Live with the Tide: Alabama Basketball at Vanderbilt

Live updates and analysis regarding the Crimson Tide's road trip to Nashville against the Commodores

Alabama basketball takes on Vanderbilt in its sixth SEC game of the season in Nashville (8 p.m. CT, SEC Network).

The Crimson Tide enters tonight's game with an overall record of 10-7 and is 3-2 in the SEC. The Commodores are 8-9 overall and have yet to win a conference game, currently sitting at 0-4.

Alabama is looking to continue to keep up its momentum, as last Wednesday it was able to knock off then-No. 4 Auburn and follow it up with a win against Missouri on Saturday.

Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville has historically been a very difficult place for the Crimson Tide to play, with Alabama having an overall record of 19-44 in the gym.

Meanwhile on Vanderbilt's side of the court, the Commodores are coming off of a 66-45 loss at the hands of rival Tennessee. Vanderbilt was unable to hit a single 3-pointer in the game, ending a historic streak of 1,080 home games where the Commodores had scored at least one three. The streak spanned every single home game that Vanderbilt had played there since the 3-point line was implemented by the NCAA in the 1986-1987 season.

There is only one notable injury for tonight's game and that is Commodore sophomore forward Aaron Nesmith. Nesmith, the SEC's leading scorer with an average of 23.0 points per game, is out indefinitely with a serious right-foot injury.

The injury is likely season-ending, but no formal announcement has been made.

Pregame

• Tonight's officials: Keith Kimble, Todd Austin and Lee Cassell.
• Junior guard John Petty, Jr. is only seven points away from becoming Alabama's 51st 1,000-point scorer in program history. He would be the first Crimson Tide player since guard Trevor Releford in 2013 to reach the milestone.
• Starting lineup for Alabama: junior guard Herbert Jones, sophomore guard Kira Lewis, Jr., freshman guard Jaden Shackelford, junior guard John Petty, Jr. and junior forward Alex Reese.
• Starting lineup for Vanderbilt: junior guard Saben Lee, junior guard Maxwell Evans, freshman guard Jordan Wright, freshman guard Braelee Albert and freshman forward Dylan Disu.

