Alabama basketball ties best start in school history with 77-69 win over Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. — The Alabama men’s basketball team has now tied its best start throught 25 games in program history after beating Auburn 77-69 on Saturday afternoon. That victory moves the Crimson Tide to 22-3 (12-0 SEC) on the season, which ties the 1974-75 team. And on the other side, the Tigers drop to 17-8 (7-5 SEC) while losing five of its last six games.
Despite a seemingly comfortable eight-point win, Saturday’s game was a nail-bitter almost until the very end. Auburn held the lead for a majority of the game, but Alabama kept battling its way back and never let things get too lopsided. In the end, the Crimson Tide came out on top.
The win won’t came without coaching points for Nate Oats though. Alabama only shot 13-of-23 (or 56.5%) from the free throw line. In comparison, Auburn went 22-of-26 (84.6%) from the charity stripe. In addition, the Tigers managed 16 offensive rebounds while the Crimson Tide only brought in six.
Giving Auburn that many second and third chances — on top of the fouling issues — helped keep them in the game. The Tigers only shot 32.3% from the field, after all. Alabama did a lot better (59.2%), but a lot of that success came in the paint. The Tide only shot 28.6% from beyond the arc.
Alabama got some important minutes off the bench from freshman Rylan Griffen. He scored a team-high 16 while converting 3-of-5 from the three-point line. Without his contributions, UA would’ve only hit 3-of-16, which is only 18.8%. Griffen also added two rebounds, an assists and two key blocks.
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After scoring 19 points against Florida on Wednesday, guard Mark Sears was once again a key scoring piece. The Ohio transfer put up 15 points, which means he’s averaging 16 points over his last three games. In addition to his scoring output, Sears also hit 2-of-3 (66.7%) from beyond the arc with six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Freshman phenom Brandon Miller somewhat struggled in this one, but it was mostly his three-point shooting. The young forward still put up 13 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists and a steal, but he was 0-for-7 from deep. It’s the first time he’s gone without hitting at least one three-point attempt since Alabama played Houston over two months ago.
There isn’t any reason for concern though.
Next up, Alabama will travel to Knoxville to take on No. 6 Tennessee (19-5, 8-3 SEC). That game is set for 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) on Wednesday. It will air on ESPN2. Then, the Crimson Tide will return to Coleman Coliseum to play Georgia (15-10, 5-7 SEC) on Saturday afternoon.
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