Alabama Basketball Suffers First Loss of Season, Falls to UConn 82-67

The Crimson Tide committed 21 turnovers in the game, which resulted in 23 points for the Huskies.

The No. 18 Alabama Crimson Tide suffered its first loss of the season on Friday night in Portland, Ore., falling to No. 20 UConn Huskies by a final score of 82-67. The Huskies will now advance to the Phil Knight Invitational Championship Game, while the Crimson Tide will participate in the tournament's third-place game.

"It's a tough loss," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game. "UConn is obviously a really good team. First loss of the season, so you learn about yourself a little bit. I thought our first-half turnovers killed us, but we did a good job.

"I thought we showed a lot of fight getting back and tied the game up a couple of different times in the second half and then we just fouled too much."

After back-and-forth exchanges between the Crimson Tide and the Huskies left them tied 10-10 at the 12:28 mark, UConn constructed an 18-3 run to pull out to a 15-point lead. Huskies guard Joey Calcaterra opened the run with a layup, followed by UConn’s third 3-pointer of the game.

With 3:43 left to play in the first half, UConn still maintained a 14-point lead. However, Alabama had other plans. After freshman forward Brandon Miller hit two free-throws, guard Rylan Griffen hit a 3-pointer. After another layup by Miller, a dunk by forward Noah Clowney sealed the deal, and the Crimson Tide closed the first half with a 9-0 run to narrow the score to 35-30.

In the first half, Alabama committed 16 turnovers, resulting in 17 points for UConn. While the Crimson Tide did have 10 fouls in the first 20 minutes, it also recorded five blocks, four steals and out-rebounded the Huskies 17-16.

The second half began much like the first, with both teams exchanging blows. At the 8:52 mark, Alabama and UConn were tied at 50 points apiece.

It was then that the Huskies decided that enough was enough.

Over the next five minutes, UConn scored 19 of the next 21 points between the two programs, surging out to a 73-54 lead. Powered by a brilliant 23-point performance by forward Adama Sanogo, the Huskies pulled away from the Crimson Tide and left the stadium with an 82-67 win.

Over the course of the game, Alabama committed a total of 21 turnovers, which resulted in 23 points for UConn. The Crimson Tide out-rebounded the Huskies 35-32, but also led in fouls 24-23.

As can be expected for Alabama basketball at this point, Miller led the Crimson Tide with 18 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine on the game. Freshman guard Jaden Bradley was the only other Alabama player to reach double-digit points, finishing with 12.

With the loss, Alabama drops to 5-1 on the season. UConn moves to 7-0 and will advance to Sunday’s PKI Championship Game against Iowa State. Up next, the Crimson Tide will face No. 1 North Carolina in the tournament’s third-place game on Sunday (5:30 p.m. CT, ESPN).

"We got a lot of stuff we gotta get back at," Oats said. "We gotta take care of the ball better. [...] Coaching staff's gotta do a little better job, players gotta do a little bit better. I didn't think our effort was bad — I thought we played pretty hard for most of the game."

How it Happened:

Second Half

• Final: UConn 82, Alabama 67

• Make that 82-67 with under a minute remaining. The Huskies have this one locked up.

• Miller hit a 3-pointer of his own, followed by a layup by Burnett. 78-62 UConn.

• Sears hit a 3-pointer. 73-57 UConn.

• At the final media timeout, the score remains unchanged: 71-54 UConn.

• Karaban hit another 3-pointer. 71-54 Huskies as the game begins to wind down. UConn has now scored 19 of the last 21 points scored in this game.

• Layup good by Sanogo, then Newton is called for a foul. Bradley missed his first free-throw, then made his second. 68-54 UConn with 3:43 to go.

• Quinerly now has four turnovers.

• Newton hit a 3-pointer, making it a 14-1 run for the Huskies.

• Sanogo nails a 3-pointer, giving UConn an 11-1 run. Oats calls a timeout with 5:30 left in the game. 63-53 Huskies.

