Bama Central

Live Updates: No. 5 Alabama Basketball vs Iona at the NCAA Tournament

The Crimson Tide takes on the Gaels in the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament
Joey Blackwell|
Live Updates: No. 5 Alabama Basketball vs Iona at the NCAA Tournament
Live Updates: No. 5 Alabama Basketball vs Iona at the NCAA Tournament

Second Half

(most recent at the top)

  • FINAL: Alabama 68, Iona 55.
  • Iona lets Alabama dribble out the ball. This one is over.
  • Shackelford drains a three. Alabama fans are rejoicing in Hinkle after the dagger. 68-55 with 26.3 seconds left to go.
  • Gary has re-entered the game. He appears to be fine.
  • Shackelford steals the basketball, foul on Gist (his third, Iona's 10th). Shackelford heads to the line and misses his first but makes his second. Alabama now leads by 10.
  • Quinerly make a layup underneath the basket. 64-55 Alabama.
  • Jumper good by Gist, and Iona now trails by only seven points with just under two minutes left to play.
  • Quinerly is fouled by JeanLouis (his third), but misses his free throw.
  • Van Eyck hits both of his free throws after being fouled by Gary (prior to the injury). 62-53 Alabama with 2:29 remaining.
  • Gary leaves the game after getting poked in the eye. He is taken straight to the bench and is being looked at by trainer Clarke Holter.
  • Jones now has 20 points with another layup. 62-51 Alabama with under three minutes left.
  • Gist drains a three to reduce the Alabama lead to single digits.
  • Jones called for a charge. Media timeout. With 3:44 left to play, the Crimson Tide leads the Gaels 60-48.
  • Gary picks up his second foul, Alabama's seventh. Both teams are now in the bonus.
  • Jones is fouled entering the key by Gist (his second, Iona's eighth). Jones makes both free throws. 60-48 Alabama with 5:05 left to go in the game.
  • Van Eyck gets a layup. On the subsequent possession by Alabama, Van Eyck picks up his fourth personal. Gary returns to the line for the one-and-one and misses his first, rebounded by the Gaels.
  • Reese picks up his third foul, Alabama's fifth. On the same possession by Iona, Quinerly picks up his fourth.
  • Gary gets a steal before Van Eyck fouls him on the way to the basket. Gary makes both of his free throws to give the Crimson Tide a 12-point lead.
  • An alley-oop pass from Quinerly to Gary for the slam has the Alabama fans on their feet. 56-46 Crimson Tide with 6:38 left to go.
  • Quinerly is called for a blocking foul (his third personal). Oats gets into a pretty lively conversation with an official, by assistant coach Bryan Hodgson pulls Oats away from the situation before a technical foul is called.
  • A dunk by Jones gets the building extremely fired up. The Crimson Tide faithful here in Hinkle are going nuts. 54-46 Alabama with 7:51 left to go. Media timeout.
  • Reese gets his second three of the game. The roof almost exploded off of Hinke Fieldhouse.
  • Another layup by Quinerly is good for two points.
  • Gist layup is good. The Crimson Tide just can't gain any momentum.
  • Quinerly with the layup. Alabama back up by three.
  • Media timeout with 9:59 left to go in the game. The crowd has gotten into the game for both sides. While Alabama fans outnumber Iona fans about two to one, the Gaels faithful are being quite loud and showing their support. Incredible atmosphere here in Hinkle Fieldhouse.
  • JeanLouis gets a short jumper for two. Alabama still leads 45-44 with 9:59 left in the game.
  • Three good by Reese, and the Crimson Tide is once again on top.
  • Dunk good by Gary off of a missed layup by Petty. Game is once again tied.
  • JeanLouis corner jumper is good. 42-40 Iona.
  • Petty picks up his third foul, Alabama's third team foul.
  • Petty is fouled on his way up to the rim by Joseph (his third, the Iona's fourth). Petty misses his first free throw, but makes his second. The game is now tied at 40 points apiece with 12:52 left to go.
  • Jumper good by Ross. 40-39 Gaels.
  • Layup by Jones is good.
  • Joseph gets a layup for two. On the subsequent Alabama possession, Quinerly is fouled on the way up to the basket by Joseph (his third).
  • An Ala-Bama chant has begun to ring around Hinkle Fieldhouse as the fans attempt to fire up their team.
  • Petty picks up his second personal heading into the first media timeout of the second half. With 15:40 left to play, Alabama leads 37-36. Not exactly the start that the Crimson Tide wanted before the first media timeout.
  • Jones is called for the travel. Turnover.
  • Layup good by Petty. Alabama on top 37-36.
  • Bruner is called for his first personal.
  • Shackelford misses yet another three, rebounded by the Gaels.
  • Ross gets a shot off at the buzzer and it falls good. Iona back on top.
  • Shackelford's three-point attempt is off the rim, but Petty is there for the put-back.
  • JeanLouis layup good, and Iona takes the 34-33 lead.
  • Jones steals the ball from Ross to start the second half. Korma gets called for his second personal on the ensuing possession. Petty pounds in the lane following the inbound and is fouled by Ross (his first). Petty heads to the line for two free throws and misses both.

