Alabama men's basketball falters down the stretch to Dayton
There are times when you can tell a veteran team from one that still building an identity. The final two minutes of the Tuesday afternoon game between the Alabama men's basketball team and the visiting Dayton Flyers was a perfect example.
The Flyers trailed by a point with 2:28 to play but maintained their poise, made big shots and walked out of Coleman Coliseum with a 77-72 win that dropped Alabama to 1-1 on the year.
The Crimson Tide held a 64-63 lead on Braxton Key's layup with 2:28 remaining but Dayton answered with a pair of Charles Cooke free throws, followed by a critical Ryan Mikesell 3-pointer at the 1:33 mark to take a 68-64 lead.
Alabama kept battling and got some help as Dayton missed three free throws in the final minute. The Crimson Tide had the ball in frontcourt with a three-point deficit, 72-69, when it called its final timeout with 19.5 seconds. But Corban Collins shot an immediate 3-pointer off the inbounds pass and missed, allowing Dayton to rebound and finish off the victory.
"It was a play we drew up out of the time out," Collins said. "I rushed it a little bit but we can learn from it."
"We didn't have any timeouts left so it's not like we could drive and look for a 3-point play at the basket," said Alabama head coach Avery Johnson. "We didn't have many windows open at that point. He got a good look.
"Early in the second half, we defended the 3 well but we gave up two 3's at the end. Hopefully, we will learn from it. There were so many teachable moments in that game."
Alabama jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead in a stretch that Johnson called "rocking and rolling" but cooled off midway through the first half and wound up shooting just 39 percent for the game.
Collins and freshman Braxton Key had 15 points each to lead Alabama. Dazon Ingram added 14 points and seven assists.
Scoochie Smith of Dayton (2-0) led all scorers with 20 points.
The game ended on a sour note as Dayton forward Josh Cunningham appeared to badly injure his knee and ankle when he was fouled on a game-ending dunk.
"We're a little disappointed that we can't really enjoy the feeling of a road win with the situation with Josh (Cunningham)," Dayton head coach Archie Miller said. "But it was a hard-fought game, especially this early in the year.
"Our offense helped us in the second half. We only had three turnovers in the second half so that kept their transition game stalled. We didn't rebound like a college team needs to rebound, but we found a way to win."
Alabama will be back in action Friday night, hosting Ball State.
Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil@tidesports.com or 205-722-0225.