• A dunk by Sanogo gives UConn a 7-point lead. 60-53 with 5:58 left to play.

• Griffen is called for his third foul. Like clockwork, Newton made both of his free-throws.

• Quinerly missed his first free-throw, but made his second. 56-53 Huskies.

• Hawkins was called for his fourth foul, and now Quinerly will head to the line.

• Newton made both of his free-throws. 56-52 UConn.

• At the under-8 media timeout, Alabama trails 54-52.

• Burnett is called for his second foul, and both teams are in the double-bonus.

• Bradley and Sanogo exchange layups. 54-52 UConn.

• Sanogo hit both of his free-throws. 52-50 UConn.

• Bediako is called for his fourth foul.

• Bradley is fouled by Newton and heads to the line. Bradley made both free-throws, and we are tied 50-50.

• Hawkins and Bradley exchange layups, and UConn maintains the 2-point lead.

• Diarra hits two free-throws for the Huskies. 48-46.

• Griffen is called for his second foul, and that will take us to the under-12 media timeout.

• A jumper by Gurley ties the game at 46-46.

• Quinerly commits his third turnover of the game, the Clowney gets called for his second foul. Karaban makes both of his free-throws to give the Huskies a 2-point lead.

• Bradley picks up his third foul.

• Bradley is fouled by Calcaterra and hit one of his two free-throws. Clingan then fouls Clowney, who made both of his free-throws. And just like that, we are tied 44-44.

• Clowney makes a layup and is fouled by Jackson on the way up. Clowney hits and and-1, and the Crimson Tide is back with 3 points. 44-41 with 13:18 left in the game.

• Quinerly is called for his second foul just four seconds later.

• After multiple missed 3s by both sides, Quinerly picks up his first foul.

• A 3-pointer by Calcaterra puts the Huskies right back in control by six points. On the opposite end of the court, he is then called for his first personal.

• Alabama as a whole is showing much better discipline and maturity to open the second half.

• Bediako is called for his third personal, and that'll take us to the under-16 media timeout. UConn leads 41-38.

• Jumper good by Sears, and Alabama is once again with 3.

• And now Sanogo is called for his third personal.

• Hawkins picks up his third foul.

• Sanogo makes a layup. 41-36.

• Karaban is called for his third foul. Burnett missed his first free-throw, but makes his second and third. 39-36 UConn.

• Miller steps up to the line and hits two free-throws of his own. 39-34 Huskies.

• Nate Oats is issued a technical foul. Hawkins hits two free-throws. 39-32 UConn. On the next possession, Burnett is issued his first foul. Alabama already has two fouls in under two minutes.

• Karaban opens the half with a dunk, but Burnett responds with a layup. 37-32.

First Half

• Halftime: UConn 35, Alabama 30

• Alabama closes out the first half with a 9-0 run to get right back in the game.

• Clowney dunks the basketball with 0:03 left in the first half, and the Crimson Tide has a 9-0 run. 35-30 UConn.

• Layup by Miller. 35-28 UConn with 0:46 left in the first half.

• A 3-pointer by Griffen cuts the UConn lead to 9. 35-26 Huskies, and Dan Hurley calls a timeout.

• Sanogo and Miller exchange free-throws. 35-23 Huskies.

• Alabama is now up to 13 turnovers, which are responsible for 17 of UConn's points.

• Hawkins hits a 3-pointer, and Griffen responds on the opposite end in kind. 33-21 UConn at the final media timeout of the first half.

• Two free-throws by Bradley give Alabama 2 points. 30-18 with 4:40 on the clock.

• Two free-throws by Sanogo gives the Huskies 2 points. 30-16 UConn with 5:28 left to play in the first half.

• Miles has been on the court less than four minutes and has already recorded two turnovers.

• Miller hits his second 3-pointer of the night after a layup by the Huskies. 28-16 UConn.

