No. 24 Alabama Basketball Bounces Back to Overcome Vanderbilt, 74-72
It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.
On Tuesday night inside Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn., No. 24 Alabama basketball battled back after a lackluster first half to come from behind and defeat Vanderbilt, 74-72.
A combination of frequent turnovers and fouls gave Vanderbilt early opportunities to expose Alabama. However, a strong second-half run by Jahvon Quinerly and a dramatic reduction in mental errors by the Crimson Tide ultimately paid its dividends for the men wearing crimson and white.
"I was really pleased with our guys' effort," Alabama coach Nate Oats said after the game. "We didn't play particularly well on offense in the first half — we had way too many turnovers — but I think this was a character win."
The first half was one of the worst 20-minute performances of the Crimson Tide this season. Falling behind 13-5 early in the game, Alabama fought its way back to within 2 points at the 10:53 mark.
Turnovers were the key issue for the Crimson Tide in the first half. In fact, Alabama committed more turnovers in the first 20 minutes (12) than it made baskets (11). The Commodores were able to effectively capitalize on said turnovers, converting them into 21 points. When you combine those 21 points with the 12 free throws made as a result of 11 fouls committed by the Crimson Tide, the result was 33 of the Commodores' 37 first-half points came as a result of either a turnover or a foul committed by Alabama.
At the halftime break, Alabama had shot just 11-of-32 from the floor (34%) and just 3-of-15 from 3-point territory (20%). On the other side, Vanderbilt had shot 10-of-25 (40%) and 5-of-13 from beyond the arc (38%).
Freshman guard JD Davison led the Crimson Tide at halftime with 9 points and seven rebounds. However, he also led Alabama in turnovers with five; mostly due to sloppy passes and mental errors in the paint.
As the halftime buzzer sounded, the scoreboard read 37-32 in favor of Vanderbilt. Not exactly the score that Alabama would have liked to have seen, but nevertheless an acceptable margin considering the abysmal first half that had just occurred.
"We had every chance to fold if thing weren't going our way offensively in the first half," Oats said. "[...] Offensively, we've got room to grow. We didn't shoot particularly well again."
To start the second half, Alabama's first three baskets all came from beyond the arc. A 14-3 run conducted by the Crimson Tide gave it its first lead since the game was 5-4 in favor of Alabama at the 16:02 mark in the first half.
At the 10:09 mark, Alabama had grown its lead to its largest of the game thus far at 6 points. Vanderbilt provided a brief scare by cutting the Crimson Tide's lead to 2, but Alabama soon built it back up with a layup by James Rojas, a layup by Jahvon Quinerly, and then a 3-pointer by Quinerly to stretch the lead back out to 9 points.
At the under-8 media timeout, Alabama had outscored Vanderbilt 30-16 since the start of the second half. Additionally, the Crimson Tide had committed just three turnovers, limiting the Commodores to just four points off of said turnovers.
A key spark in the change was Quinerly. While he had only scored 2 points in the first half, he had already scored 13 at the under-8 timeout. Combine that with three assists, and Quinerly had helped the Crimson Tide get back to business.
Alabama had grown its lead out to 10 points by the final media timeout of the game. However, over the final 3:49, Vanderbilt outscored the Crimson Tide 14-5 to come within 1 point. Two free throws by Quinerly put Alabama back up by 3, a lead that the Commodores ultimately couldn't overcome. A last-second layup attempt bounced off of the rim and was rebounded by Davison.
After one of the worst single-half performances this season by Alabama, a solid second half sealed a close 74-72 victory for the Crimson Tide.
Four Alabama players scored double-digit points on the night, led by Quinerly with 19. While Quinerly typically starts for the Crimson Tide, he came off the bench against the Commodores.
"Coming off the bench isn't really a problem for me," Quinerly said. "I've been coming off the bench a couple of times this year. [Oats] wasn't pleased with the effort I was giving to the team, so that's the main reason I came off the bench tonight.
"I just tried to respond the best way I could by bringing positive energy today in walk-through and in the game."
Forward Noah Gurley finished with 11, followed by guard Keon Ellis and Davison with 10 each. Combining his 10 points with 10 rebounds, Davison earned a double-double on the night. Ellis was two rebounds shy of his own double-double with eight on the night.
With the win, Alabama improves to 18-10 on the season and is now 8-7 in SEC play. Vanderbilt falls to 14-13 overall and is 6-9 in the conference. Up next, the Crimson Tide will host the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday (5 p.m. CT, SEC Network).
Gallery: Alabama Basketball Defeats Vanderbilt
