Alabama men’s basketball survived and won a 100-97 barnburner over Texas A&M at Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday night.
“We needed this win badly,” head coach Nate Oats said postgame. “Sunday was a disaster,” and he called the loss one of “the most embarrassing games” he has coached.
Six Alabama players scored in double figures, but efficient backcourt play from star guards Aden Holloway and Labaron Philon Jr. led the way on offense. Holloway notched 20 points on 5/11 shooting and 9/12 from the charity stripe. He also pulled a Houdini act with 22 seconds remaining, knocking down a layup as he drew a foul and fell.
“I was just trying to get the shot off, because I knew the shot clock was going down,” Holloway said postgame. “I knew we just needed to get it on the rim.”
Philon exited the first half with a lower leg injury, but returned to start the second half after spending several minutes on an exercise bike behind the Crimson Tide’s bench. He tallied 13 second-half points on 4/5 shooting and 3/4 from deep despite the injury concerns.
The Crimson Tide took better care of the basketball, turning it over just six times against a press-heavy Aggies defense that entered the contest averaging 15.2 turnovers forced per game.
“We had two good practices coming into this game and really focused on that press,” forward Amari Allen said. “I feel like it didn’t really give us any problems. We only had six turnovers. They manage to turn over teams a lot, so I feel like we handled it well.”
A scrappy first half featured 92 combined points, 11 lead changes and 15 combined 3-pointers. Alabama forward London Jemison starred in the opening period, scoring 10 points on 4/4 shooting. He also recorded four first-half rebounds and helped the Crimson Tide outrebound the Aggies 22-19.
The game remained aggressive after the break, featuring an astounding 31 combined fouls in the final 20 minutes. The Crimson Tide tallied just three fouls in the first half but was called for 15 fouls in the second half, which gave the Aggies two free throws for the remaining 12 minutes.
The Crimson Tide struggled from 3-point range in the second half but shot an efficient 10/12 from inside the arc. Texas A&M head coach Bucky McMillan said that his team could not keep the Crimson Tide out of the paint when his team ran half-court defense.
Alabama held a 6-point lead with 3:59 left, but could not shake Texas A&M, which tied the game up at 91 apiece with 2:46 to go. The Aggies took a 95-94 lead on a layup from star forward Rashaun Agee with 1:33 left, which silenced a rowdy Coleman crowd.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, the Crimson Tide did not go away.
Alabama rallied back through guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr., who hit a go-ahead 3-pointer from the corner with 1:11 to go that gave the Crimson Tide a lead it did not relinquish, despite a golden chance to tie it at the buzzer for former Alabama guard and current Aggies starter Rylan Griffen.
Alabama will return to the floor on Saturday on the Plains, facing off with the Auburn Tigers in a pivotal SEC matchup at Neville Arena. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CT, and the game can be streamed on ESPN2.
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