Alabama went on the road to face a tough Vanderbilt team tonight and wound up playing short-handed, resulting in the Tide’s first conference loss by a score of
This one didn’t start out very well for the Tide. Vanderbilt’s home crowd offered energy and the Commodores fed off of it to jump out to a double digit lead in the first nine minutes of action. Vandy has some nice length and opted for an aggressive man-to-man strategy on defense that had Alabama utterly befuddled. Labaron Philon in particular had four turnovers very early in the game, insisting on forcing the dribble drive into traffic.
Alabama also didn’t shoot it terribly well to open things up. Aden Holloway and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. each hit one from deep, but there was a lid on the bucket otherwise for the first ten minutes of action. Aidan Sherrell was unavailable with his knee issue which didn’t help matters, but it was Vandy’s pressure that caused most of the problems. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt was cooking from deep and refused to turn the ball over. They pushed the lead out to as much as 15.
Nate Oats put London Jemison into the game with a few minutes left in the half and he immediately provided a much needed spark, scoring five points with six rebounds in only eight minutes, as Alabama erased the big lead for a 43-43 tie headed into the break. Philon got cooking late in the half to lead the Tide with 15 points. Amari Allen led the way again with seven boards, Jemison got his six, and Taylor Bol Bowen got 5.
Even missing Sherrell, the Tide dominated the boards in the first half 24-16, and that was the sole reason that they were able to get back into the game. Alabama made only 27% from three vs 40% for Vanderbilt, and turned the ball over eight times to Vandy’s three. The effort of Allen and Jemison, both true freshmen, simply can’t be overstated here. Defensively the Tide had no answer for senior Duke Miles out of Montgomery, who led all scorers with 17 on torrid shooting.
Both teams ramped up the defensive intensity out of the locker room and the game got particularly physical. The officials responded by tightening up the whistle, which made for a rather ugly start to the half. At the first media timeout only nine total points had been scored in 4:30 of game action, and Alabama led 48-47.
Holloway opened with a corner three off an inbound when play resumed. Vandy answered with a dunk and a free throw on the other end, then Nate Oats won a challenge that resulted in a “hook and hold” foul, the fourth on Vandy big AK Okereke. This sent him to the bench and Amari Allen immediately took advantage with a bucket in the paint to lead 54-50.
It was short lived, as Vandy battled back to erase the lead and take a four point lead of their own. Philon left the floor with 16 minutes left and headed into the locker room, which apparently went unnoticed by the broadcasting crew. This left Holloway to run the point and he was able to use his quickness to get into the lane a few times but doesn’t have the pure finishing ability of Philon, and Alabama went ice cold from three. Just inside of ten minutes Vandy opened up an eight point advantage at 69-61 with Philon nowhere to be found.
Nate Oats was then whistled for a technical foul, which was followed up by a Vandy three pointer for an 11-point lead and things were looking ominous. The announcing crew was completely oblivious that Philon, the best NBA prospect on either team, was missing until about seven minutes left in the game. His absence was felt on both ends, as guard Tyler Tanner was able to get into the lane at will against Holloway.
Had Alabama come into this game missing both Sherrell and Holloway, fans would have had little reason for optimism against an undefeated team on the road. The fact that they were able to keep it as close as they were despite missing both of those guys and shooting poorly from three underscores the potential of the team at full strength.
We now await word. Hope for the best.
Roll Tide.
