Offensive Downpour Propels Alabama Basketball Past Maryland, 96-77
INDIANAPOLIS — This past week, No. 2 seed Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats and his players said repeatedly that it needed to focus on what it could control rather than the things that it couldn't in order to jump-start its struggling offense.
On Monday night in Bankers Life Fieldhouse at the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Crimson Tide's rejuvenated focus seemed to pay off with a 96-77 victory over No. 10 seed Maryland.
"Really happy for our guys," Oats said after the game. "It's been a long time since they've played in the Sweet 16 — 15 years — so these guys have really bought into playing the right way."
Alabama fell behind early with its starting five in the game. However, down 14-7 at the 14:44 mark in the first half, senior forward Alex Reese and freshman guard Josh Primo entered the court. Primo was returning to the court for the first time since suffering a knee injury during the Crimson Tide's first game at the SEC tournament back on March 12, and he meant business.
Primo's first shot came at the 14:37 mark, a three-pointer that changed the momentum of the game. Reese hit a three of his own minutes later, and it was then that Alabama turned up the heat on offense.
Reese's three sparked a 19-4 run by the Crimson Tide, putting them solidly in command. By halftime, Alabama had shot 8-of-16 from beyond the arc and was shooting 52-percent from the floor.
Reese led the team at the break with 11 points while senior wing Herb Jones led the team in rebounds with five. Remarkably, sophomore guard Jahvon Quinerly finished the half with seven points and nine assists — three points and an assist shy of a double-double.
"You know what, in warm-ups, not even just myself but we all try to come in and stay focused and locked in," sophomore guard Jaden Shackelford said after the game. "It's a time where we've got to prepare ourselves, make sure our shots are dropping. There's days you feel like your shot is dropping and, you know, I felt like that every night.
"Our guys are coming in confident that their shot is going to fall. So tonight just happened to be a great night for us for shooting the ball."
While the first half was Reese and Primo's time to shine, the second belonged to John Petty Jr. Petty had a sluggish first half with six points and three rebounds in 16 minutes on the court. The second half, however, was a different story.
At the 16:39 mark of the second half, Petty hit his first three of the game after missing three in the first 20 minutes. The first half had clearly gotten into Petty's head, as he jumped up in celebration as he made his way back down to the defensive end of the court. Oats joined him in celebration, smacking him on the back as he ran past.
The three was met with another by Petty less than 30 seconds later. After two threes by Shackelford, Petty hit his third in a row — five-consecutive threes by Alabama that gave the Crimson Tide a 68-47 lead with over 12 minutes left to play.
In total, Alabama shot 53 percent from the floor and was 48 percent from beyond the arc. Additionally, the Crimson Tide was 100 percent from the free-throw line with 10 free throws. As the clock ticked to zero, the downpour was over, and Alabama basketball advanced to the Sweet 16 for the eighth time in program history and the first time since 2004.
"[The Sweet 16 is] always something we imagined and something we thought we were capable of," Shackelford said. "So, I mean, we always talked about it, to be here is special. And the feeling is kind of indescribable at this point because the team has worked so hard to get here.
"Like I said earlier, we're going to soak up this moment and how much it took us to get here. But it's definitely something to be proud of for this program and the organization."
Alabama's 16 threes of the night bring its season total to 339 — the new single-season program record. The previous record was 336, set during the 2019-2020 season.
Shackelford finished the night as the team leader in points with 21. While Petty finished the first 20 minutes of the game with six, his four threes in the second half got him up to 20 total points. Three other Crimson Tide players finished in double-digit points with Quinerly having 14, Reese having 13 and Primo having 10.
Quinerly finished the game with a double-double, the first of his career. Along with his 14 points, he also had an impressive 11 assists and five rebounds.
Juwan Gary led the Crimson Tide in rebounds with seven on the night.
"Defensively we're one of the top five teams in the country all year but the offense was bound to come," Oats said. "So a lot of guys stepped up. And the SEC Player of the Year, Herb has six points and six rebounds in 17 minutes and can't stay out of foul trouble. And we're still able to do what we did.
"So just kind of shows what everybody else had going today."
Up next, Alabama will take on 11-seed UCLA in the Sweet 16 on Sunday. The time and network has yet to be determined.
This story will be updated with video.
