Alabama Basketball: Five reasons for Crimson Tide win over Auburn

Alabama Basketball: Crimson Tide outlasted Auburn on the Plains. The Tide won the close game because of five important reasons.

The Alabama Basketball victory in Auburn Saturday was big on multiple levels. Beating a main rival always matters. Staying undefeated in SEC play was another. The game may have signaled performance milestones for a couple of Crimson Tide players.

Other than 91 points should not be needed to win regulation time games, the game was full of Tide superlatives. Even the defensive mistakes that allowed Auburn to score 90 points were corrected late when it most mattered. Credit Nate Oats for finally getting his team’s attention on the value, as a defender, to keep a body between your man and the basket. In the last three minutes, the Tide forced Auburn to shoot threes. The Tigers made one and missed three.

Five Reasons Alabama Basketball Beat Auburn

• Missing Jahvon Quinerly for the second consecutive game, Nate Oats needed points from players other than Herbert Jones, Johnn Petty Jr. and Jaden Shackelford. Josh Primo delivered early in the game, drilling threes and scoring 14 first-half points. Primo finished with 22 points, five rebounds and three assists. He made five turnovers but made up for that blemish by 8-for-8 at the foul line.
• Herbert Jones was his always sensational self, scoring 19 points on 7-for-9, co-leading the Tide in rebounding with eight, adding five steals, two blocks and two assists. Like Primo, Jones was perfect from the foul line at 5-for-5.
• Jordan Bruner showed why Nate Oats has always believed the former Yale player is a perfect fit for the Oats’ system. Bruner scored 20 points, including key baskets in the second half. He was 3-for-6 outside the arc. He had seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block.
• John Petty Jr. missed minutes after getting his fourth foul at the 13:27 mark of the second half. He shot threes poorly, making only 1-for-7. He finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal. More importantly, playing with the four fouls, he stopped the easy buckets Auburn’s Sharife Cooper had scored for most of the game.
• Senior leadership was big for the Crimson Tide, in what was a team win. Every Tide player who played made a contribution, but Jones, Petty, Bruner and Reese were tone-setters.

Sharife Cooper was almost too much for the Crimson Tide. Playing in his first Auburn game, after a lengthy eligibility review by the NCAA, the freshman scored 26 points to lead the Tigers.

Alabama basketball coach, Nate Oats made these comments after the game.

"We knew it would be tough to come in here and win. This is a program with a lot of pride. It showed a lot of character for our guys to come in here with zero preparation on Cooper. He changes the way they play.Bruner had to get comfortable with the offense, picked a big time to show up big. Those last 8 minutes were huge. He’s playing tough basketball for us, he’s really smart but he brings a great presence for us.Petty’s been a leader ever since he walked back in after Christmas."

Alabama Basketball improved its record to 9-3 and 4-0 in SEC play. Next up for the Crimson Tide is a trip to Lexington on Tuesday night.