Alabama Basketball: Tide falls on the road at TAMU

Alabama basketball was in bad need of a win Tuesday night in Texas. It came up short again, losing to TAMU as the Aggies made another big second-half comeback.

Alabama basketball traveled to a snowy Texas Tuesday night. The cold setting was a match for how the Crimson Tide played in big portions of its last two blowout losses. There wasn’t much heat added by the small crowd inside Reed Arena.

The Alabama basketball team should have had plenty of fire. Fire fueled not only from the last two losses but also from the fact it gave up an 11-point halftime lead and lost to the Aggies in Tuscaloosa. Going into Tuesday night the last second Aggies victory in Tuscaloosa was one of only three SEC wins and only two SEC road wins for TAMU.

How bad have the Aggies been this season? They lost to UC Irvine and Texas Southern beat them by 15 points.

Avery Johnson said before the game his team’s preparation had been focusing on the details necessary for winning basketball. Taking a step back is warranted after a couple of losses. But some Alabama basketball fans wonder what happened to focusing on attention to details in October – January?

Alabama basketball had a nine-point lead and the ball late in the first half. An unforced turnover by Dazon Ingram gave TAMU another possession, The Aggies took advantage and what could have been a 12 point lead was just six at the half. Riley Norris led the Crimson Tide in first-half effort and points, with nine.

The Alabama Crimson Tide started the second-half flat and it took the Aggies less than four minutes to tie the game. The Aggies slipped into their version of listless play and went on a scoring drought. John Petty’s five points during the Aggies lull and continued hustle by Riley Norris led to a 12-point Crimson Tide lead.

After a 9-0 TAMU run, the Aggies tied the game 45-45 with 7:34 remaining. At 4:18, TAMU gained its largest lead of the night, 56-50. Down the stretch, it was a lot TAMU and other than Teven Mack’s offense, not much for the Crimson Tide. The final was 65-56 with the Aggies dominating the second-half by a score of 41-26. It was a bad loss for the Crimson Tide.

The Crimson Tide committed only 13 turnovers but at least half of them were unforced. The Tide was out-rebounded by seven. The Aggies were sensational at the foul line, making 15-16 for 94 percent.

At this point, Alabama basketball has played its way out of the NCAA Tournament. The season is far from over but the prospects have dimmed considerably.

Can Avery get this slide turned around? It will be tough. There are not many sure wins at this point.