TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Struggling to establish some semblance of consistency, Alabama basketball turned to its most reliable weapon Tuesday night. Donta Hall scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Crimson Tide to an 83-79 victory over Mississippi State.
The win was Alabama’s seventh straight against ranked opposition inside of Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide is 3-1 against ranked teams this season.
Hall led the Crimson Tide despite picking up his fourth foul with 12:27 remaining. The 6-foot-9 forward was 7 of 9 from the floor while chipping in seven rebounds and two blocks. Hall has now scored in double figures in 13 of Alabama’s last 14 games. Tuesday night he reached double digits in the first eight minutes of the game as he scored 10 of the Crimson Tide’s first 14 points.
“Donta Hall is a threat, and we sometimes miss him,” Alabama coach Avery Johnson said. “He’s a nice, mild-mannered guy except when he’s blocking shots and rebounding. Just encouraging our players to give him a look some more. There are three or four times every game we miss him when he’s open.
“He’s more than a guy that can get offensive rebounds and dunk it. He’s a guy that you can run some plays for, and we’ve got to use that to our advantage. I thought we did that tonight.”
After leading by as many as 14 points early in the second half, Alabama (13-7, 4-3 in the SEC) allowed Mississippi State (15-5, 3-4) to cut the lead to 54-51 with 12:04 remaining. The Bulldogs comeback was spurred on by a 12-1 run as Hall picked got into foul trouble and the Crimson Tide went cold from the floor.
However, unlike previous second-half collapses this season, Alabama was able to hold on for the win — barely.
Leading 78-75 with 40.8 seconds to play, Dazon Ingram was called for traveling. On the ensuing possession, Mississippi State guard Tyson Carter's 3-point attempt was blocked by Kira Lewis Jr., allowing Hall to come up with the rebound. The big man then hit both of his free throws on the other end to help Alabama survive the late scare.
“That was a hell of a play there,” Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said. “There was no one else there after Lewis.”
Alabama shot 49 percent from the floor, despite making just 1 of 16 attempts from beyond the arc. For a second straight game, the Crimson Tide dominated down low, outscoring Mississippi State 54-44 in the paint. Alabama had 48 points in the paint in its previous game against Baylor.
“We love 3s. I don’t like 1-for-16. We’re capable of shooting 3s better than that, and we’ve shown that this year” Johnson said. “When you’ve got guys like Dazon Ingram and Herb Jones and John Petty and Riley (Norris), Tevin Mack, these are some big guys, man, at the wing position. There are a lot of NBA teams on certain levels of the NBA that don’t have size like this. These guys are huge.”
John Petty scored 13 points while Riley Norris chipped in 11 points to join Hall in double figures. Tevin Mack scored 6 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds. Mississippi State was led by Reggie Perry, who scored 18 points off the bench. Peters and Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 14 apiece.
Next up
Alabama travels across the state to take on rival Auburn (13-6, 2-4) on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The Crimson Tide was 2-1 against the Tigers last season, including an 81-63 win in the SEC Tournament.
After climbing as high as No. 8 in the rankings earlier this season, Auburn has struggled since the beginning of conference play. The Tigers have lost their last three games heading into Wednesday’s matchup against Missouri.
Auburn is lead by a talented guard tandem in Jared Harper and Bryce Brown. Harper entered Tuesday leading the SEC with 6.6 assists per game, while Brown leads the Tigers with 16.9 points per game. Auburn also features two quality big men in Austin Wiley (10.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and Chuma Okeke (10.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg).
Following the game against Auburn, Alabama returns home to face Georgia on Feb. 6.
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