Alabama Opens SEC Play with 65-44 Victory Over Texas A&M

When your opponent is missing their leading scorer, you have to take advantage.  The Alabama men's basketball team did exactly that and got off to a great start in conference play as they defeated the Texas A&M Aggies 65-44.  The win puts the Tide's record at 11-3 for the season and 1-0 in the SEC.  It was a dominant win that kept Alabama's home record perfect for the season.  Junior guard Ricky Tarrant had another good game as he scored 15 points to lead the Tide.

The first half was not fun offensively for either side, with both teams shooting under 40% in the period.  With leading scorerer Jalen Jones out for the game, the Aggies stuttered out of the gate.  Alabama was able to get out to 25-12 lead with 4:05 to go in the half, but an 8-0 run from the Aggies helped them cut the score to 27-24 at halftime.  At the buzzer for the half, A&M's Alex Robinson hit a layup that was counted.  However, video replay seemed to indicate that he did not get the shot off in time.  Despite reviweing the play, the basket was still counted.  It added to the Tide's woes in the paint as the Aggies outscored them 14-6 inside at the half.

The second half began with A&M's Danuel House hitting a three-point shot to tie the game.  After that it was all Alabama. Acodring to Aggie coach Billy Kennedy, "Alabama won this game in the first five minutes of the second half."  Ricky Tarrant made a habit of attacking the rim, and junior guard Retin Obasohan gave the Tide scoring off the bench with 12 points of his own, including and-ones on back-to-back possessions.  As a team, Alabama shot 52% and made 10 of 14 free throws in the half.  Without their leading scorer, A&M could not mount a second comeback and withered against the Tide's zone defense.  The exclamation point came with 1:27 left to play as Tarrant, after a steal on defense, found Levi Randolph with an off-the-backboard alley oop dunk, just like the one they had against South Florida earlier in the season.  Alabama outscored A&M 38-27 in the half.

Tarrant's 15 points led the Tide, and he was joined by Michaels Kessens (10), Randolph (10) and Obasohan (12) in scoring double figures.  Kessens and Randolph both had 9 rebounds to lead the Tide, that close to a double-double for both players.  For Texas A&M, freshman guard Peyton Allen (13) was the only Aggie in double figues in any statistic. Though his stats were modest (five points and three rebounds), teammates credited Riley Norris with adding energy inthe 2nd half.  Foul trouble kept Norris on the bench throughout much of the first half.

Despite being down 14-6 at the half in points in the paint, Alabama finished the game up 28-18 in that stat. Alabama had eight steals to just one for A&M.  The Tide also had 12 2nd chance points from nine offensive rebounds and 14 points off turnovers.

Alabama's next game will take them away from Coleman Coliseum for the first time since their 53-52 loss at Wichita State on December 16th.  the Tide will travel to Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday.  Following a trip to Columbia to take on South Carolina on January 13th, Alabama returns to Coleman on the 17th to host the undefeated and top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats.

At 11-3, the Tide have put themselves in great position to make a run in conference play. As head coach Anthony Grant said after the game, "One down, 17 to go."  It surely won't be easy, and as evident by Kentucky struggling against Ole Miss, anything can happen on any given night.  But Alabama has to like where they are as they seek to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2012 season.