First Half

• Vanderbilt wins the tip, takes first possession.
• After the defensive rebound by Petty, a long-developing play leads to a short jumper by Lewis.
• Shackelford nails a 3-pointer from downtown, Alabama leads 5-2.
• Wright steals the ball at mid court, makes a quick layup for two.
• Petty hits a three of his own. Alabama leads 8-4.
• Petty hits his second-consecutive 3-pointer. He leads Alabama with six points.
• Foul on Jones, shot good by Disu. Results in three points for Vanderbilt.
• On ensuing Alabama possession, Petty loses control of the ball in the Commodores' end of the court.
• Media timeout. Alabama leads 11-7 with 15:54 remaining in the first half.
• Rebound Petty, Smith dunks the ball on an alley-oop setup by Lewis.
• A poor pass by Petty results in a short floater by Wright. Alabama leads 13-9 with 14 minutes remaining.
• A smooth behind-the back move by Jones followed up by a short floater gives Jones his first two points of the game.
• Baseline jumper by Jaylen Forbes is no good, rebounded by Vanderbilt.
• Jones is fouled on the dunk, gets the basket and the and-one.
• Jones makes the and-one, Alabama leads 18-11 with 12:28 remaining in the first half.
• Layup by Wright rejected by Javian Davis, Alabama basketball. Foul by Evans on the shot for Alabama. Media timeout.
• Alabama has five turnovers in the first eight minutes of play, with four of those turnovers being committed by Petty.
• James 'Beetle' Bolden misses both free throws, rebounded by Vanderbilt.
• Shackelford steals, Davis travels on the opposite end. Commodores basketball.
• Reese misses a three from deep, but then rejects a shot by Lee. Lee rebounds after the rejection and is fouled by Reese. Free throws upcoming.
• Lee makes both free throws, the Crimson Tide leads the Commodores 18-13 with 10:14 left to go in the first half.
• Petty gets the three from downtown. Petty is now the 51st player in Crimson Tide basketball history to score 1,000 points in their career with Alabama.
• A long two by Scotty Pippen, Jr. is good.
• Petty hits his fourth 3-pointer of the night. Leads Alabama with 12 points.
• A foul underneath by Ejike Obinna gives Alabama the ball back after a failed 3-point attempt by Shackelford.
• Lewis gets the layup. Alabama leads 26-17 with 7:27 left in the first.
• Media timeout with nine seconds left on the shot clock for Vanderbilt. Continuing their streak from the matchup against Tennessee, the Commodores have yet to hit a 3-pointer this game. The Crimson Tide, on the other hand, is 10-for-17 from deep (58.8 percent).
• Alabama leads the rebound game 15-10 but is struggling with turnovers and maintaining possession. The Crimson Tide already has eight turnovers compared to the Commodores' four.
• Five-second violation against Vanderbilt. Alabama basketball.
• A missed 3-pointer by Reese results in a quick two points from a rebound and layup by Petty. Petty now has 14 points.
• Petty makes yet another three, now has 17.
• Petty misses his first three of the night, Vanderbilt rebounds and Pippen responds with a three for himself. Alabama leads 31-22 with 5:11 remaining in the first.
• Steal by Wright, layup good.
• Traveling violation called on Lewis. Turnover on Alabama.
• Shackelford gets the rebound on the missed three by Disu. Disu fouls Shackelford. Media timeout. Free throws forthcoming.
• The Crimson Tide's problem with turnovers continues as it now has 12 in the game.
• Alabama leads Vanderbilt 31-24 with 3:56 left to go in the first half.
• Shackelford makes his first but misses his second free throw.
• Pippen hits his second three of the night. Alabama leads 32-27.
• Lee misses a 3-point attempt, Shackelford commits an offensive foul on the opposite end. Ball goes back to the Commodores.
• Disu hits a three, cutting the Alabama lead to just two points with 1:54 left in the first.
• Albert fouls Jones on the ensuing Alabama possession. Jones makes both free throws.
• Lewis drives underneath the basket but steps out of bounds. The Crimson Tide commits its 14th turnover of the night.
• Pippen turns the ball over to Alabama, Shackelford hits a 3-pointer, giving Alabama the 37-30 lead.
• Disu is fouled by Davis, goes to the line for two opportunities.
• Disu makes his first and misses his second.
• Shot clock violation by Alabama. Vanderbilt timeout.
• The Crimson Tide now has 15 turnovers compared to the Commodores' five in the first 20 minutes of play.
• Disu misses a 3-point attempt as the clock expires.
• Halftime: Alabama leads Vanderbilt 37-31.

Halftime Notes

• Petty leads Alabama with 15 points. He is also tied with Davis for the team lead in rebounds with five apiece. Shackelford is second on the team in points with seven and has four rebounds of his own.
• For Vanderbilt, Lee and Pippen are tied for the team lead in points with eight apiece. Lee and Evans are tied for the most rebounds with three each.
• Some keys for the second half for Alabama: the Crimson Tide must take control of its turnover game. 15 turnovers in the first half compared to the Commodores' five has resulted in 13 points for Vanderbilt. If Alabama hopes to win this game, it all comes down to managing the ball and not giving the ball away.
• The halftime keys for Vanderbilt is the exact opposite: keep forcing Alabama to turn the ball over. If not for the turnovers, the game would currently be lopsided in the Crimson Tide's favor. Another note is to keep feeding the ball to Lee and Pippen. Pippen is now 2-for-3 from deep and is filling a desperate need for the Commodores beyond the arc.

