How to watch: No. 10 Alabama vs. No. 20 North Carolina in the ACC/SEC Challenge

The Alabama basketball team’s gauntlet continues after the Crimson Tide finished second at the Players Era Festival last week. Next up for No. 10 Alabama is a trip to No. 20 North Carolina in this year’s ACC/SEC Challenge.

The SEC already has one win in this year’s challenge as its teams went 9-1 against ACC opponents on Tuesday. Alabama’s matchup against UNC will be one of six Wednesday games in the challenge as the SEC looks to increase the score.

Alabama and UNC have met each of the last two seasons. Two years ago, the Tide defeated the Tar Heels 103-101 in four overtimes at the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Oregon. Last season, No. 4 seed Alabama defeated No. 1 seed North Carolina 89-87 in Los Angeles during the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels are currently the 2.5-point favorite in this year’s matchup, which will be played at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Here’s everything you need to know before the matchup.

WHO: No. 10 Alabama (6-2) and No. 20 North Carolina (4-3)

When: 6:15 p.m. CT, Wednesday, December 4th

Where: Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Regard: ESPN (Play-by-Play: Jon Sciambi, Analyst: Jay Williams)

Hear: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (Play-by-Play: Roger Hoover, Analyst: Bryan Passink)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 16.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.6 apg, 35.1% FG, 28.8% 3-pt

Labaron Philon: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 10.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 50.8% FG, 33.3% 3-pt

Aden Holloway: 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 9.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.0 apg, 41.7% FG, 34.2% 3-pt

Grant Nelson: 1.90 meters tall, weighs 110 kilograms, graduate

Stats: 13.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 2.3 apg, 55.4% FG, 30.8% 3-pt

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-1, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 7.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 0.6 apg, 75.0% FG

RJ Davis: 6-foot, 180 pounds, graduate

Stats: 18.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.4 apg, 36.7% FG, 27.5% 3-pt

Seth Trimble: 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, junior

Stats: 16.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 51.4% FG, 52.2% 3-pt

Elliot Cadeau: 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 14.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 5.9 apg, 50.0% FG, 37.5% 3-pt

Jae’Lyn Withers: 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, graduate

Stats: 7.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.9 apg, 42.9% FG, 42.9% 3-pt

Jalen Washington: 6-foot-10, 235 pounds, junior

Stats: 7.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.4 apg, 61.8% FG

The 3-point shots didn’t fail for Alabama and North Carolina’s biggest stars.

While Mark Sears leads the Tide with 16 points per game, the veteran guard is hitting just 28.3% of his shots from distance this year, compared to an incredible 43.6% last year. North Carolina’s RJ Davis is in a similar situation. Although the graduate leads the Tar Heels with 18.4 points per game, he is shooting 27.5% from distance, compared to 39.8% last year.

The early season slumps were largely due to the extra attention both guards received from opponents. In Alabama’s case, head coach Nate Oats said the Tide needed to create better spacing to give Sears more time to make his shot.

“He’s shooting a lot more from the line this year than he did last year,” Oats said. “But last year he shot almost half of his threes from the line and he was at 51%. So it’s not that he can’t shoot from distance, but he can do it with a much higher shot when he actually goes in for the shot. The only way to initiate your shot is to move away from the ball to initiate your shot. That’s why we need to get him more away from the ball and place him far and wide so he can intervene.”

Oats hasn’t seen enough of Davis this season to diagnose his early issues, but said he expects the UNC guard to struggle with similar issues because of defenses pushing him to the top of the ball.

In last year’s tournament win over UNC, Sears scored 18 points while shooting 2 of 7 from long range. Davis scored 16 points but missed all nine of his shots from long range. What to expect on Wednesday night are the performances in practice that give Alabama confidence that it won’t be long before Sears breaks out of his deep ball slump.

“I think we’re going to see Mark Sears shoot a lot better,” Oats said. “I think he’s working on it. He was shooting early (Tuesday) morning with Coach (Preston) Murphy and he shot 81%.”

After limiting turnovers earlier this season, Alabama didn’t control the ball as well during its trip to Las Vegas. The Tide gave the ball away 15 times or more in each of its three games in the Players Era Tournament, including a season-high 20 turnovers in the win over Rutgers.

Alabama finally paid for its sloppiness over the weekend, as its 15 turnovers led to 17 Oregon points in an 83-81 loss to the Ducks.

“The last three games have been really bad,” Oats said when asked about recent turnover issues. “The No. 1 problem, in my opinion, is that we had problems with our spacing. If there are just too many people crowding the ball, there won’t be enough space to make plays. So we drive in crowds, and that’s exactly what is to be expected. Some of it is just a casual handling of the ball. We had too many of them. We just weren’t strong, our ball security wasn’t that great.”

Luckily for Alabama, UNC only forces 10.86 turnovers per game. That being said, the Tar Heels are ranked 22nd nationally averaging 17.29 fast break points per game and should be able to take advantage of any mistakes the Tide makes.

– Following wins over then-No. Alabama, which was No. 25 Illinois and then No. 6 Houston earlier this month, is seeking its third straight win against a ranked opponent for the second time under Oats. The first time happened in the 2021-22 season when the Tide defeated No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 14 Houston and No. 14 Tennessee.

– Labaron Philon is currently the only freshman in the SEC to record 80 points, 30 assists and 30 rebounds. The Mobile, Alabama native is one of eight Division I freshmen to record 84 points and 32 assists this season.

– Clifford Omoruyi is the first Alabama player since JaMychal Green (2009) to have at least 10 blocks and at least 37 rebounds in his first five games of the season.

– Wednesday’s meeting will be a duel between two of the best offenses in the country. North Carolina is 7th with an average of 89.7 points per game, while Alabama is 11th with 88.6 points per game.

– Alabama is the third-ranked top-10 opponent North Carolina has faced this season. The Tar Heels lost to No. 1 Kansas (92-89) and then No. 1 Kansas. 4 Auburn (85-72). Wednesday’s game marks the first time since 1967-68 that UNC has played at least three top-10 teams in its first eight games.