Avery Johnson Pushing for Fans to Come Out and Support Alabama Basketball

The Alabama men's basketball team will welcome the Missouri Tigers to town on Saturday afternoon and it will mark the fourth sellout of the season. That's the most since 2010-2011.

But Avery Johnson still recognizes the need for support from Alabama fans. The first-year head coach appeared on Inside the Locker Room on Friday and pleaded for ticket holders to fill their seats inside Coleman Coliseum.

"The season ticket holders and all of the other people that have tickets, we need them to show up," Johnson said. "We need bodies in the seats. You can have a sellout, but if half the place is empty, then the sellout is just on paper."

Johnson stressed the importance of not just showing up but also bringing energy to the arena.

"We need bodies in the seats screaming for Alabama, 'Roll Tide' and 'buckle up', whatever they want to say."

The head coach has put in a lot of time selling his program and explaining his vision to people around campus, and it's been paying big dividends this season.

"We had about 1,000 students that couldn't even get in for our LSU game."

After losing five of its first six conference games, the Crimson Tide will try to make it three wins in four games against a struggling Missouri team. The game will tip at 2PM with television coverage on the SEC Network and the radio broadcast on 95.3 the Bear.

Listen to the entire conversation with Avery Johnson below.