Alabama Basketball: Crimson Tide drops 2-OT SEC opener to Florida

Alabama basketball lost its SEC opener on the road to the Florida Gators. The Crimson Tide led by 21 points late in the first half, only to fall in double-overtime.

There are several reasons why Alabama basketball lost its SEC opener to Florida Saturday evening. The result was a bitter loss for a group of players who fought hard throughout.

Much of the first half Nate Oats’ Alabama basketball team looked like it was close to running the Gators out of their home arena. With 2:19 left in the first half, the Crimson Tide led by 21 points. The Gators responded with a seven-point run, including a three at the halftime buzzer and the Tide led by 14.

The Gators cut the lead to six, 77 seconds into the second half. Alabama built the lead back to 13 points twice, the last time at 11:04. The Gators kept clawing and the lead continued to dwindle. The Tide led by five points with 22 seconds left in regulation. The Tide turned the ball over twice in the last 21 seconds, one on poor inbound pass decision by John Petty Jr. Florida converted the two mistakes into a quick five points to tie the game at 83-83.

After scoring only 32 points in the first half, the Gators exploded with 51 second half points. Three Crimson Tide players fouled-out. Galin Smith was lost at 3:35 of the second half. Javian Davis exited at 4:25 of the first overtime. Herbert Jones went to the bench with 42 seconds left in the second overtime.

The Tide’s foul problems were a factor in Florida’s Kerry Blackshear scoring 24 points and pulling down 16 rebounds. The Tide rebounded effectively while rotating Smith and Davis. Once they were lost, the Gators took control of the boards, finishing with a six rebound advantage for the game.

Reported by Cecil Hurt, Nate Oats said after the game,

"It hurt for our two bigs to foul out. Reese was throwing up at halftime and had nothing left. So we went small. But we’ve got to do a better job of not putting our hands on them."

There were other Crimson Tide problems beyond Blackshear and rebounding. Florida was plus-7 points at the foul line, shooting 83 percent to the Tide’s 68 percent. Andrew Nembhard was almost as tough to defend as Blackshear. Nembhard frequently used his size advantage over Bettle Bolden to attack the basket.

Alabama basketball fans wanting to blame Nate Oats can point to repeated failed attempts from the four-minute mark of regulation to foul out Blackshear. Blackshear, who played 14-plus minutes with four fouls, kept scoring, playing tough defense and blocking shots.

Then there is the glaring shooting deficiency of Kira Lewis Jr. The sophomore was 7-for-25. He did score 17 points with six rebounds and three assists. John Petty Jr. led the Tide in scoring with 19 points and seven boards. Beetle Bolden and Herbert Jones had 15 points each. Alex Reese scored 14 points. Jones led the Tide on the glass with nine rebounds.

The final score was Florida 104- Alabama 98.

Now at 7-6, the next three games are huge for the Crimson Tide. They are Mississippi State, at Kentucky and Auburn.