Alabama basketball number 11 won its first street game in three matches on Tuesday night, beating South Carolina 81-78 within the Colonial Life Arena.
Crimson Tide fell 11 early in the first half, but overcame the deficit with the help of a 20-point display by senior guard John Petty Jr. in a tight game to take down the Gamecocks.
“It was a difficult and very disputed victory,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said after the game. “I mean, it’s a difficult group. That’s what [South Carolina coach Frank Martin]is known for. He has those guys playing hard. “
At the 17:33 mark in the first half, freshman red-shirt striker Juwan Gary suffered a shoulder injury after getting involved with Wildens Leveque of South Carolina. Gary was immediately taken to the locker room and did not return to the game.
Tuesday night was Gary’s first career at Crimson Tide. After his departure, senior striker Alex Reese entered the game, kicking off one of his best physical moves of the season.
“I thought Alex Reese played very hard,” said Oats. “We are starting with him. I thought maybe he was a little better off the bench. I thought he came in as soon as Juwan got hurt and gave us everything he had all the time.
“He played more than 19 minutes and I can’t say enough about Reese’s effort.”
After the game, Oats noted that Gary’s shoulder will be reassessed as soon as the team returns to Tuscaloosa.
South Carolina opened the game with an 11-2 run to take the lead. Alabama was showing a lot of energy in the attack, but was unable to convert that energy into points on the scoreboard.
With 16-5, Crimson Tide went through a 10-0 run to pull inside one, then took his first lead at the 8:58 mark.
For the remainder of the first half, the lead would change two more times, with Crimson Tide taking the lead with a 39-36 lead in the interval.
Alabama held the lead for most of the second half, but South Carolina remained within reach of the attack. Gamecocks remained within two possessions, reaching the media time limit for children under eight years old.
A three-point clutch by second-year guard Jahvon Quinerly with 6:16 left finally put some distance between the Crimson Tide and the Gamecocks, pushing the score to 73-66 in favor of Alabama and forcing South Carolina to call for a time. Another three Quinerly clutch at the 4:20 mark put the Crimson Tide in eight.
At the 3:37 mark, senior winger Herb Jones left the game with a foul, giving South Carolina an advantage on their offensive side of the court. At the time, Alabama was ahead 76-70. The Gamecocks scored six points to reduce the margin to 78-76 with 52 seconds remaining, forcing Crimson Tide to request a timeout.
A jump missed by South Carolina guard Seventh Woods resulted in Alabama junior guard Keon Ellis missing 16 seconds from the end. Ellis made one of his two free throws, increasing Alabama’s lead to three.
Gamecocks junior guard AJ Lawson lost a three, with Crimson Tide striker James Rojas receiving a rebound. However, Rojas would turn the ball into a high ball, giving South Carolina the ball with three seconds remaining.
Justin Minaya would score a tray with two seconds to go to Gamecocks, putting the score at 79-78 in favor of Crimson Tide. However, Rojas’ two free throws that followed put Alabama in the lead by three, a margin that South Carolina was unable to overcome in the second final.
Alabama defeated South Carolina 81-78 in their first road victory since January 19 at LSU.
“I would like the guys to open up, but it’s also not bad to win a match,” said Oats. “I think we are 3-3 in games with two possession – last year we had 4-11. We put a lot of emphasis on learning how to close.
“I thought we did some stupid things at the end of the game, but we did enough to win.”
Petty was crucial in Crimson Tide’s victory, leading the team in points and rebounds with 20 and eight, respectively. Quinerly, who had been struggling for the past few weeks after a hot start to the season, ended the game with 13 points and a rebound.
Petty’s 20-point game is the highest the senior guard has scored since January 19 at LSU, when he scored 24.
“I just had to do what I had to do,” said Petty after the game. “I really wasn’t feeling at all and I was going to do whatever it was [took] for us tonight to win the victory. “
First year point guard Josh Primo and second year point guard Jaden Shackelford were Alabama’s final two top scorers, with Primo scoring 12 points and Shackelford 10.
Reese ended the night with nine points in 19 minutes, with four rebounds and a block.
For Gamecocks, three snipers managed to score double digits on Tuesday night at Lawson (21), Keyshawn Bryant (16), Minaya (15) and Woods (11). Minaya led the team in rebounds with seven.
Moving forward, Alabama will need to focus on controlling the ball. On Tuesday night, Crimson Tide turned the ball 22 times compared to Gamecocks ’19. On a positive note, Alabama was able to hit South Carolina 41-39, turning the game in favor of Crimson Tide.
With the win, Alabama moves to 16-5 overall and is now 11-1 in the SEC game. South Carolina drops to 5-8 overall and is 3-6 in the conference. As it is after Tuesday night’s game, the Crimson Tide is designed as a seed 2 in the NCAA Tournament and would receive a farewell in the first two rounds of the SEC Tournament.
Then Alabama returns home to face the Georgia Bulldogs at the Coleman Coliseum on Saturday. The game is scheduled for a CT tip at 2:30 pm (SEC Network).
