Live Updates: Alabama Basketball vs Providence
After a disappointing start to the 2020 Maui Invitational on Monday against Stanford and a bounce-back performance against UNLV, Alabama basketball is set to square off against Providence in the fifth-place game of the consolation bracket on Wednesday night.
Providence fell in the first round to Indiana 79-58, then held on in its Tuesday game in the consolation bracket against Davidson 63-62.
Tonight's game (6:00 p.m. CT, ESPN 2) will settle the fifth and sixth-place finishers of the tournament. North Carolina and Texas are currently facing each other in the championship game at the time of this story's initial release.
The Crimson Tide are 2-1 after Tuesday night's win and are looking to improve to 3-1 on the season with a win tonight. Providence will be looking to have the same record if it is able to emerge Asheville victorious.
Follow along on Bama Central for live updates throughout the contest.
Second Half
- Final: Alabama 88, Providence 71
- Keon Ellis steals the ball then dunks the ball at the opposite end.
- Oats has pulled his starters from the game with just over a minute left in the game and with a 15-point lead for his Crimson Tide.
- Primo scores a layup, the ensuing Friars possession is rebounded by Bruner resulting in Quinerly hitting a jumper. 2:22 remaining in the game.
- Alabama leads 80-65 at the final media timeout of the night.
- Primo responds with three. The three points puts him in double digits with 11.
- Primo picks up his fourth personal. The Friars get one of its two free throws.
- Quinerly hits a three from deep to end Providence's run. The Crimson Tide is up 77-64 with less than five minutes to go.
- Providence is now on a 12-0 run over the last 3:32 and has cut the Crimson Tide lead down to 11. Alabama leads 74-63 with 5:50 remaining.
- Jones picks up his third foul while trying to track down the ball on the sideline. Croswell goes 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. Alabama leads 74-56 at the under-eight media timeout.
- Quinerly picks up his fourth personal foul of the game. He and Petty are both in foul trouble with four apiece.
- James Rojas is fouled at the rim and goes to the line, proceeds to hit both free throws. Alabama leads 74-53 with just over nine minutes remaining.
- Alabama is now shooting an impressive 49 percent from the floor and 43 percent from three-point land with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game.
- Herb Jones with another steal but is fouled before the under-12 media timeout.
- Three Crimson Tide shooters are now in double digits with Petty leading with 16, Shackelford close behind with 15 and Jones in third with 11. Jones also leads the team in rebounds with seven.
- Four out of Alabama's last five scores have been from beyond the arc. Alabama now leads 65-49 as we head into another media timeout.
- Shackelford hits a three, Providence responds with one from Duke. Not taking too kindly to it, Bruner gets two with a Dunk. Alabama 56, Providence 45 at the under-16 media timeout.
- Reeves hits three free throws to cut the Providence deficit to nine.
- Petty is now 5-for-6 on free-throw attempts.
- Petty knocked down at the rim and is fouled. Petty hits both free throws, extending Alabama's lead to 12.
- Jones knocks down a three from beyond the arc.
- Petty already has four points in less than two minutes. The Crimson Tide leads the Friars 46-37.
- Jones starts the first half with a steal, passes the ball to Shackelford, who misses the layup. Providence rebounds and Reeves hits a three-pointer.
Halftime Notes
- Providence is showing fatigue, which is displayed perfectly in the rebounding game. So far, Alabama is out-rebounding the Friars 26-14, with 18 of those rebounds being off of the defensive glass.
- Petty leads the Crimson Tide with 10 points in the first half. Jones leads Alabama with seven rebounds.
- Alabama is having a much better night on the floor than it did on Monday against Stanford. So far, the Crimson Tide is shooting 41 percent from the floor and 24 percent from three-point range.
First Half
- Halftime: Alabama 41, Providence 32
- Quinerly misses a layup, Providence rebounds and misses a half-court shot.
- Bynum for Providence misses a layup, rebound by Shackelford. Oats calls a timeout with just over 19 seconds left to get a final play together before the halftime break.
