Well, a win is a win, I think?
This may have been the most offensive (and least offensive) 81-point game I have ever seen in my life. Which, in a way, shows how much Alabama basketball has changed since Anthony Grant’s 55-point scoring years.
Tide was left behind early on, with a trio of turns and no lack of missed kicks made them score just 2 points in the first four minutes. Juwan Gary scored the first two points, then was knocked down on the court and fell awkwardly. He lost the rest of the game with what is probably a dislocated shoulder. Eventually, though, Josh Primo hit a good 3 points to get things moving again. Then Alex Reese shook off the frost and hit a big dunk, leading to a 10-point run for Tide that put them back in the game.
The two teams switched the lead back and forth for the rest of the time. Both Alabama and South Carolina were determined to pick up the pace, and the two teams combined 69 shots and 20 spins in the first 20 minutes of the game. Alabama was absolutely horrible under the basket, making just 8 out of 21, but luckily increased his shooting average by hitting 6 out of three points.
Despite little efficiency, they still scored 77 points in the interval, with Alabama gaining a 3 point advantage in the interval.
The second half, surprisingly, saw even worse pitches and an increase in fouls and turns. The high pace and high foul rate practically killed the entire game flow and the game lasted well over 2 hours. Both defenses went through a stretch where it looked like they were both trying to outdo each other in selling flops to tie the charges, and the referees were absolutely consistent from when they charged to when they called a block. Honestly, it took a lot of the fun out of viewing the game.
John Petty and Jahvon Quinerly practically carried the tide in terms of goals in the second half. Petty made some ridiculous moonball strokes at the beginning, although he lost his aim at the end of the time and launched some aerial balls. Keon Ellis had a monstrous dunk in the middle that kept just enough energy for Alabama to maintain a consistent advantage of about 2 possession all the time.
Quinnerly’s consecutive triples in the final 4 minutes gave Alabama an 8-point lead, but Tide made some quick kicks that allowed the USC to reach some points with less than a minute to go.
After a foul with less than 16 seconds to play, Keon Ellis made a free throw to increase the lead to 3, and the Gamecocks lost their 3-point draw attempt in just 2.6 seconds. James Rojas grabbed the rebound and immediately covered the ball like a defender, anticipating the foul when the closest USC defender grabbed his two arms
Except, for some inexplicable reason, the referees decided it was a simultaneous possession and South Carolina won the ball overhead. I mean … I think I’ve seen crazier “simultaneous possessions”:
Either way, Nate Oats was ready. Instead of playing a regular defense and giving the USC a chance for a 3-point final shot to tie the game, he had all of his defenders backing down to protect the 3-point arc.
Like a greedy child finding a penny on the sidewalk, South Carolina took the ticket and got a free two-point tray, then realized that the penny was stuck to the floor and everyone was laughing at them.
They got their two points, burned 8/10 of a second and returned the ball to Alabama. Tide burned another split second, made his free throws and ended the game there.
For the game, Alabama hit just 38% of their shots and 35% in the 3-point range by turning the ball over 22 times. Not good. But the defense had some twists, hit just enough three times and hit 17 to 20 free throws, all of which allowed them to win.
John Petty led the team with 20 points, and still had a big rebound to go along with his usual range of long-range sniper shots. He also led the team with 8 rebounds and played 36 minutes in total.
Quinerly had 13 points and was the only Alabama player to shoot better than 50%. He had some rotation problems, but he seemed to be getting into the rhythm of kicking the ball. Josh Primo had 12 points, but 10 of them were in the first half before he disappeared entirely in the second.
Herb Jones led the team with 7 assists, but also had 4 turns, 5 fouls and hit just 1/7 of the kicks. His back hurt clearly, and in general, he just wasn’t very effective. Retrospective is always 20/20, but I think he would have been better off if he sat down and recovered.
In any case, Alabama advances to 16-5 and 11-1 at the conference, as they expand their leadership at the top of the SEC.
The health of this team is a major concern, especially among indoor players. Herb Jones plays guard, but is more involved in the countryside than most and is limited by the back. Jordan Bruner is still out with his knee surgery. Alex Reese seems to be playing limited minutes as well.
And when Juwan Gary had the first chance to start in the attack, he injured his shoulder in the first minutes.
With all this, Alabama is clearly struggling to win under the basket in attack, leaving the three ball as its only real weapon. They got it close enough (narrowly) to win tonight, but it was far from comfortable.
Next are the Georgia Bulldogs, who are quietly on a short winning streak, winning 3 in a row over Ole Miss, Auburn and Vanderbilt. They haven’t been a great team historically, but they actually have the fifth overall overall performance at the conference.
A victory over them will go a long way in keeping Alabama firmly in the front seat.
Roll Tide!