Halftime Notes

  • Despite out-rebounding the Gaels 25-13, the Crimson Tide has been unable to pick up any offensive momentum. For the half, Alabama shot 41 percent compared to Iona's 39 percent. From three, the Gaels are outshooting the Crimson Tide, with Iona making four of its 14 three-point shots (29 percent) compared to just two of 10 for Alabama (20 percent).
  • For Alabama, Jones leads the team with 12 points while Petty leads the team in rebounds with five. Jones is the only Crimson Tide shooter with double-digit points in the first half.
  • Iona's Ross had a solid first half with 15 points in the first 20 minutes. Three players in Ross, Joseph and Koroma are tied for the team lead in rebounds with three apiece.
  • Iona's defense certainly surprised Alabama in the first half. While the Crimson Tide was able to pull away on a couple of occasions, the Gaels' defense was able to keep them in it and hold off Alabama's offense. Oats will have to make some serious adjustments on defense during the second half.

First Half

  • HALFTIME: Alabama 33, Iona 32.
  • Backcourt violation called on Iona. Alabama basketball, but they aren't able to get score another basket with 0.2 left on the clock.
  • Ross makes a quick short jumper. 33-29 Alabama with under a minute left. Weiss steals the ball from Alabama, resulting in three more points from Ross. 33-32 Alabama with 9.7 seconds left on the clock in the first half.
  • Quinerly picks up his second foul (Alabama's eighth). Shackelford enters the game to replace him. Gist makes both free throws.
  • Quinerly gets a layup after a steal by Gary.
  • Bruner heads to the line to shoot two after being fouled by Joseph (his first, Iona's ninth). Bruner makes both. 31-25 Alabama with just under two minutes left.
  • Petty picks up his first personal, an offensive foul. Turnover.
  • Gist picks up his first personal, sending Petty to the line for two. Petty makes his first but misses his second. 29-25 Alabama with 2:44 to go in the first.
  • Myers gets his third and fourth points of the game with a jumper. Jones gets a dunk on the subsequent Crimson Tide possession. Iona calls a timeout once the Gaels get back on their offensive end of the court.
  • Jones' layup no good, but the put-back was on the money. 26-23 Alabama.
  • Shackelford his a jumper to put the Crimson Tide back on top.
  • Ross gets a layup, and Iona takes a 23-22 lead with 5:23 left in the first half.
  • A short jumper by Myers brings the Gaels within one.
  • Ross hits a three to cut the Gaels' deficit in half. Alabama coach Nate Oats is absolutely livid and calls a timeout. 22-19 Alabama with 7:08 to go in the first.
  • With 7:43 left in the first half, Alabama leads Iona 22-16. The Gaels have only six rebounds compared to Alabama's 18. However, the Crimson Tide has only been able to salvage six second-chance points.
  • Joseph gets a layup for the Gaels.
  • Weiss is called for his first personal. Quinerly heads to the line and misses his free throw.
  • Foul called on Van Eyck as Petty tried for a layup. Petty heads to the line and goes 1-for-2 from the line. 22-14 Alabama.
  • Rojas takes a charge from Jeanlouis.
  • Quinerly picks up his first foul of the game, Alabama's fifth team foul.
  • Petty corner three no good, rebounded by Jones, who gets the put-back. 21-14 Alabama with just over 10 minutes left to play in the first half.
  • Ellis gets a short jumper. On the subsequent defensive effort, he also picks up his first personal. Alabama now has four team fouls of their own.
  • Myers gets called for a foul, Iona's fourth team foul.
  • Rojas enters the game and gets fouled on the team's first offensive possession since his arrival.
  • Gist hits a three. He leads the Gaels with seven points.
  • Alabama is currently shooting 50 percent from the floor compared to 36 percent by Iona. The Crimson Tide has also doubled up the Gaels in rebounds 10-5.
  • Reese is now called for an offensive foul. Turnover. At the under-12 media timeout, Alabama leads 17-11.
  • Juwan Gary picks up his first foul, Alabama's first team foul.
  • Quinerly gets called for the travel. Turnover.
  • Shackelford drives to the basket for two. Iona calls a timeout after a 9-0 run by the Crimson Tide has Alabama up 17-11. 13:43 left in the first half.
  • Steal by Reese, Jones is fouled on the way up to the basket on the subsequent possession. Jones makes both of his free throws. 15-11 Crimson Tide.
  • Quinerly three from the corner, good. Alabama regains the 13-11 lead.
  • Jones with a layup for two.
  • Two more points for Gist have the Gaels up 11-8.
  • Under-16 media timeout. The Gaels have taken a 9-8 lead due to the Crimson Tide being 0 of its last 4. Alabama is getting good looks, but the shots aren't falling. Additionally, Iona is defending the paint fairly well.
  • Iona takes the lead with a three by Ross.
  • Van Eyck for Iona gets his first personal of the game. Bruner misses his first free throw but makes his second. 8-6 Alabama at the 16:24 mark. Alex Reese enters the game for Bruner.
  • Gist makes a short jumper for his first two points of the game.
  • Ross with a layup. 7-4 Crimson Tide.
  • Petty hits his first three-point attempt of the game.
  • Short jumper good by Joseph for Iona's first points of the game.
  • Jones with a contested dunk. 4-0 Alabama.
  • Jumper is good by Shackelford for the first two points of the game after.
  • Iona wins the opening tip, and we are underway here at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Pregame

