Tide Falters Down The Stretch, Lose 95-85

The 8th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide fell to 12th ranked Gonzaga 95-85 in their opening game of the Player Era Festival at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Alabama fell to 3-2 on the season while the Bulldogs improved to 6-0. The game started at 8:30 p.m. CT on TNT. The Tide will play UNLV on Tuesday in a game scheduled for a 11:10 p.m. tip-off, on TruTv.Before Monday’s game coach Nate Oats announced that senior guard Latrell Wrightsell, Jr would miss the game. The Tide could have used the grad-students shooting touch in the game.Oats sent out a starting lineup of Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway, Houston Mallette, Taylor Bol Bowen, and Aiden Sherrell. The Tide jumped our early 4-0 on hoops by Sherrell and Philon. The game was back and forth through out the first half. At the first media timeout Bama led 9-7 with Philon already notching five points. Holloway and Keitenn Bristow pushed the Tide to a 25-20 lead at the 8:32 mark. The Zags kept answering and took a 40-37 lead with 1:26 on the half time clock. Alabama freshman Amari Allen drilled a three pointer to tie things up at 40 apiece with 1:04 left. Gonzaga hit a three pointer and Bama missed at the buzzer to make the score 45-42 in favor of the Bulldogs at the half.

In the first period the Tide shot 16-33 for 48% including just 3-14 for 21% from deep. Bama did knock down 7-8 at the charity stripe. The team gathered 18 rebounds with six of those on the offensive glass, dished out five assists, blocked two shots, garnered four steals, and turned the ball over eight times. Philon led the way with 13 points on 5-8 shooting with two assists and two steals, but turned the ball over four times. Sherrell had eight points, five rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Holloway was 0-6 from deep but still managed seven points. Energizer bunny Bristow five points, four rebounds, and a steal in only seven minutes of action.

Gonzaga shot 18-36 for an even 50% with 3-12 from three point range and only 6-12 from the free throw line. The Dogs had 22 rebounds- 11 offensively-, seven assists, one block, three steals, and committed seven turnovers. Braden Huff scored 12 to lead the team, followed by Graham Ike with 10 points.

The Tide sent out the same starting five for the second half. Philon scored right out of the shoot, but offensive rebounds and missed free throws started haunting Bama. The Zags shot out to a 57-48 lead as things looked to be going off the rails. However Philon answered, again and again. When freshman London Jemison got a fortuitous bounce on a three point shot, the Tide led 61-60 with 11:45 remaining in the game. An Alabama 10-0 run over 3:53 helped the team surge to the lead.

The game was a battle for the next few minutes. At the under eight timeout Gonzaga led 69-68, because the Tide couldn’t make free throws. Holloway finally nailed a three pointer and Bama took a 71-70 lead with 6:58 left in the game. Bol Bowen fouled out with 5:38 on the clock. Gonzaga pulled back ahead. When Allen made 2-2 free throws with 4:54 on the clock, Bama pulled within one point at 75-74. The Bulldogs went on 9-0 run to take control at 84-74 with 3:23 remaining. Holloway, Allen, and Jemison all made three pointers down the stretch to remain somewhat in the game, but it wasn’t enough and the Zags won 95-85. The Tide fell to on the season while Gonzaga improved to 6-0.

Alabama shot 15-34 in the second half for 44%, with 6-15 from deep for 40%. However 7-15 from the free throw line, including several front ends of one and one’s doomed the team. Overall Bama finished 31-67 for 46%, 9-29 from three for 31%, and 14-23 for a putrid 60% on free tries. The Tide had 36 rebounds (to 48 for the Dogs), 13 assists, three blocks, seven steals, and 13 turnovers. Philon shined with a career high 29 points and added seven assists, three rebounds, and two steals. On the other hand the sophomore superstar committed seven turnovers, many of them careless, unforced, errors. Sherrell had one of his best games, while playing a career high 3o minutes. The big sophomore tallied 14 points on 6-9 shooting, had six rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and a steal. Allen continued his nice freshman season with 14 points, four rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Despite 4-15 shooting, including 2-10 from three point range, Holloway managed 13 points in 28 minutes. Bristow led the team with 11 rebounds in only 19 minutes and contributed seven points. Mallette had the most empty 26 minutes possible with zero points and two rebounds. Wrightsell was definitely missed in this game. The Bulldogs shot 17-36 for 47%, 3-10 from deep, and 13-14 on free throws in the half. Overall Gonzaga finished 35-72 for 49%, 6-22 for 27% from three, and 19-26 for 73% from the line. The bigger Dogs grabbed 48 rebounds with 20 being offensive and had three blocks, seven steals, 13 assists, and gave the ball away 11 times. The Zags front court won the game for the team with 8th year senior Tyon Grant-Foster scoring 21 points with 7 rebounds, super senior Ike also scoring 21 with 11 rebounds, and Huff finishing with 18 points and eight boards. Steele Venters with 12 and Mario Saint-Supery scored 10 to give Gonzaga five players in double figures. After the game Oats said ““they were the tougher team, and that is usually who wins, our guys have to decide if they want to to be the toughest team.” Rebounding, ball security, and shooting, are plaguing the Tide. Yet they still have managed to beat St Johns in New York, and Illinois in Chicago, and be tied with Purdue with one minute to play in Tuscaloosa. The loss to Gonzaga was to an old, veteran, team. The Zags sent out a lineup older than some NBA teams do on a nightly basis. This is the new way in college sports. The grinding schedule that Oats and staff should pay off down the road, but only if the Tide toughens up on the boards and defensively.

Next up is the home town team, UNLV, and the ungodly time of 11:10 CT tonight in a game that will be available on TruTv- good luck finding that channell! RollTide#BallAndOats