No. 9 Alabama loses to Oregon in Players Era championship
No. 9 Alabama fell in the championship game of the Players Era Festival on Saturday night, losing to Oregon by a final score of 83-81.
The loss drops the Crimson Tide to 6-2 after the first month of the season, with five non-conference games remaining before SEC play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Alabama kept the same starters for the fourth game in a row, going with Mark Sears, Labaron Philon, Latrell Wrightsell, Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi. The starters got off to a hot start offensively, scoring 12 points in the first four minutes and holding a 4-point lead at the first media timeout.
The ball moved well for Alabama early on, knocking down two 3-pointers in the first four minutes, along with two big-time lobs to Omoruyi. Over the next four minutes, Philon came alive after struggling in the first two games in Las Vegas. He scored eight points straight in a 4-minute stretch, going 3-for-3 from the field.
As has been the case in other games in Vegas, turnovers continued to plague Alabama. The Crimson Tide turned the ball over five times in a four-minute span, allowing Oregon to go on a 10-2 run and turn a 5-point deficit into a 3-point lead.
Alabama worked to push the lead back out a bit before halftime, building a 7-point lead off the back of some eye-popping passes from Nelson after he was doubled in the post. Oregon responded, though, going on a 7-0 run to close the half, tying the game at 39 at the break.
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The start of the second half was disastrous, as Wrightsell went down with a non-contact injury and went straight to the locker room. After the injury Oregon continued to work on the offensive glass, and built a 4-point lead at the period’s first media timeout.
Oregon’s second half lead got as large as 10 about midway through, and Alabama looked deflated following the Wrightsell injury. The Crimson Tide kept battling, and went on a quick 6-0 run with threes from Aden Holloway and Jarin Stevenson, prompting an Oregon timeout with the lead cut to two.
Alabama kept fighting, building a 5-point lead headed into the final media timeout of the game. Oregon went on an 8-1 run to take a 2-point lead with a minute to go, which it held onto for the remainder of the game, as Alabama’s game-tying shot from Nelson didn’t get off in time.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Labaron Philon — 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists
Jarin Stevenson — 11 points, 5 rebounds
WHAT’S NEXT
Alabama will hit the road again this week, traveling to Chapel Hill to take on No. 12 North Carolina in this year’s ACC/SEC Challenge game. The game will tip off at 6:15 p.m. CT and air on ESPN from the Dean Smith Center.
