall, the Tide connected on 43.1 percent of their field goal attempts, despite missing the mark on 17 of their 20 3-point tries. Holding their overmatched opponent to 32.8 percent accuracy from the floor, which included a 4-of-16 performance from downtown helped, as did goading Stillman into 20 turnovers.

Coach Anthony Grant's club boasts four double-digit scorers, led by Levi Randolph and his 16.8 ppg. Randolph also serves as the team's primary playmaker with 2.9 apg, and his 5.0 rpg ranks second to Taylor's 5.7 rpg. Ricky Tarrant (12.7 ppg), Cooper (12.3 ppg) and Shannon Hale (10.1 ppg) round out the offensive-minded quartet for a team that is putting up 74.5 ppg while permitting 67.3 ppg. The Tide are virtually even in rebounding margin (+0.2), while checking in a bit more favorably in the turnover department (+2.2).

ASU is just 2-22 all-time against teams from the SEC, and there is little hope that it is going to be able to improve upon that mark on the road here. That's not to say 'Bama is an elite squad, but it is certainly good enough to put another tally in the win column.