No. 24 Alabama's Late Game Comeback Comes Short Against No. 4 Auburn
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Auburn was starting to cruise to a blowout victory after a Jabari Smith three-pointer gave the Tigers a 73-59 lead with eight minutes left in the game.
Alabama didn't throw in the towel and responded with a 14-0 run to tie the game at 73-73 with a Darius Miles dunk. The run was highlighted by a thundering dunk from Alabama freshman JD Davison with 5:15 left to get the Coleman Coliseum crowd back in the game.
After tying it at 73, No. 24 Alabama had multiple opportunities over the final four minutes to take a lead but never could as No. 4 Auburn made the free throws when it needed to and held on for the 81-77 win Tuesday night.
"We needed to play maybe our best game of the year to win that one, and we didn’t," said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. "Gave ourselves a chance there late. We didn’t execute like we needed to down the stretch on a few things.”
Davison is the only scholarship player on the Crimson Tide roster from the state of Alabama, and he said this rivalry means a lot to him. More importantly though, it was a big SEC game that the team needed and his dunk helped spark a shift in momentum during the 14-0 run to get Alabama back in the game.
"As for the momentum change, I think we needed that," Davison said. "It helped us change defensively. We went out and got a lot of stops."
Two free throws from Noah Gurley tied the game at 77 with 1:42 left, and Alabama had several good looks over the final stretch of the game. Jahvon Quinerly passed up a wide open three pointer to take the lead and instead drove to the basket. His shot was denied inside by the Auburn defense, and an Alabama foul sent the Tigers to the line where they made both shots.
"I didn’t ask Quinerly why he turned that shot down," Oats said in the postgame press conference. "I thought [Jaden] Shackelford made the right read. He found the open guy who was wide open. I don’t know if he didn’t catch it right or what. But we’re trying to get our shooters to take open shots when the ball moves.
“We had worst possessions in the game than that. We’ve just got to take open shots."
Oats was pleased with the play he saw from Davison, Darius Miles and Noah Gurley and stressed that they need to get better play out of their three starting guards (Quinerly, Shackelford and Keon Ellis) who combined to go 9-38 from the floor.
Alabama Athletics
It was a tightly contested first half with the Tigers holding a 40-35 lead at halftime. Alabama came out of the half strong with a three-pointer by Keon Ellis, but it then became difficult for Alabama to get stops on defense.
When Alabama was struggling from the field, the free throw line kept the Crimson Tide in the game. Alabama made 24 of its 29 attempts from the line.
Alabama did a good job of managing Tiger big man Walker Kessler who fouled out with five minutes left. Auburn turned to Smith and Wendell Green Jr. who created havoc for the Alabama defense all night. Smith finished with 25 points and Green added 19 with 13 of his 19 in the second half.
"He’s a very good shooter, very good player," Miles said about Smith. "Just contesting shots is very difficult when you got somebody’s who’s 6'11" and has a pure jumper."
Gallery: No. 24 Alabama Basketball vs. No. 4 Auburn- Jan. 11, 2022
Photos courtesy of Alabama Athletics
Alabama had balanced scoring with five players in double-figures, but no one stepped up to sink the timely shot late in the game when the Crimson Tide had opportunities to overcome the Tigers. Auburn proved Tuesday night why it is one of the top five teams in the country.
Alabama falls to 11-5 (2-2 SEC) with the loss, and Auburn improves to 15-1 (4-0 SEC.) This is the first time the Tigers have beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa since Oats became head coach of the Crimson Tide. It also snaps a 17-game home winning streak for Alabama dating back to Dec. 19, 2020.
