The University of Alabama basketball team (11-4) earned a hard fought victory in its Southeastern Conference opener with a 65-59 win over LSU (12-3) at Coleman Coliseum Sunday afternoon. Sophomore Senario Hillman scored the Tide's final nine points and knocked down 7-8 free throws in the final minute to put the game away.
"It was just a gutsy win," head coach Mark Gottfried said. "I thought Senario Hillman took the game over in the second half and did so many things well. I thought in second half, defensively, we weren’t nearly as good as we were in the first half. Part of that was because Tasmin Mitchell played, and he is such a tough match up as an interior player for our guys. Bottom line is that we dug down and found a way to win."
The University of Alabama basketball team (10-4) lost its first true road contest of the season Tuesday night, falling 66-59 to No. 11 Clemson (15-0) at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Crimson Tide made a push in the final minutes cutting a 15-point Tiger lead to as few as five before coming up just short. The Tide took a 42-41 lead on a dunk by junior Yamene Coleman with 14:19 left in the second half, but the Tigers took control after that, mounting a 14-0 run to take a 55-42 lead that Alabama could not overcome.
The University of Alabama’s JaMychal Green has been named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week as announced by the league office Monday morning. Green, a native of Montgomery, AL, led the Crimson Tide to a pair of wins last week over Georgia Tech and Quincy. The 6-9 forward averaged 12.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in the two games and scored 12 points with five boards in the Tide’s 88-77 win over Georgia Tech. He also connected on 64.7 percent (11-of-17) of his shots from the field on the week with half of his 12 rebounds coming off the offensive glass.
The University of Alabama men’s basketball team leaves campus for the first time in more than a month to face undefeated Clemson on Tuesday, January 6. Tuesday’s contest will be televised live across the Southeast on Fox Sports South. The game is the Crimson Tide’s first game on an opponent’s home court this season. The team has three neutral-site games under its belt, going 2-1 at the Maui Invitational in late November. The game is also the second of back-to-back contests against Atlantic Coast Conference competition. If recent trends are any indication, Tuesday’s game could be a shootout as Clemson has averaged 89.3 points in its last three games while the Tide has scored 80.0 points over that same span.
The University of Alabama basketball team (10-3) closed out its eight-game home stand in impressive fashion Saturday, coasting to an 88-77 victory over Georgia Tech (8-5) in Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide shot 53 percent from the floor and a blistering 50 percent (9-18) from three-point range. The Tide led by as many as 30 points in the second half, and the Yellow Jackets never closed within single digits.
"I think for about 25 or 30 minutes we were an awfully good basketball team on both ends of the floor," head coach Mark Gottfried said. "We were a very good basketball team in the first half. We got cautious late, but overall it is still a great win for our team. Like I said, for about 30 minutes of the game we were a pretty good basketball team today so hopefully we can keep improving."