Second Half

• Alabama gets the ball to start the second half.
• Reese gets his first points of the game with a dunk.
• Deep three launched by Shackelford misses, rebounded by the Commodores.
• Lewis steals the ball, but drops the ball on the layup attempt. Turnover Alabama.
• Disu gets the layup.
• Reese turns the ball over back to the Commodores on the ensuing possession.
• Alabama now has 17 turnovers with two in the first three minutes of the second half. Not a great start out of the gate for the Crimson Tide.
• Disu makes a jumper. Alabama leads Vanderbilt 39-35 with 16L38 remaining in the game.
• Vanderbilt commits an offensive foul, ball goes back to Alabama.
• Lewis makes a deep three.
• Evans turns the ball over to Reese on the ensuing possession. Lewis is fouled on the dunk attempt, will attempt two free throws. Media timeout.
• Lewis makes his first but misses his second. Alabama leads 43-35 with 15:13 remaining.
• A layup by Lewis, a 3-pointer by Bolden, a free throw by Lewis and another three by Bolden now has Alabama on a 13-0 run. Alabama leads 52-35.
• Petty is fouled on the layup attempt by Disu, will shoot two.
• Petty makes his first but misses his second attempt.
• Bolden misses a three, rebounded by Jones. Lee steals the ball from Lewis on the Alabama end and Lewis gets called for his third foul. Commodores basketball.
• Shot clock violation on Vanderbilt. Alabama basketball. Media timeout.
• Vanderbilt has not scored a basket in 5:07, while Alabama is currently on a 14-0 run.
• Alabama leads 53-35 with 11:50 remaining in regulation.
• Reese turns the ball over, Jones fouls Lee on his shot attempt. Lee hits both free throws. Vanderbilt trails 53-37.
• Petty gets called for the offensive foul. Alabama turns the ball over for its 21st time.
• Pippen picks up his second personal. Inbounded by Jones to Shackelford, who makes the short jumper.
• Oton Jankovic for Vanderbilt misses a three, rebounded by Petty. Jankovic fouls Shackelford, who then makes both free throws.
• Lee is fouled by Reese, then makes both free-throw attempts.
• Petty misses a three, rebounded by Vanderbilt.
• Bolden gets called for a foul on defense. Isaiah Rice heads to the line.
• Rice misses his shot, rebounded by the Crimson Tide.
• Shackelford dumps it off to Reese, but is called for the foul. Vanderbilt basketball.
• Jankovic picks up his first foul against Smith. Smith makes his first free throw but misses his second.
• Alabama is 10-for-17 from the free-throw line (59%), a poor outing for head coach Nate Oats' squad.
• The Crimson Tide leads the Commodores 58-39 with 8:24 remaining.
• Lee makes a nice wrap-around short jumper for two.
• Matthew Moyer for Vanderbilt blocks the layup attempt made by Bolden, offensive rebound by the Crimson Tide. Timeout on the floor.
• With his last rebound, Petty now has a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. The double-double is his fourth of the season.
• Petty is fouled on his short jumper, basket counts and he will head to the line for the and-one.
• Petty makes the free throw, Alabama leads 61-41 with 7:25 remaining.
• Lee is fouled and heads to the line for two attempts. Lee makes both attempts, cutting the Alabama lead to 18.
• Davis gets fouled on his attempt at a layup, basket counts. Davis heads to the line for the and-one but misses.
• A great defensive stand by Alabama is immediately forgotten as Petty turns the ball over at the opposite end. Bolden fouls Lee, who makes both attempts at the line.
• Lewis is fouled on the short jumper, basket counts. Lewis makes the and-one. Alabama leads 66-45 with 5:38 remaining.
• Petty misses from deep, rebounded by Vanderbilt. Disu nails a three from downtown.
• Timeout on the floor as Davis is down on the court with an injury. Davis keeps clutching at the back of his right knee.
• Davis has now stood up, but is still grabbing his knee. Reese runs over to assist the trainer get him off the court. Davis is putting little to no pressure on his knee.
• With Davis off the court, Vanderbilt rebounds the ball off of an Alabama turnover.
• Vanderbilt is now on a 7-0 run but the Crimson Tide still leads 66-52 with four minutes left.
• Petty makes a jumper for his 22nd and 23rd points of the night.
• Disu makes the layup for two.
• 2:53 to go in regulation and now the clock stops as Petty walks off the court favoring his left leg. Media timeout. Alabama leads 68-54.
• Jones goes 1-for-2 from the free-throw line.
• Lee misses the layup, rebounded by Reese.
• Jones misses a dunk but is fouled. He will go to the line for two attempts.
• Jones makes both. Alabama leads 71-54 with two minutes left in the game.
• Disu hits another three, followed by a good layup by Lewis at the opposite end.
• Jones gets called for his fifth foul, Lee misses one and makes one.
• Moyer steals the ball from Bolden, is fouled by Reese and will head to the line.
• Moyer makes both free throws. Alabama leads 73-60 with 47 seconds remaining in the game.
• Disu steals the ball from Lewis for the Crimson Tide's 25th turnover of the game.
• Forbes fouls Disu. Timeout Alabama.
• Disu brings his total point count to 21 with two good free throws.
• Alabama calls another timeout.
• 43 seconds left in regulation, Alabama leads Vanderbilt 73-62.
• Moyer fouls Reese, who will head to the line for two attempts.
• Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse gets called for the technical foul for yelling at an official.
• Shackelford makes all four free throws assigned to him. Alabama now leads 77-62 with 29.3 seconds remaining.
• Clock expires. Alabama defeats Vanderbilt 77-62.