Alabama Athletics
Photo Gallery: Sights, Sounds and a Few Extra Stats from Alabama's Win Over Auburn
It was a night to remember at Coleman Coliseum.
With the 83-64 victory over No. 4 Auburn in front of a sold out crowd Wednesday night, Alabama men's basketball notched its first victory over a team ranked in the Associated Press top four since defeating then No. 1 Stanford in the 2004 NCAA Tournament on March 20, 2004.
Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr. led the team with a 25 points to along with a team-leading three assists.
Junior Herbert Jones grabbed 14 points and 12 boards to record his second double-double of the season.
Alex Reese shot 3-of-6 from deep and finished with 13 points, while graduate senior Beetle Bolden added 11 off the bench.
“Huge win for us," Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said. "First, I want to thank the crowd and our students. It was unbelievable. It was the first time we’ve had a sellout since I’ve been here, so now I know what it can sound like in there. The students were great, everybody was great. That’s the kind of environment you want to play in front of.
"I told our players before the game, ‘I think we’ve worked hard enough over the last nine months to deserve to play in an environment like this, so let’s go out there and give it everything you’ve got.’ I thought they did right out of the gate, and I knew we were ready to go.
With Alabama giving out a hardhat award after every game to the player with the most blue-collar ethic, school officials handed out 500 as a promotion before the game.
Needless to say, they were popular.
Also of note from the victory:
• Nate Oats was the first Alabama coach since David Hobbs to win the first game he has coached against Auburn. Hobbs achieved the feat in his first season which was 1992-93 (defeated Auburn 81-78 on Jan. 27, 1993).
• The Crimson Tide never trailed.
• Alabama improved to 50-10 when playing Auburn in Tuscaloosa, including a 43-9 mark inside Coleman Coliseum
Alabama Athletics released the following photos from the game, which we've complied here:
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