Alabama Men’s Basketball Falls at Texas A&M, 56-53

The Alabama men’s basketball team dropped a 56-53 decision at Texas A&M Saturday night at Reed Arena. The Crimson Tide battled back from a 13-point second-half deficit, trimming the lead to just two points in the final minute, but could not complete the comeback.

The Aggies (15-12, 7-9) scored 26 of their 56 points from the charity stripe, going 26-of-37 from the foul line. In comparison, the Crimson Tide hit just 7-of-9 free throws.

Alabama (16-12, 9-7) was led by junior Ar’Mond Davis who scored 11 points – all coming in the second half – while junior Riley Norris added 10. Senior Jimmie Taylor collected six points and led the Tide with seven rebounds and three blocks.

Alabama got off to a strong start as it outscored Texas A&M 13-5 through the first 10 minutes of the contest. However, the Aggies countered with seven straight points to cut the Tide’s lead to 13-12 with 4:16 on the clock. Texas A&M went on to outscore the Tide 9-6 over the final four minutes of the first half to take a two-point lead going into halftime, 21-19.

The Aggies went on a 13-3 run early in the second half to take control of the game, 40-27, with 12:04 left to play. That’s when the Tide began its comeback, outscoring Texas A&M 10-4 over the next 3:31 to trim the lead to 44-37 with 8:33 remaining.

Trailing 49-40 at the 6:55 mark, Alabama went on another 10-4 run, this time lasting 4:35, which cut the lead to 53-50 with 2:10 on the clock. Davis knocked down a jumper and a free-throw to bring Alabama within two points, 55-53. After a made free throw by Texas A&M, the Tide had three chances to even the score, but could not convert to result in the final outcome.

The Tide shot 34 percent (20-of-59) from the field in the 40 minute contest, including shooting 26 percent (6-of-23) from behind the three-point line. Alabama’s defense held Texas A&M to shooting just 17 percent (2-of-12) shooting from behind the three-point line and 34 percent (14-of-45) from the field. Alabama’s reserves scored 26 points, compared to Texas A&M’s seven bench points.

Texas A&M freshman Robert Williams collected game highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Tyler Davis added 13 points, nine coming from the foul line.

The Crimson Tide will return to action on Wednesday night against Ole Miss at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network. The contest will be Senior Night as the Alabama senior class will be recognized prior to tipoff.