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Alabama basketball stays unbeaten behind Collin Sexton and Herbert Jones

By Ronald Evans

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 10: Avery Johnson the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide gives instructions to his team against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the quarterfinals of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 10, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 10: Avery Johnson the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide gives instructions to his team against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the quarterfinals of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 10, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Alabama basketball remains undefeated overcoming Texas-Arlington 77-76 in Tuscaloosa. Freshmen Collin Sexton and Herbert Jones led the Tide to victory.

In case any Alabama fans are not quite up to speed on the young basketball season, be informed. A win over Texas-Arlington (UTA) is big for Alabama basketball. The Mavericks won 27 games last season. Going into Tuesday night’s game UTA was 2-0 with a win over BYU.

The Mavericks are loaded with seniors and two of those seniors, Kevin Hervey and Eric Neal are tremendous. Hervey will play in the NBA and Neal leads the nation in assists. UTA is a heavy favorite to make the NCAA tournament.

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The Mavericks outplayed the young Alabama basketball team for most of the first half. An early lead of 17-7 was pushed to a 12 point cushion with 4:17 to go until halftime. The Tide cut the lead to five points at the break. The Tide took its first lead with an Avery Jr. three-pointer at 12:12 in the second half.

Alabama basketball pushed the lead to seven with a Donta Hall dunk at 4:12 but the Mavericks fought back. Eric Neal made three, three-pointers in the last three minutes to almost pull back a win. Neal finished with 16 points and 12 assists while Kevin Hervey added 24 points.

Big games from Sexton and Herbert Jones

Collin Sexton was the leading scorer for the Crimson Tide with 29 points to go along with four assists. The other superlative Tide freshman on the night was Herbert Jones. Jones only scored seven points on just four shots but the rest of his game was as dominant as Sexton’s offensive output. Jones had nine rebounds, four steals, three assists and drew four charging fouls on the Mavericks.

Alabama basketball fans know Collin Sexton can carry the team offensively. He did it late Tuesday night, scoring seven of the Tide’s last nine points. Herbert Jones is a bit of a secret to fans but that will not last long. As a true freshman, Jones is the best on-ball defender the Tide has had in many seasons.

Speaking of defense, it was Collin Sexton who shut down Mavericks senior Eric Neal in the last seconds to preserve the victory.

Avery’s post-game comments

  • “We don’t feel that we have one weak link on our roster this year.”
  • Speaking of Herbert Jones,” The stats are blowing me away. I’m proud of Herb. Like all of our guys, he has the right DNA.”
  • Asked about Riley Norris in his first outing coming back from injury, “I don’t know if we win that game without him.”

The Tide has no Thanksgiving break. After traveling to Brooklyn, N.Y. the team plays BYU on Friday and Minnesota on Saturday.

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Unfortunately for Tide fans, the Minnesota game on Saturday will tipoff at just about halftime of the Iron Bowl. The No. 14 ranked Gophers will be a tough test for Alabama basketball.

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