The 16th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the hated Auburn Tigers by a score of 96-84 in a game that was much more one sided than the 12 point margin on Saturday night at Coleman Coliseum. The game closed out the home season for the Tide leading into next weeks SEC Tournament. The Tide improved to 23-8 overall and 13-5 in league play. Little Brother fell to 16-15 overall and 7-11 in the SEC in coach Steven Pearl’s first season at the helm.
Alabama honored three players on senior day pregame. Latrell
Wrightsell Jr, Houston Mallette, and Noah Williamson were the honorees that eligibility has been used up. In a nod to the current state of college athletics, none of the three began their career at The Capstone. The Tide sent out a starting lineup of Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway, Amari Allen, Aiden Sherrell, and Wrightsell. Auburn countered with Tahaad Pettiford, Kevin Overton, Keyshawn Murphy, Elyjah Freeman, and Keyshawn Hall. The Tide started quickly and really out the game away early. Holloway scored the games first basket and Philon followed with two of his own. All of the hoops were in the paint. When Sherrell scored down low and was fouled, after the made free throw Bama led 11-3 with 16:53 left in the half.
The Tide didn’t attempt a three point shot until Philon fired and connected with 11:53 left, and the make gave Bama a 21-11 lead. Holloway made a logo three pointer for a 24-13 lead, and Jalil Bethea canned another for a 27-14 margin with 9:25 left. The Tide kept scoring in the paint and added some free throws to continue to had to the lead. As the half closed, Philon made a beautiful jab step and drilled a step back three for a 50-31 lead as the clock ran out.
In the first half Alabama shot 19-35 for 54%, including 4-12 for 33% from deep, and made 8-11 free throws. Bama grabbed 21 rebounds, 10 on the offensive end, dished for five assists, blocked four shots, had five steals, and committed four turnovers. Philon scored at will in the paint and led all scorers with 16 points. Holloway added nine, Allen six, and Sherrell five with three rebounds.
Auburn was held to 12-28 shooting for 43% with 2-9 from three and made 5-6 free throws. The Tide defense was as relentless and active has they have been all season. Pettiford scored seven points to lead the team while Murphy added six. The Tigers had 14 rebounds, five assists, two blocks, three steals, and committed nine turnovers.
The Tide used the same starters for the second half. Philon and Holloway got Bama off to a fast start. A Holloway three pointer with 14:45 left gave the home team a 67-39 lead. To Auburn’s credit they did not quit and closed the gap, but never really threatened. Alabama shot poorly at the free throw line to keep the margin somewhat respectable. AU made several three pointers, layups, and free throws down the stretch to close within 12 points as the buzzer sounded. The comfortable 12 point win could have been much larger.
In the second half Alabama shot 17-34 from the field, but only 3-15 from three and 9-15 from the free throw line. Overall the Tide was 36-69 for 52%, 7-27 for 26% from deep, and 17-26 for 65% at the charity stripe. Bama won the rebounding battle with 42, including 19 on the offensive end, and finished with six blocks, six steals, 12 assists, and eight turnovers. Philon scored 21 points with four assists, one rebound, and one steal. Holloway matched his backcourt mate with 21 points of his own and added three rebounds, a steal, and an assist. Allen broke out of his mini slump with 16 points, five rebounds, with an assist, a block, and a steal. Sherrell scored 10 with six rebounds, three blocks, and one assist. The Tide big man made only 4-9 at the free throw line. Wrightsell scored eight and tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven. Mallette was the hard hat award winner and didn’t score a point but had seven rebounds, drew a charge, and was disruptive on the defensive end.
Auburn outscored the Tide 53-46 in the second half by shooting 18-31 for 58%, 6-14 for 43% from deep and 11-13 at the line. Overall the Tigers were 30-59 for 51%, 8-23 for 35% from three, and made 16-19 freebies for 84%. AU had 28 rebounds, 13 assists, four blocks, five steals, and turned it over 13 times. Overton led all scorers with 24 points, Pettiford added 19 points, Hall 13, and Freeman 11.
Oats was happy with the win, but focused on the letup after building a 30 point lead, saying “‘when you get that kind of lead, you want to finish it off and win by 35-40 points. The coach said he was very happy with the first 25 minutes, but disappointed in the final 15. Oats said he left Mallette on the late in the game before pulling him because, ‘ I wanted him to get a basket, but I probably cared about that way more than Houston did. He couldn’t care less if he scored or not.”
The Tide heads into the SEC Tournament as the number two seed, and has won nine of their last 10 games. The team is as healthy as they have been all season as they gear up for post season play. Bama appears headed for a four seed in the NCAA Tournament and probably will not reach the three line with out some help.
Roll Tide!
