01-21-2018, 03:33 PM
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. â The Alabama men's basketball team survived a second-half surge from Mississippi State to hang on for the 68-62 win Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd in Coleman Coliseum. Sophomores Braxton Key and Daniel Giddens shined brightly to help the Tide to its fourth consecutive victory.
Key led the Crimson Tide offense with a season high of 16 points, while Giddens posted a career-high 13 points. Sophomore Dazon Ingram also contributed quality minutes, adding six assists to go along with eight rebounds and seven points, while junior Donta Hall put up eight points.
Leading scorer freshman Collin Sexton did not play for a second straight game, as he continues to be sidelined with an abdominal injury.
"It was a tale of two halves for us, and I obviously will start with the second half," head coach Avery Johnson said. "Not as much ball movement and we didn't do a great job on the boards. [Lamar] Peters got away from us a couple times and we tried to explain to our team that this was a well-coached team. Coach [Ben] Howland has been around the block a couple of times. He knows what he is doing and he is going to make a couple of adjustments at halftime. Lamar Peters is an outstanding scorer and I felt like our team did a decent job on [Quinndary] Weatherspoon tonight, limiting his production from the three point line."
"This was a great learning lesson for us," Johnson continued. "We played some terrific basketball in the first half with 12 assists, four turnovers, the ball was moving and we were rebounding the basketball. We did a good job rebounding the basketball offensively tonight. Braxton Key came alive for us, his best game since he's been back, and we desperately needed it tonight because they were trying to limit the production of some of our younger wing players."
Alabama (13-5, 5-2 SEC) dominated the first half, limiting MSU to just 22 points on 32 percent shooting (8-of-25) to take a 41-22 lead into the locker rooms. The Crimson Tide controlled of the glass, outrebounding the Bulldogs 20-17 while forcing 10 Mississippi State turnovers which resulted in a 13-0 lead in points off turnovers for the Tide.
The Crimson Tide busted out of the gates swinging, using a 9-0 run over a span of 1:50, capitalizing off four Bulldog turnovers to snatch a 13-3 lead at the 15:29 mark. The Crimson Tide then matched its offensive output by playing tough defense, holding the Bulldogs to just 10 points (4-of-12) for a 24-10 advantage with 8:26 left in the half.
Alabama continued to rake in points, extending its lead to as many as 20 points, 39-19, late in the half, before taking a 19-point lead at intermission.
In the second half, Mississippi State opened with a quick 6-0 spurt, but Giddens put a halt to their run scoring a layup to lead, 43-28, 2:03 into the stanza. However, the Bulldogs began to get into rhythm, using a 15-1 run over a 5:40 span to cut the Tide's lead to 50-47 at the 9:32 mark, and knotted the game at 54 apiece after two made free throws with 6:47 left on the clock.
After trading baskets to the final minute, Key connected on a layup, followed by a jumper from Avery Johnson Jr. to lead 64-60. However, the Bulldogs would again answer, but MSU answered back with a dunk to cut the deficit to 64-62 with 22 seconds on the shot clock. That's as close at Mississippi State would get, however, as Ingram hit two crucial free throws with 17 seconds left and, after a defensive stop, freshman Herbert Jones scored on a dunk to result in the final score.
The tables turned in the second half, as the Bulldogs shot 41.9 percent from the field (13-of-31) including five three pointers while holding the Tide to 31 percent shooting from the floor (9-of-29) to come back into the game.
Lamar Peters lead all scorers with 17 points, while adding one rebound, two assists and three steals for the Bulldogs.
The Crimson Tide will hit the road to face Ole Miss on Tuesday night in Oxford, Miss. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcasted live on SEC Network.
http://www.rolltide.com/news/2018/1/20/a...ntest.aspx
Key led the Crimson Tide offense with a season high of 16 points, while Giddens posted a career-high 13 points. Sophomore Dazon Ingram also contributed quality minutes, adding six assists to go along with eight rebounds and seven points, while junior Donta Hall put up eight points.
Leading scorer freshman Collin Sexton did not play for a second straight game, as he continues to be sidelined with an abdominal injury.
"It was a tale of two halves for us, and I obviously will start with the second half," head coach Avery Johnson said. "Not as much ball movement and we didn't do a great job on the boards. [Lamar] Peters got away from us a couple times and we tried to explain to our team that this was a well-coached team. Coach [Ben] Howland has been around the block a couple of times. He knows what he is doing and he is going to make a couple of adjustments at halftime. Lamar Peters is an outstanding scorer and I felt like our team did a decent job on [Quinndary] Weatherspoon tonight, limiting his production from the three point line."
"This was a great learning lesson for us," Johnson continued. "We played some terrific basketball in the first half with 12 assists, four turnovers, the ball was moving and we were rebounding the basketball. We did a good job rebounding the basketball offensively tonight. Braxton Key came alive for us, his best game since he's been back, and we desperately needed it tonight because they were trying to limit the production of some of our younger wing players."
Alabama (13-5, 5-2 SEC) dominated the first half, limiting MSU to just 22 points on 32 percent shooting (8-of-25) to take a 41-22 lead into the locker rooms. The Crimson Tide controlled of the glass, outrebounding the Bulldogs 20-17 while forcing 10 Mississippi State turnovers which resulted in a 13-0 lead in points off turnovers for the Tide.
The Crimson Tide busted out of the gates swinging, using a 9-0 run over a span of 1:50, capitalizing off four Bulldog turnovers to snatch a 13-3 lead at the 15:29 mark. The Crimson Tide then matched its offensive output by playing tough defense, holding the Bulldogs to just 10 points (4-of-12) for a 24-10 advantage with 8:26 left in the half.
Alabama continued to rake in points, extending its lead to as many as 20 points, 39-19, late in the half, before taking a 19-point lead at intermission.
In the second half, Mississippi State opened with a quick 6-0 spurt, but Giddens put a halt to their run scoring a layup to lead, 43-28, 2:03 into the stanza. However, the Bulldogs began to get into rhythm, using a 15-1 run over a 5:40 span to cut the Tide's lead to 50-47 at the 9:32 mark, and knotted the game at 54 apiece after two made free throws with 6:47 left on the clock.
After trading baskets to the final minute, Key connected on a layup, followed by a jumper from Avery Johnson Jr. to lead 64-60. However, the Bulldogs would again answer, but MSU answered back with a dunk to cut the deficit to 64-62 with 22 seconds on the shot clock. That's as close at Mississippi State would get, however, as Ingram hit two crucial free throws with 17 seconds left and, after a defensive stop, freshman Herbert Jones scored on a dunk to result in the final score.
The tables turned in the second half, as the Bulldogs shot 41.9 percent from the field (13-of-31) including five three pointers while holding the Tide to 31 percent shooting from the floor (9-of-29) to come back into the game.
Lamar Peters lead all scorers with 17 points, while adding one rebound, two assists and three steals for the Bulldogs.
The Crimson Tide will hit the road to face Ole Miss on Tuesday night in Oxford, Miss. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcasted live on SEC Network.
http://www.rolltide.com/news/2018/1/20/a...ntest.aspx