The 18th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide overcame another first half double digit deficit and used a late spurt to take down the Oklahoma Sooners 83-81 on Saturday afternoon. Bama improved to 13-5 overall and 3-2 in the SEC while OU fell to 11-7 and 1-4 in conference play.
The beat up Tide welcomed back Taylor Bol Bowen in a limited role, but were still missing Latrell Wrightsell, Keitenn Bristow, Davion Hannah, and Collins Onyejiaka. Coach Nate Oats used a starting line up of Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway, Amari Allen, London Jemison, and Aiden Sherrell for the second straight game.
Alabama jumped out to an early 9-5 lead with Philon scoring in the lane and from three point range. OU then scored five straight for a 10-9 lead with 15:50 left in the half. The game was a series of 7-10 point runs by each team. Alabama scored eight straight before the Sooners ran off 10 in a row for a 33-28 lead. Bama scored 5 straight for a 33-33 tie with 4:08 left. The Tide fell apart and allowed 11 straight points to trail 44-33 at the break.
Alabama shot 13-35 for 37% in the first half including 4-19 for 21% from deep. The Tide made 3-4 at the free throw line. Bama secured 20 rebounds, with eight on the offensive end, totaled four assists, three blocks, two steals, and seven turnovers. Sherrell led the way with seven points and added three rebounds with two blocks. Philon had a quiet half with six points three assists, and two rebounds. Allen had four points and four rebounds, and Houston Mallette came off the bench to score five points and grab three rebounds.
Oklahoma shot 16-40 for 40% in the half with 3-9 from three and a perfect 9-9 at the charity stripe. The Sooners won the battle of the boards with 26, including 12 offensively. OU had seven assists, five steals, three blocks and turned it over seven times. Former Alabama player Derrion Reid led his team with 13 points and seven rebounds. Tae added 12 points and Zzavyier Brown contributed nine points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Oats inserted Mallette in the second half starting lineup in place of Jemison, and the move paid off. Sherrell scored on a dunk to open the and Mallette followed with a three pointer. After a steal Sherrell made a nifty move at the basket and was fouled, converting the free throw for an old fashioned three point play. A Holloway layup continued the run and after a steal by Allen and a breakaway layup by Philon the Tide had surged to 45-44 lead in less than two minutes of action. Oklahoma finally scored to go ahead 46-45 but Bama followed with a three pointer by Allen for the 48-45 lead.
Oklahoma took their turn at a run, aided by several missed free throws by the Tide, and took a 55-48 lead with 14:38 left in the game. Sherrell took over with a three, amd a rebound and put back, for a 57-55 Alabama lead with 11:44 remaining. Bama continued missing free throws at an alarming rate to keep OU in the game. With 8:59 left Philon made 1-2 at the stripe to tie the game 62-62. At that point the All-American candidate was only 1-5 on free shots. With 6:45 left OU held a 73-67 lead.
Philon connected in consecutive three pointers to even the score at 73. OU scored a basket to go back ahead before Mallette hit a clutch three pointer to give the Tide a 76-75 lead with 1:45 left. Philon scored and was fouled, this time making his free throw and Bama led 79-75 with just 20 seconds left. Things got way more interesting than they should have with so little time left.. After OU scored for a 79-77 score Mallette was fouled with 13.2 seconds left. The Grad student missed the first and made the second for an 80-77 lead. Oats choose to have his team foul before the Sooners could launch a possible tying three point try. With 10.9 seconds left Brown sank two freebies for OU, cutting the lead to 80-79. Holloway was fouled on the inbound pass and with 10.4 seconds left the Tide finally had someone make both shots for 82-79 lead. Oats again chose to foul, and it almost backfired. While trying to foul Brown on the floor the Sooner was able to get a continuation call and was awarded three free throws. Brown made the first two but missed on the third. Allen rebounded for the Tide and was immediately fouled. Allen missed the first try, but sank the second for an 83-81 Bama lead. Oklahoma threw the ball in and advanced to mid court before calling a timeout with 3.9 left. The Sooners had a good look at three that didn’t fall, and an attempted put back that missed as the clock ran out and the Tide had the hard fought 83-81 win.
In the second half Bama improved to 16-31 shooting with 6-14 from deep, but almost gave the game away with a 12-22 performance at the free throw line. Overall the Tide finished 29-66 for 44%, including 10-33 from three for 30%, and a disappointing 15-26 for 58% on free throws. Alabama grabbed 43 rebounds, 14 of them offensive, dished out 12 assists, blocked three shots, grabbed seven steals, and committed 11 turnovers. Philon managed 23 points with his late surge, despite shooting 8-19 from the field, the floor general added five rebounds, four assists, one steal, and turned the ball over three times. Sherrell continued his great play of late, scoring 21 points with nine rebounds, two assists, one block, one steal, and a hard hat award. The do everything freshman, Allen scored 12 points with eight rebounds, two assists, and three big steals. Mallette had a nice game with 12 points, six rebounds, and two assists,
OU shot 12-32 including 3-15 from three in the second half and 10-13 free throws. Overall the Sooners were 28-72 for 39%, 6-24 from three and 19-22 at the charity stripe for 86%. Oklahoma had 45 rebounds with 17 offensively, 13 assists, seven blocks, nine blocks, and nine turnovers. Brown led the team with 21 points and had four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Reid was next with 16 points and nine rebounds and added three assists. Davis added 14 points and seven rebounds.
Another gutty road win for the injury riddled Tide. The team is showing great fortitude to overcome double digit deficits on the road, but that isn’t a great formula to follow, particularly against the upper echelon of the conference, which Mississippi State and Oklahoma are not. Sherrell is game by game becoming a legitimate force in the league, and his draft stock has to be soaring. Philon is a first round lock, and possible lottery pick and it is looking more and more that Allen will have a first round grade. Fortunately the Tide has an off week and won’t play again until next Saturday. The game will be at 7:30 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum and can be seen on ESPN/2.
Roll Tide
