GAME NOTES: The Alabama Crimson Tide will face their first true road test of the season on Saturday night when they head to the Cintas Center for a non- conference clash with the Xavier Musketeers.

Since losing its only game of the season to nationally-ranked Iowa State on Nov. 24 in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic (84-74), Alabama has rebounded with back-to-back wins to pull to 5-1. The Tide most recently downed South Florida at home on Tuesday, 82-71.

After a 5-0 start to the season, Xavier dropped two straight games to close out the Wooden Legacy against Texas-El Paso (77-73) and Long Beach State (73-70). The Musketeers will enjoy a return home to the Cintas Center, where they have won 20 of their last 22 games.

Xavier beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa last season, 77-74, to pull the all-time series even at 3-3.

The Tide led their most recent game from the opening tip, running out to a 6-0 start less than two minutes in and never looking back. Although they were outshot by USF from the field, 50 percent to 42.9 percent, they outscored it from the free-throw line (20-9) and they scored 26 points off of 21 USF turnovers. Rodney Cooper poured in a game-high 20 points, while Ricky Tarrant also shined with 17 points, eight assists and five steals. Levi Randolph and Justin Coleman netted 14 and 11 points, respectively, while Jimmie Taylor hauled in 11 rebounds.

On the season, Alabama shoots the exact same percentage from the field as its opponents (.451), but with the help of positive rebounding (+2.7) and turnover (+3.2) margins and an outstanding .812 free-throw percentage, it scores nine more points per game (79.2) than it allows (70.2). Randolph is the catalyst with 19.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg, and he has made all but one of his 37 free throw tries (.973). Tarrant (14.0 ppg), Cooper (12.3 ppg) and Shannon Hale (9.2 ppg) are also consistently reliable options.

Although the Musketeers defeated LBSU earlier in the season at home, they fell flat in the rematch on a neutral floor. Leading by one with under four minutes to play, the Musketeers were victim of an 11-3 LBSU run and they could never recover. They shot just 40.6 percent from the field, including a woeful 2- of-16 from beyond the arc, while LBSU connected on 10 3-pointers. Matt Stainbrook did his best to lift the team to victory with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Myles Davis came off the bench to score 10 and James Farr tallied eight points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

It was an underwhelming performance for an otherwise outstanding Xavier offense, which shoots 52 percent from the field this season for 83.6 ppg, which is more than enough to support a solid scoring defense (68.6 ppg). Trevon Bluiett and Stainbrook are tied for the team lead in scoring with 16.0 ppg. Both players shoot greater than 55 percent from the field, with Bluiett making 15-of-30 from long range and Stainbrook grabbing 8.1 rpg. Jalen Reynolds, Remy Abell, Dee Davis and Myles Davis all score between 10.0 and 8.0 ppg.

Xavier is clearly a much different team on its home floor, and a return to Cincinnati should mean a return to the Musketeers' high-scoring ways.