Alabama Basketball Sinks East Tennessee State, 85-69

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball defeated East Tennessee State 85-69 on Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum, putting a bow on its non-conference schedule heading into the start of SEC play next week.

"I thought it was a good win," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "Especially the second half. Thought our guys hung in there. We haven't been able to make shots for a lot of games this year — it's nice for something to finally get going from three."

Sophomore guards Jaden Shackelford and Jahvon Quinerly both had solid nights on the hardwood, both registering double-digit points with 26 and 14 respectively and Quinerly accounting for nine assists.

"Shaq really kinda got us going," Oats said. "That second half he had was huge. It makes everything a lot easier when shots are going in so big game from Shaq.

"I was really happy with a lot of guys to be honest with you."

Prior to the game, news broke that both senior guard John Petty Jr. and junior forward James Rojas would not be available for the game. While no reason was given for their absence, it was later disclosed that the two were not missing from the game due to injury or COVID-19 issues.

Oats later revealed that he expects both players to be back with the team after Christmas.

After falling back 9-3 in the first three minutes of play, Alabama went on a 9-0 run to take the lead. The half proceeded to go back and forth, but an 8-3 run by the Crimson Tide with six minutes remaining in the first half put Alabama back on top 24-20. However, the Buccaneers avoided being outpaced by the Crimson Tide, and Alabama maintained only a one-point lead at the half.

After the first 20 minutes of play, the Crimson Tide was out-rebounding the Buccaneers 22-13 in one of its best rebounding halves of the season. Alabama had also taken advantage of its second-chance points, outscoring ETSU 10-0 off of those opportunities.

Whatever shortcomings Alabama displayed in the first half were not present out of the gate in the second. In the first eight minutes of play, the Crimson Tide outscored the Buccaneers 18-9 including a 15-4 run that secured a 10-point Alabama lead heading into the under-12 media timeout.

ETSU was never able to mount a successful comeback, as the Crimson Tide slowly but surely pulled away from the Buccaneers, defeating them 85-69.

"It felt good," Shackelford said after the game. "We're in the gym all the time trusting the process, trusting our work and you know in due time that works going to come to show and tonight it did and it feels good.

"Things happen like that in the season but you just gotta find a way to push through."

The stat of the night for Alabama was second-chance points. At the end of the game, the Crimson Tide had 19 second-chance points compared to the Buccaneers' two. Those points were a result of enhanced effort from Alabama, something that has been lacking in the second half of the team's last few games.

In addition to solid outings from Shackelford and Quinerly, grad transfer forward Jordan Bruner and senior wing Herb Jones also had good nights for Alabama. Bruner totaled eight points and eight rebounds on the night while Jones also accounted for eight points, but had two less rebounds at six.

Alabama finishes non-conference play with a 5-3 record. Up next for the Crimson Tide is its SEC opener against Ole Miss on Dec. 29 (8 p.m. CT, SEC Network). The Buccaneers drop to 4-4 on the season.

Oats was optimistic that the solid second-half effort by his team will help encourage the team to see its full potential heading into conference play.

"We needed a half like this for us to realize what we are capable of doing," Oats said after the game.

"We needed a win bad going into Christmas to be honest with you — we're giving the guys three days off."