Alabama battles back to beat UT Arlington, extend perfect start
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Tuesday night’s game offered plenty of firsts for No. 25 Alabama. It was the first time the Crimson Tide entered a game ranked in the Associated Press top 25 under head coach Avery Johnson. It was also senior forward Riley Norris’ first game back after missing the first three games with a hip injury.
Due to a strong second-half performance, it didn’t include Alabama’s first loss. After trailing at the half for the first time all season, Alabama bounced back to defeat University of Texas Arlington 77-76. The Crimson Tide was led by freshman guard Collin Sexton, who scored a career-high 29 points on 8 of 15 shooting. UTA’s Kevin Hervey had a big night, leading the Mavericks with 24 points to go with six rebounds and three assists.
Alabama moves to 4-0 with the win, while UTA drops to 2-1 on the season.
Here are some notes from Tuesday night’s game:
Tide's top performers
It was another career night for Sexton who carried the Crimson Tide throughout much of the first half, including 15 points heading into the break. On top of his sharp shooting, the freshman wasn’t afraid to drive to the lane. Sexton did a good job of getting to the line and knocked down 11 of his 14 free-throw attempts.
Fellow freshman John Petty also had a solid night, scoring 8 points, including two 3s. Earlier in the week, Petty earned SEC Freshman of the Week after tallying a school-record 10 3-pointers in the Crimson Tide’s previous game against Alabama A&M. Donta Hall and Avery Johnson Jr. also had 8 points apiece.
Freshman Herbert Jones scored 7 points to go with nine rebounds and was also Alabama’s top player on the defensive end. All nine of Jones’ rebounds came on defense. He also tallied four steals and drew four charges on the night.
Making his season debut, Riley Norris scored 5 points in 15 minutes of play. Norris entered the game with 14:32 left in the first half and drained a 3 from the corner on his first shot.
It was over when
Herbert Jones pulled down a rebound as the buzzer sounded after UTA’s Erik Neal’s potential game-winning basket fell short.
Prior to the shot, Alabama turned the ball over on a five-second inbound violation, giving the Mavericks the final shot with 17 seconds remaining. Sexton appeared to put the game when he was fouled making a driving shot in the lane to put Alabama up 77-73 with 29 seconds remaining. However, the freshman missed the ensuing free-throw and Neal followed up with a 3 at the other end to cut the lead to 77-76. Fortunately for Alabama that’s as close as the Mavericks would come the rest of the game.
Difference maker
Alabama survived being punched in the mouth for the first time all season. UTA made 14 of its first 20 shots, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range to take an early 33-25 lead with 8:35 left in the first half. The Mavericks extended their lead to as much as 12 points before the Crimson Tide starting fighting back.
Alabama closed out the half on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 46-41 at the half. Sexton accounted for seven of the nine points on the run.
After tying the game early in the second half, Avery Johnson Jr. gave Alabama its first lead with a 3-pointer in the corner to put the Crimson Tide up 54-53 with 12:12 to play in the game. Johnson Jr. then hit another big 3 to give Alabama a 64-60 led with 8:21 remaining as the Crimson Tide held on for the win.
Next up
Alabama will travel to Brooklyn, N.Y. as part of the Barclays Center Classic. First up on the trip will be a Friday meeting against BYU (3-1) at 1:30 p.m. CT. The Cougars already share one common opponent with the Crimson Tide as their lone defeat of the season came in an 89-75 home loss to UT Arlington. BYU is led by 6-foot-5 junior guard Elijah Bryant, who entered Tuesday averaging 21.3 points and 5 rebounds per game.
Saturday, Alabama will play No. 14 Minnesota at 4 p.m. CT. The Golden Gophers will be the first ranked team the Crimson Tide faces this season.