Whew. At the end of the year, they just look at wins and losses, and that is what we will have to do with this game. We knew Miss St had a top 20 defense in the country and we didn't play all that good at their place 8 games ago, but Alabama found a way. Tonight, Miss St played their hearts out in the first half dominating Alabama on both ends of the floor.
Alabama shot 5-28 from 3, but most of them were open looks that they just didn't knock down. What was the encouraging stat was Alabama going 19-22 from the FT line. That is what won the game for them. What would you have said 5 years ago if I told you that in the near future, Alabama would be winning games because of free throw shooting? It has been a big boost to the team.
It looked like Miss St came into the game with something to prove and Alabama came in cocky. They got knocked in the mouth early, going down by as many as 12 before trailing by 7 at half. It was nip and tuck for 10 minutes in the 2nd half before Alabama started taking control. They went up 8 with 2 min to go before Miss St made it interesting, thanks to Alabama forgetting how to play basketball, and had a chance to tie at the buzzer.
In conclusion, Alabama didn't lose and they remain undefeated at 8-0 in conference. They have some favorable conference games for the next two weeks before the week before Auburn (who lost big time tonight) and Tennessee on the road. They have an Oklahoma team that can beat Alabama, but has been very up and down all season. These are the games Pre-Oats teams would've lost. It's just something about his teams, when his guys have the right attitude, that just never go away.
Alabama shot 5-28 from 3, but most of them were open looks that they just didn't knock down. What was the encouraging stat was Alabama going 19-22 from the FT line. That is what won the game for them. What would you have said 5 years ago if I told you that in the near future, Alabama would be winning games because of free throw shooting? It has been a big boost to the team.
It looked like Miss St came into the game with something to prove and Alabama came in cocky. They got knocked in the mouth early, going down by as many as 12 before trailing by 7 at half. It was nip and tuck for 10 minutes in the 2nd half before Alabama started taking control. They went up 8 with 2 min to go before Miss St made it interesting, thanks to Alabama forgetting how to play basketball, and had a chance to tie at the buzzer.
In conclusion, Alabama didn't lose and they remain undefeated at 8-0 in conference. They have some favorable conference games for the next two weeks before the week before Auburn (who lost big time tonight) and Tennessee on the road. They have an Oklahoma team that can beat Alabama, but has been very up and down all season. These are the games Pre-Oats teams would've lost. It's just something about his teams, when his guys have the right attitude, that just never go away.