3-point analysis: Alabama basketball uses late rally to down Furman, 83-80

For the first time in three weeks, Alabama basketball was back home inside Coleman Coliseum. It took the Crimson Tide a while to get reaccustomed to its familiar surroundings as it overcame a 16-point deficit to down Furman, 83-80.

Alabama started slow but figured out a way to stop a red-hot Furman team out just in time to secure the victory.

Heading into the half down by 10, the Tide steadily chipped away at the deficit. After tying the game with just under two minutes to play, forward James Rojas gave Alabama its first lead as he buried a 3 to put the Tide up 79-76 with 1:18 remaining.

Leading 83-80, a missed free-throw attempt by Alabama’s Jaden Shackelford gave Furman a late opportunity to tie the game. However, Jordan Bruner blocked a desperation heave at the buzzer to secure the win for the Tide.

Alabama won the game on the boards as the Tide outrebounded Furman 49-28 while outsourcing the Paladins 24-3 on second-chance points. Alabama (4-2) also held Furman (5-2) to 33.3 percent shooting in the second half after allowing the Paladins to shoot 62.1 percent before the break.

Herbert Jones led Alabam with 18 points and 12 rebounds, recording his second double-double of the season.

After having its game against No. 6 Houston canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Cougars’ basketball program, Alabama will instead host Western Kentucky on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.

Here are three observations from Tuesday night’s game.

Rojas wasn’t going to let Alabama lose this one. The JUCO transfer forward recorded a season-high 11 points and seven rebounds while bringing the blue-collar energy the Tide lacked in its loss to Clemson over the weekend. Rojas was especially big in the second half, recording six of his seven boards after the break.

"We came in wanting to play harder than them and play tougher than them," Rojas said. "So I just took that to go play harder, and it just helped my performance."

One of Rojas' biggest contributions came when he drew Clay Mounce's fifth foul, taking the Furman forward out of the game with 8:12 to play. Before exiting the game, Mounce had 21 points on 8 of 11 shooting. The Paladins were leading 70-61 when he left the court for the final time.

"That may have been the play of the game, to be honest," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said of Rojas' drawn foul. "Shoot, if Mounce is in, we're having a hard time getting stops against them."

However, it was Rojas' go-ahead 3 that will be remembered the most.

"It was a good feeling," he said of the crucial bucket.

Rojas was 2 of 3 from beyond the arc on the night. He entered the game just 1 of 8 from 3 over his first five games.

Alabama dug itself into another early hole as it allowed Furman to start the game 12 of 16 (75 percent) from the floor. The Paladins used a 12-2 run capped off by a corner 3 from Clay Mounce to jump out to a 32-16 lead with 8:21 left in the half.

After missing its first 12 shots from beyond the arc in a loss to Clemson over the weekend, the Crimson Tide started cold again from deep, hitting just two of its first 10 3-point attempts. Meanwhile, Furman turned four early turnovers into 7 points while dominating the paint early.

Even when shots started to fall for Alabama, it had no answer for Furman on the defensive end as the Paladins shot 62 percent (18 of 29) from the floor in the first half to lead 47-37 at the break.

Oats has been hinting at getting Juwan Gary more minutes the past few games, crediting the redshirt freshman for his defense and the energy he brings to the court. Following Saturday night’s loss to Clemson, the head coach said he was going to shake up his team’s rotation.

Tuesday, Oats kept true to his word, checking Gary into the game with 10:40 left in the half. One second later the 6-foot-6 forward rewarded his coach with a layup.

Gary helped the Tide chip away at its early deficit, scoring 7 points on 3 of 4 shooting while adding three rebounds in the first half. He was Alabama’s only player with a positive plus-minus at the break, registering a plus-4 over his 11 first-half minutes.

Gary sparked the Tide again in the second half, coming into the game with 14:50 remaining and Alabama trailing 58-47. The athletic forward contributed on both sides of the ball, helping the Tide cut the deficit to six points before leaving the game.

Gary finished the game with a career-high 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting over eight minutes. His previous high in minutes was four during Alabama’s 82-64 loss to Stanford.

"When he was in, out defensive efficiency was a 0.42, which is great," Oats said. "The eight minutes he's in, they didn't score at a very high clip. We're trying to get better defenders. He's big, strong, athletic, plays hard."

Gary, a former four-star recruit, came to Alabama as the No. 101 player in the 2019 class. He missed all of last season after tore his ACL last fall.