Alabama Basketball: Tide used boards and frees to take down Hogs

After a half in which the Alabama Basketball offense struggled, the Tide poured in 58 second-half points to beat Arkansas, 86-83. Alabama moved to 15-1 in SEC play with the win and 25-4 overall.

Alabama beat Arkansas despite missing 19 of its 22, three-point attempts. In the first half, the Crimson Tide shot 10% outside the arc and 33.3% overall, with finishes at the rim almost as rare as a made three. Alabama was not much better outside the arc in the second half, at 16.7%. Better finishing at the rim improved Bama’s second-half shooting to 55.9%.

The difference makers for the Crimson Tide win were rebounding and free throw shooting. Alabama outrebounded Arkansas 48-37. Noah Clowney got 13 boards for the Crimson Tide and Charles Bediako pulled down 10. At the foul line, Alabama was 25-for-30, led by Mark Sears making 9-of-10 and Brandon Miller being a perfect 7-of7. The Razorbacks were 20-of-29 at the foul line.

As Nate Oats said after the game,

"For us to shoot as poorly as we did from 3, and still be able to win, it shows you we can win in a lot of ways."

Alabama Basketball Fans Celebrate Two Saturday Games

A couple of hours after Alabama basketball fans celebrated the win over Arkansas, there was more reason to celebrate. Mississippi State beat Texas A&M in Starkville, winning 69-62. The outcome of the two games gives the Crimson Tide a two-game lead over the Aggies in the SEC standings. Alabama’s magic number for the SEC Regular Season Championship is now one. One Alabama win or one A&M loss will give the Crimson Tide the regular season title.

Brandon Miller led the Tide in scoring with 24 points. Jahvon Quinerly was a key contributor to the win, with 16 points, three rebounds, and seven assists. Quinerly started the second half and logged 28 minutes in the game. In just seven minutes of play, Nick Pringle produced seven points and four rebounds. Also in seven minutes of play, Dom Welch produced seven points and two rebounds.

Nate Oats deserves credit for the turnaround that took a nine-point deficit and made it a three-point win. He won’t get it, at least not from most in the national media, who will milk demonizing Oats and his Alabama basketball team for the rest of the season.

Those, for whom an appetite for controversy has not been filled, were fed today. Much negative traditional media and social media outrage was the result. The offense deserved the finger-pointing it has received, but no doubt, what occurred during Alabama’s player introductions will never happen again.