Alabama Eyeing Challenge of Shutting Down Georgia Forward Asa Newell

The Crimson Tide head coach breaks down the Bulldogs' primary scoring option as the preparation for defending Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard on Wednesday night "wasn't good enough."

Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats in the huddle with The Alabama Basketball Team at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi on Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025. / Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

Georgia men's basketball head coach Michael White and company rolled into non-conference play as a top-50 team in the country in points per game and points allowed per game. Seven players were averaging at least 20 minutes of action and five of them were scoring double figures.

But the offense has gone a bit dark against the SEC as the Bulldogs have a 3-5 record in conference play. That said, one player who has been a bright spot for Georgia throughout the season has been freshman forward Asa Newell, who leads the team in points per game with 15.2 on nearly 56 percent from the field and rebounds per game with seven, including 3.6 on the offensive glass.

Newell is tied with Alabama guard Labaron Philon for the conference lead in SEC Freshman of the Week awards with three. The No. 4 Crimson Tide may have defeated No. 14 Mississippi State 88-84 on Wednesday night, but 2023-24 five-time SEC Freshman of the Week Josh Hubbard could not be stopped as the guard scored 38 points.

"Prepping for another team's best player and the attentiveness you need to have, hopefully we realize that whatever we thought we had done preparation-wise [against Hubbard] wasn't good enough," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said during Friday's press conference. "This time it's going to be different guys matched up on Newell, he's kind of more like a four-man that can step out. I believe he's hit 13-to-16 threes in their 21 games.

"He was capable of shooting when we recruited him, I saw that he can shoot and I like his shot. But he does most of his damage in the paint, so you're not going to have the same type of guys guarding him as you would Hubbard. But you've got to prepare to stop other teams' primary scoring option and he's definitely their primary scoring option. They're kind of force-feeding it to him in the post and he's produced as their leading scorer so we have to guard him."

Oats called Newell "one of the best freshmen in the country" and commended his skill as Alabama tried to recruit the forward from Athens when he was in high school. The Crimson Tide is well aware that Newell isn't the Bulldogs' only reason for a great start before SEC play as Georgia was ranked inside the top-25 a few weeks ago for the first time in 14 years.

"Georgia's good," Oats said. "They're top-15 in the country in offensive rebounding rate. They've got a really good talent...The SEC is tough, so [just because] they don't have a winning record in the SEC that doesn't mean they're not a really good team....So we're gonna have to come ready to play. We have not played that great in our last three home games, so we've got to be a little better here at home."

A big reason for Alabama's win over Mississippi State was due to its tremendous shooting from behind the arc. The Tide shot 48 percent from deep, which is the second-best percentage of the season and the 15-for-31 slate is also the Tide's second-most.

Nevertheless, Alabama's been relatively inconsistent from long range this season, and it's very possible that the Crimson Tide could be on the wrong end of the spectrum once again on Saturday afternoon. Georgia has allowed opponents to shoot just 28.3 percent from downtown––the eighth-lowest percentage in Division I.

This could be one of those games where Alabama looks inside the paint for scoring options more often than usual.

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