• At the under-8 media timeout, Alabama is up to 12 turnovers compared to UConn's four. Miller's 3-pointer is the only one attempted on the game so far for the Crimson Tide. From the floor, Alabama is shooting just 5-for-13 (38 percent).

• Darius Miles has entered the game for Alabama. It's his first appearance of the season as he has been recovering from a foot injury.

• UConn's run was up to 14-0 before being snapped by a 3-pointer by Miller for Alabama. 26-13 Huskies at the 7:45 mark.

• Jackson hits a layup right out of the break and UConn now has a 10-point lead.

• A layup and back-to-back 3-pointers by UConn surge the Huskies out to an 18-10 lead. Nate Oats calls a timeout at the 10:14 mark.

• Turnovers continue to be a problem for Alabama at the under-12 media timeout. The Crimson Tide has now turned the ball over eight times, resulting in six points for the Huskies.

• Sears hits the and-1, and the game is now tied at 10-10.

• Layup good by Sears. 10-9 UConn. Sears was fouled by Hawkins on the way up and will head to the line.

• Another layup by Sanogo increases the Huskies lead. 10-7 UConn at the 12:40 mark.

• Bediako slams down a dunk. 8-7 Huskies.

• A turnover by Quinerly leads to a 3-pointer Hawkins. 8-5 UConn.

• At the under-16 media timeout, the game is tied 5-5. Alabama has already turned the ball over five times, resulting in 3 points for UConn.

• Sanogo gets a layup for the Huskies. 3-2 Alabama.

• Bediako picks up the first points for Alabama. 3-0 Crimson Tide.

• The Huskies get called for a shot clock violation on its first possession. Alabama basketball.

• UConn wins the tipoff, and we're underway.

Pregame

• Starting five for UConn:
• Tristen Newton
• Nahiem Alleyne
• Jordan Hawkins
• Alex Karaban
• Adama Sanogo

• Starting five for Alabama:
• Mark Sears
• Nimari Burnett
• Brandon Miller
• Noah Clowney
• Charles Bediako

• Tonight's officials: DJ Carstensen, Don Daily, Mike Palau.

• Alabama posted video of the team's shootaround that took place earlier in the day on Friday:

• Tipoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. CT.

How to Watch Alabama vs Connecticut

Who: Alabama (5-0) vs. Connecticut (6-0)

When: 8:30 p.m,. CT, Friday

Where: Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Ore.

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Roger Hoover, Analyst: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Series: UConn leads 1-0.

Phil Knight Invitational Preview

Tournament bracket: The winning team will advance to Sunday's championship game against the winner of No. 1 North Carolina vs. Iowa State. The losing teams will also face each other.

Last Meeting: The only meeting between the programs was in the Elite 8 of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Alabama, seeded second in the region, took an 87-71 loss in Phoenix, Ariz.

Last time out, Alabama: The Crimson Tide had a strong opening game in the Phil Knight Invitational, topping No. 12 Michigan State 81-70. Brandon Miller had 24 points to lead Alabama, while Noah Gurley and Noah Clowney both had season highs in points with 12 and 10 respectively, and sophomore center Charles Bediako had his best game of the season with eight points, four rebounds and two blocks. In his third game back, guard Jahvon Quinerly looked comfortable operating in the offense and finished with a season high 10 points.

Last time out, UConn: Oregon was without guards Brennan Rigsby, Jermaine Cousinard, and Keeshawn Barthelemy, but the Huskies didn't show any mercy en route to the 83-59 victory in the opening round of the Phil Knight Invitational.

Newton finished with a season-high 23 points, hitting 7-of-10 overall from the floor, and added 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals in an impressive all-around performance.

Newton had plenty of support as sophomore Jordan Hawkins added 18 points, including five 3-pointers, junior Adama Sanogo had 12 points, including two 3-pointers, and grad Joey Calcaterra scored 11, with three 3-pointers. 

The Bracket