Live Updates: No. 10 Alabama Basketball vs Iona at ESPN Events Invitational

Live updates, stats and analysis from Alabama basketball's Thanksgiving game against last year's NCAA opponent Iona.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Not only is it Thanksgiving, it's game day for Alabama basketball. The 10th-ranked Crimson Tide are facing their first road tests of the season this week with three games at the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando.

Alabama's opening round matchup is a rematch of its opening round game of last season's NCAA tournament. The Crimson Tide will face the Iona Gaels on Thursday afternoon who they beat 68-55 in the round of 64 in March. Alabama head coach Nate Oats said this season's Iona team is even better than the one the Tide faced last year.

"We're looking forward to playing in this tournament, and we're going to get three really good games out of it," Oats said. "You know the rematch with Iona, I'm not really looking forward to playing Iona, but I am because I think it will make our team better."

The game will tip off on ESPN2 at 4 p.m.

You can stay here for updates throughout the game. (Most recent updates will be at the top.)

Second Half

• In the loss Alabama shoots 52%, 13-25 from the free throw line.

• After the two Iona free throws, Alabama can't really get a good look at the basket and time expires. Alabama loses to Iona 72-68. 

• Iona hits both free throw to extend their lead to four with 9.5 seconds left.

• Quinerly takes it straight to the basket, but his shot is blocked with 9.5 seconds left. Alabama intentionally fouls to stop the clock with a two-point deficit. 

• Iona misses the first free throw, but sinks the second to have a 70-68 lead with 20.2 seconds left. Iona takes a timeout. 

• Iona misses a three-pointer but the Gaels get an offensive rebound which is absolutely brutal for the Crimson Tide with a one-point deficit and less than a minute left. Alabama fouls to stop the clock. 

• Shackelford answers with a three of his own to get Alabama back within one point with 56 seconds left.
• Shackelford is 4-9 from beyond the arc. The rest of the team is 1-7.

• Iona hits a three-pointer to take a 69-65 lead with just over a minute left.

• Davison goes 1-2 from the line to get the Tide within one. Defense will need another stop with 1:34 left.

• Alabama gets the stop they need on defense, and Davison is fouled on the other end. He will go to the line to shoot two, a place where he has struggled today.

• JD Davison answers an Iona basket with one of his own. Iona still leads 66-64. Alabama needs to get a stop on defense.

• Gurley sinks a three-pointer to get Alabama within two points at 64-62.

• Alabama's first offensive possession out of the timeout is a good playcall, but it is not executed well by the players and ends in a turnover.

• Offensive foul is called on Iona heading into the final TV timeout. Iona holds a 62-59 lead with just under four minutes left.

• Iona immediately answers with their third three-pointer of the game. 

• Darius Miles lays it in to tie the game at 59-59. 

• Iona has taken the lead 59-57 with 5:33 to go. The Alabama offense can't get anything going consistently. It's the Gaels' first lead since the score was 24-23 in the first half. 

• The Alabama lead has dwindled back down to two with around six minutes left, 57-55. 

• Quinerly makes one of the two FTs, and Alabama leads 57-52.

• Heading into the under-8 timeout, Alabama holds a 56-52 lead. Quinerly will be at the free throw line shooting two out of the commercial break. 

• Gary with an offensive rebound and putback to give Alabama the 56-50 lead.

• Shackelford hits another three. He's up to 16 points for Alabama. Only Crimson Tide player to hit a three-pointer in this game. 

• Four straight points for Quinerly help Alabama retake the lead at 51-47 with about nine minutes left.

• Iona ties the game at 47-47. Alabama's largest lead was nine at 46-37. It was 46-39 when Nate Oats got called for the technical foul.

• JD Davison goes aggressively to the rim, but is fouled. He only converts one of the free throws. Alabama is now 9-19 from the free throw line. 

• After two more Gaels' free throw, Iona cuts it to a one possession game. 46-43 Alabama. 

• Nate Oats is called for a technical foul while arguing with the officials and throwing a water bottle. It's the second time this season he's been called for one. Iona makes both the technical free throws and cuts the lead to 46-41.

• Shackelford is stripped for a turnover, and it looked like Iona was going to easily score in transition. Instead, Quinerly was able to set up for the charge, and the play ends in an Iona turnover.

