Alabama basketball rebounded from its first conference loss while surviving another slow start Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide fought back from an early double-digit deficit before nearly throwing away a sizable second-half advantage but ultimately did enough to grind out a sloppy 81-78 victory at South Carolina.
Alabama (16-5, 11-1 in the SEC) held on for the victory despite failing to make a field goal over the game’s final 4:20. Down by as many as eight points with 3:37 to play, South Carolina (5-8, 3-6) was able to cut the Tide’s lead to a single point on a layup from Justin Minaya with 2.4 seconds remaining. Alabama forward James Rojas was fouled on the ensuing inbound and made both of his shots before Keon Ellis picked off the Gamecocks’ Hail Mary inbound attempt to seal the game.
Alabama turned the ball over 22 times preventing it from pulling away from an equally careless South Carolina team that gave the ball away 19 times. However, the Tide stayed true to its blue-collar ethos, coming up with 18 offensive rebounds which led to 19 second-chance points.
"I don't have the answer on the starts, but I think our effort demanded a victory,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “And that's what we're telling these guys. Let's make sure we are the hardest-playing team, that our effort demands a victory and then everything will even itself out at that point."
With the win, Alabama avoids back-to-back losses for the first time this season while maintaining its comfortable lead atop the conference standings. South Carolina suffered its second-straight home defeat while failing to capitalize on a poor start from the Tide.
Fresh off of a failed comeback bid against Missouri over the weekend, Alabama dug itself into another first-half deficit Tuesday night. Practically nothing went right for the Tide over the game’s first five minutes as it opening the night 2 of 10 from the floor while losing forward Juwan Gary to an injury before the first media timeout.
Gary, a Columbia S.C. native, made his first career start for Alabama in his return to his hometown. However, the redshirt freshman’s homecoming was short-lived as he fell awkwardly on his left shoulder following a collision under the basket. Gary could be heard yelling pain on the telecast and was later escorted to the locker room by a trainer. He did not return to the game.
Meanwhile, South Carolina came out firing, connecting on seven of its first 10 shots to take an early 11-point advantage. Unlike its loss over the weekend, this time Alabama was able to recover early. The Tide answered back with a 13-2 run capped off by a 3 from Joshua Primo to tie the game at 18 with 11:37 left in the half. The teams went back and forth for the remainder of the period as Alabama took a 39-36 lead into the break.
Alabama was able to briefly pull away late in the second half as two 3s from Jahvon Quinerly helped the Tide build its lead to 76-68 with 4:20 remaining. Alabama led 78-70 with 3:37 left before allowing South Carolina back into the game.
John Petty Jr. had his best game in roughly a month, leading the Tide with 20 points and eight rebounds on 7 of 15 shooting. Heading into Tuesday’s matchup the senior had failed to score more than 12 points over his last five games.
"I just had to do what I had to do," Petty said. "I really wasn't feeling no type of way, and I was going to do whatever it takes for us tonight to get a win. One thing we kind of went over as a team as leaders is our record in February has always been pretty bad. As a leader on this team, as a senior on this team, I'm not letting it go down that road this year."
Quinerly scored 13 points off the bench, his highest point total since dropping 22 points against LSU on Jan. 19. Primo had 12 points while Jaden Shackelford scored 10 points to round out the Tide’s double-digit scorers.
After losing his starting spot to Gary, Alex Reese responded with a strong performance off the bench. The senior recorded 9 points and four rebounds, including three offensive boards, over 19 minutes.
Alabama will return home to Coleman Coliseum this weekend as it hosts Georgia on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT.
Oats provides update on Juwan Gary
Following the game, Oats commented on Gary's injury, stating the forward has a shoulder injury and will be re-evaluated when the team returns to Tuscaloosa, Ala. Oats called the injury disappointing noting that Gary's mother lives 10 minutes away from Colonial Life Arena and that his parents were in attendance Tuesday night.
"Hopefully he's not out long because he was giving us really good minutes," Oats said.
With Herbert Jones battling through a back/hip injury in recent games, Gary has been one of Alabama's biggest contributors off the bench. Heading into Tuesday, the redshirt freshman recorded double-digit minutes in three of his last four games, including a season-best performance against LSU earlier this month where he recorded 12 points and seven rebounds.
Oats responds to rebounding billboards
Rebounding has been a point of emphasis for Alabama lately. However, it's not just Tide coaches who are trying to get the message across. Billboards were put up across Tuscaloosa this week, urging Alabama to improve on the boards.
Following Tuesday’s game, Oats was made aware of the signs across town, stating he’ll all for the extra help in spreading the message.
"I love it," Oats said in the press conference after Tuesday's game. "Shoot, they're obviously into basketball if somebody is paying to put billboards up to tell us to rebound the ball. They're on the same page as the coaching staff."
Alabama outrebounded South Carolina 41-39 on the night, including a 18-15 advantage in offensive rebounds.
"We won the rebounding tonight, so we did a pretty good job I thought in there," Oats said.
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