Woeful first half does in Alabama basketball in loss to Rhode Island

The chilly temperatures of early November make it difficult to think about March. However, Alabama basketball might still be feeling the sting of Friday night’s loss in four months.

Playing in its first road game of the season, Alabama couldn’t overcome a fitful first half as it fell to Rhode Island, 93-79. Friday’s game was thought to be a potential resume-builder for the Crimson Tide come tournament time. Instead, it could serve as a costly missed opportunity as Alabama falls to 1-2 on the year.

Trailing 58-37 early in the second half, Alabama began to show a pulse as it went on a 14-2 run capped off by back-to-back 3s from Jaden Shackelford and Alex Reese. The Crimson Tide kept chipping away as a 3 from John Petty Jr. cut the lead to 73-67 with 7:30 to play.

Javian Davis scored 11 second-half points, including a layup to trim the deficit to five with 3:28 to play. However, that’s as close as Alabama would get as its comeback bid fell short.

After using an 18-2 first-half run to pull away from Florida Atlantic in its last game, Alabama had to overcome two similar runs early Friday night. After the Crimson Tide got out to a 6-0 lead to start the game, a string of sloppy turnovers allowed Rhode Island to go on a 15-2 run. Alabama rallied back to bring the score to 15-14 only to see Rhode Island answer with a back-breaking 27-6 run as the Rams took a 50-33 lead into the half.

Alabama gave up the ball 11 times in the first 11 minutes and started the game 0-for-12 from 3. The Crimson Tide finished the game with a season-worst 22 turnovers and shot just 5 of 22 from beyond the arc.

One of the bright spots on the night for Alabama came in the return of Herbert Jones. After missing a game with a hyper-extended elbow, the junior got the start for the Crimson Tide, scoring 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Kira Lewis Jr., continued his high-scoring start to the season, scoring a team-high 21 points. Davis finished with 11 points to go with seven rebounds.

Rhode Island was led by guards Fatts Russell and Jeff Dowtin who scored 22 points and 21 points respectively. Rams forward Cyril Langevine entered the week leading the NCAA averaging 16.0 rebounds per game. Friday night, Alabama was able to limit him to 12 points and five boards.

Friday’s game marked a successful week for the Atlantic 10 over the SEC. Earlier in the week, VCU beat No. 23 LSU while Vanderbilt lost to Richmond.

“The A-10’s looked really good this year,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said Thursday before the game. “... I think the A-10’s going to be back to where they have three or four NCAA Tournament teams, I would think. And Rhode Island, in my mind, is going to be one of those teams in the hunt for that.”

Alabama will return home to face to face Furman on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT inside of Coleman Colesium. The Paladins entered Friday with a 3-0 record. Tuesday’s game is the Crimson Tide’s only on-campus game in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. Following the game against Furman, Alabama will travel to Grand Paradise Island, Bahamas to take on No. 6 North Carolina on Nov. 27 in the non-campus portion of the tournament.

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