• Finally, a three-point shot goes through for Alabama with a no-look assist from Davison to Shackelford. Alabama leads 46-39 with 12:00 left.

• Alabama holding a six-piint lead at 43-37 and have left a lot of points at the free throw line. the Crimson Tide is just 8-17 from the line. 

• The two times are a combined 3-22 from the three-point line, so you could say it hasn't been a pretty shooting night.

• A stop on one end leads to a basket on the other end for Alabama and Darius Miles. Biggest lead of the game for Alabama at 41-33 with 14:00 left.

• Alabama is up 39-33 at the under-16 media timeout. Even though Alabama has the lead, Nate Oats doesn't appear happy with the effort he's been getting from his tea,m so far.

• With the shot clock winding down, Davison drives into the lane and knocks in a layup through traffic for his first points of the day.

• After baskets from Gurley and Bediako, Iona takes a timeout facing a 37-31 deficit with 17:48 left

First Half

HALFTIME: No. 10 Alabama 33, Iona 29. Jaden Shackelford and Jahvon Quinerly are leading the way in scoring with ten points each. First half stats below

• Shackelford joins Quinerly in double figures with his latest layup.  Alabama leads 33-29 with less than a minute left in the half.

• Alex Tchikou now in the game for Alabama. 

• After the Gaels tie the game at 29, Quinerly is fouled on the way to the basket and converts the layup but misses the FT. Quinerly is now the first Alabama player in double figures.

• Alabama has been averaging 34 three-point attempts per game. With less than three minutes left in the first half against Iona, the Tide has only attempted three shots behind the arc. 

• A turnover forced by the size of Charles Bediako leads to a transition dunk for Keon Ellis. Alabama leads Iona 27-24 with 4:38 left in the first half.

• Neither team has been able to build any sort of lead so far. Both teams are playing extremely tough defense. Alabama holds a 23-21 lead.

• After Iona tied the game at 21, Quinerly takes the ball all the way to the rim by himself to retake the lead for Alabama. 

• At the under 10 timeout, Alabama holds the 18-17 lead. The Crimson Tide has only attempted two three-pointers in the first ten minutes which is extremely under the regular pace for this team.

• Jaden Shackelford sinks the first three-pointer of the game for Alabama. Crimson Tide up 18-15.

• Noah Gurley with his first basket to give Alabama a 15-13 lead.

• Alabama 1-4 from the FT line so far. Alabama 11, Iona 11 with just under 13 minutes to go in the first half.

• Interesting tidbit from the broadcast... Nate Oats apparently got together with the starting five plus JD Davison and Juwan Gary and told them he essentially viewed them all as starters. Obviously some would have to come off the bench, and as a freshman, Davison said he was fine with it. Keon Ellis also volunteered to come off the bench, but Oats said he's the best defender, so he's got to start.

• Out of the commercial break, Quinerly misses two free throws.

• At the first media timeout, Alabama holds a 6-4 lead over Iona. It's been a struggle for either team to get things going offensively, but the officials are really letting them play so far.

• And Gary gets an offensive rebound off his own miss, and puts it back for a layup to tie the game at 4.

• Juwan Gary is the first person off the bench for the Crimson Tide. His status was questionable coming into the game after missing the last few with an ankle injury. 

• Alabama already with some nice plays around the rim defensively . Very physical play early on from both teams, and the officials are letting it go for the most part so far.

• Jahvon Quinerly, the birthday boy, gets the scoring started with a nice drive down the lane resulting in a contested layup. Alabama with the early 2-0 lead.

• Iona wins the opening tip, and we are underway.

Pregame

• Starting lineup for the Crimson Tide: PG Jahvon Quinerly, G Jaden Shackelford, G Keon Ellis, F Noah Gurley and F Charles Bediako. This has been the starting lineup for every game so far this season.

• Today's officials: Doug Sirmons, Vlad Tadal and Keith Patterson

• Alabama head coach Nate Oats and Iona head coach Rick Pitino spent some time golfing together in the offseason. 

• Earlier today, Dayton beat Miami 76-60 in the first game of the invitational. Dayton is coached by former Alabama coach Anthony Grant. 

• In the second quarterfinal game, No. 4 Kansas beat North Texas 71-59. Alabama vs Iona is game three of four, and the final game will be between Belmont and Drake. Alabama will face the winner of that game on Friday.