  • Alabama basketball is now out on the court for warmups. Josh Primo was out on the court practicing baskets but is sporting a knee brace.
  • Today's officials: Bo Boroski, Bill Covington, Todd Austin.
  • Alabama's starting five: Jaden Shackelford (G), John Petty Jr. (G), Keon Ellis (G), Herbert Jones (W), Jordan Bruner (F).
  • Roughly 1,000 fans are expected to view Alabama's matchup against Iona due to limited seating capacity:
  • Starting five for Iona: Asante Gist (G), Isaiah Ross, (G), Berrick JeanLouis (F), Dwayne Koroma (F), Nelly Joseph (F).
  • Primo warmed up with the team before re-entering the locker room. Now back out on the court with the team, he is in full uniform but is no longer participating (video courtesy of Tyler Martin):

Preview

Alabama basketball is back in the Big Dance.

As the No. 5 overall seed in the 2021 NCAA tournament, the Crimson Tide was placed in the East Region as the No. 2 seed and will face the No. 15 seed Iona Gaels, who is coached by the legendary Rick Pitino.

The game will be played at 3 p.m. CT at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The Crimson Tide (24-6, 16-2 SEC) is fresh off an 80-79 victory over LSU in the SEC tournament final, to capture the school's seventh conference championship.

Meanwhile, Iona (12-5, 6-3 MAAC) won four straight games this past week to win the MAAC tournament and earn the league's automatic bid. Pitino and company did not play a game from Dec. 23 to Feb. 12 because of COVID-19 issues inside the program.

A player to watch on the Gaels is guard Isaiah Ross who is averaging 18.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He is also shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point range.

Per KenPom, Iona is 210th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 160th in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Alabama and Iona have only met once before in 1989 when the Crimson Tide handled the Gaels 78-39.

Game Information

Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind.

When: Saturday, 3 p.m. CT

TV: TBS

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network

Online: CBSSports.com

Last time out, Alabama: The Crimson Tide defeated LSU for a third time this season to win the SEC tournament championship, 80-79. Guard Jaden Shackelford dropped a team-high 21 points on 8-of-19 shooting. SEC tournament MVP guard Jahvon Quinerly recorded 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Last time out, Iona: The Gaels won the MAAC tournament title over Fairfield, 60-51, on Saturday behind 18 points and four rebounds from guard Asante Gist. Forward Nelly Junior Joseph added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The series: The second meeting. Previously, the Crimson Tide defeated the Gaels 78-39 on Dec. 29, 1989 in a neutral site in Santa Clara, Calif. 

Published
Joey Blackwell
JOEY BLACKWELL

Joey Blackwell is an award-winning journalist and assistant editor for BamaCentral and has covered the Crimson Tide since 2018. He primarily covers Alabama football, men's basketball and baseball, but also covers a wide variety of other sports. Joey earned his bachelor's degree in History from Birmingham-Southern College in 2014 before graduating summa cum laude from the University of Alabama in 2020 with a degree in News Media. He has also been featured in a variety of college football magazines, including Lindy's Sports and BamaTime.

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