- So far in the game, Providence is showing just how difficult it can be to play three games in three days. The Friars look exhausted on the court, which plays into the Crimson Tide's favor thanks to its fast pace of play.
- Shackelford makes an incredible save right in front of coach Nate Oats on the side of the court, throwing it back into play. Shackelford then hit a deep jumper from the corner for two. The Crimson Tide leads 41-31 with 1:12 remaining in the first half.
- Josh Primo nails a three, assisted by Shackelford. Jones rebounds the Providence possession and gets two for himself. Alabama now has a 37-28 lead with 2:16 remaining. Media timeout.
- Petty is the first Alabama player to shoot double-digits with 10 points so far in the game.
- So far in the game, Alabama is 9-for-10 in its free throws. At 90 percent, this is the best in a first half all season for the Crimson Tide.
- Jones tosses it up for the alley-oop, Ambrose-Hylton slams it in. Petty later misses a dunk but it fouled on the play, leading to two good free throws. Alabama 30, Providence 24 with under six minutes remaining.
- The Crimson Tide is four of its last five while the Friars are two of its last 10 heading into the under-eight timeout. After nailing a three from the corner, Petty leads Alabama in points with seven. Alabama 27, Providence 20.
- Alabama is now five of its last seven. Herb Jones leads the Crimson Tide with six points and three rebounds.
- After trailing 8-0, the Crimson Tide is now on a 17-3 run over the last 2:21. Alabama leads 17-11 at the under-12 media timeout.
- Petty dunks it home for two. Duke responds with three for the Friars. Tied at 11 with 14:21 remaining in the first.
- Quinerly fouled for attacking at the rack. Hits his first free throw to tie and his second to give the Crimson Tide a 9-8 lead.
- Reese launches one from the corner for three. Alabama trails Providence 8-7 at the first media timeout.
- Jones connects off the board for Alabama's first points of the game.
- Gantt nails one from downtown to give Providence an 8-0 lead.
- Watson for Providence is continuing his momentum from Tuesday, scoring five points in the first two minutes to give the Friars a 5-0 lead.
Pregame
- Reese launches one from the corner and connects for three. Alabama trails 8-7 at the first media timeout.
- Texas managed to pull out a two-point basket with 0.1 remaining on the clock, defeating North Carolina 69-67 and winning the championship game of the Maui Invitational.
- Tonight's officials: Lamar Simpson, Les Jones, Keith Fogleman.
- Alabama starting five: guard Herbert Jones, guard Jaden Shackelford, guard Jahvon Quinerly, guard John Petty Jr., forward Jordan Bruner.
- Providence starting five: guard David Duke, guard Jared Bynum, guard A.J. Reeves, forward Greg Gantt, center Nate Watson.
Game Notes
Who: Alabama vs Providence
What: Maui Invitational
When: Wednesday, 6 p.m. CT
Where: Harrah's Cherokee Center, Asheville, N.C.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: CTSN (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink)
Scouting report: Providence led the whole way, but still had to hold on to defeat Davidson 63-62 on Tuesday. Nate Watson scored 22 points as the Friars built up a 19-point lead in the first half, but then saw the Wildcats claw back and nearly steal the win. Jared Bynum added 14 points and David Duke 13 for Providence (2-1). The Friars were just 2 of 16 from three-point range.
The last time out: After a disappointing tournament opener against Stanford, Alabama bounced back to defeat UNLV 86-74. Alabama was led by senior guard John Petty Jr.’s 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. He also had six assists compared to one turnover in his nearly 34 minutes. The Huntsville, Ala., native led five players who reached double digits: Jahvon Quinerly (19), Herbert Jones (16), Jaden Shackelford (13) and Joshua Primo (11). Alabama connected on 48 percent from the field, 38 percent from beyond the arc, hit 15 three-pointers (15-of-40) and had 21 assists on its 29 makes with only 11 turnovers.
This story will be updated throughout the evening.
