Kira Lewis Jr. helps Alabama basketball vanquish road woes at Vanderbilt
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The cursed confines of Memorial Gymnasium have plagued Alabama basketball for the better part of the past two decades. Saturday night, the 67-year-old venue was overrun by an undaunted 17-year-old.
Memorial’s quirky configuration has long doomed visiting Crimson Tide teams. Saturday, its baseline benches provided close-up looks for Kira Lewis Jr.’s effortless drives while its raised stage served as the perfect setting for the freshman’s standout performance. Lewis scored 18 points to lead Alabama to a 77-67 victory, the Crimson Tide’s first win in Memorial in more than six years.
Entering Saturday’s matchup, Alabama had just one win in its previous 15 road games against Vanderbilt. As for Lewis, he’s undefeated in the building. Driving away from his home bench in the first half, Lewis scored 13 first-half points to give the Crimson Tide a 38-31 lead at the break. He then knocked down a 3 early in the second half to cap off a 10-0 run for Alabama.
The Crimson Tide led by as many as 19 points midway through the second half. However, as it has so many times this season, Alabama failed to comfortably close out the game. Vanderbilt went on a 17-3 run to cut Alabama’s lead to 65-60 with 5:20 remaining before Riley Norris came to the rescue. With Alabama clinging to a five-point lead with 2:13 remaining, Norris was fouled from beyond the arc. The redshirt senior made all three free throws and then drained another 3 on Alabama’s next possession to drag the Crimson Tide back to safety.
Norris finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season. Dazon Ingram joined Lewis and Norris in double figures, scoring 12 points while going 3 of 3 from beyond the arc.
Alabama (15-8, 6-4 in the SEC) recorded back to back wins for the first time since beginning conference play, while Vanderbilt (9-14, 0-10) suffered its 11th straight defeat. The Crimson Tide made 12 of 24 (50 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Commodores made just 8 of 22 3-point attempts. On top of its hot shooting from deep, Alabama outmuscled Vanderbilt, winning the rebounding battle 42-31. The 10-point victory matched Alabama's largest road win of the season. The two teams will meet again later this month in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Next up
Alabama closes out its two-game road trip as it travels to Mississippi State (16-7, 4-6) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network. The Crimson Tide will look to complete the season sweep over the Bulldogs after beating them 83-79 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. last month. During that game, Alabama was able to hold off a late comeback after leading by as many as 14 points in the second half.
Mississippi State comes into the matchup following narrow losses to No. 21 LSU and No. 5 Kentucky. The Bulldogs are led by senior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon who is averaging 18 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Alabama was able to hold Weatherspoon to 14 points during last month’s game.
Following the game against Mississippi State, Alabama will return home to take on Florida on Feb. 16.