BamaCentral Courtside After Alabama's 117-115 Double Overtime Win Over Arkansas

Final thoughts and takeaways from Coleman Coliseum after the Crimson Tide beat the Razorbacks.

Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr smiles after sinking a shot in the second half of the game against Arkansas on Feb. 18, 2026. | Sarah Munzenmaier/Alabama Crimson Tide on SI

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 25 Alabama basketball outlasted No. 20 Arkansas 117-115 in a double overtime game for the ages.

This Wednesday night SEC matchup in Coleman Coliseum had all the makings of an instant classic: a 14-point second-half comeback, a plethora of NBA Draft prospects scoring career-highs, unlikely players coming up clutch and two of the conference's most esteemed head coaches over the last few years.

Alabama’s 117 points are the second-most scored in school history and the most points scored by the Tide since dropping 123 against USF on Dec. 9, 1971.

Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. scored a career-high 35 points, while forwards Amari Allen and Aiden Sherrell both recorded double-doubles. This is the first time two UA players have recorded double-doubles in the same game since Jan. 4, 2025.

The Crimson Tide shot 10 of 29 from downtown, making it the ninth time in the last ten games it has made 10-plus threes.

In addition to the scoring total, Alabama had couple more season bests against Arkansas:

• 76 percent from the field in the second half
• 40 made field goals
• 58 points in the paint

“That was a fun game, I’m sure the fans enjoyed that," Oats said during the postgame press conference. "I give Arkansas a ton of credit, they are down men and to play a 50-minute game with basically seven players. At the end of the game they played a couple guys that never really played because of foul trouble.

"[Arkansas guard Darius] Acuff played 50 minutes and scored 49 points. Obviously, our defense wasn’t very good on him, especially in the first half. We gotta do a better job, they had a better game plan than us, even though we got better as the game went on. Acuff and Meleek Thomas are pretty skilled players, the two of them went 12 of 18 from three.

"I give our guys a lot of credit, too. Aiden Sherrell hasn’t really been able to play over 30 minutes, and he played almost 40 tonight and ended up with 26 points and 13 rebounds. He played hard and won our hard hat. Philon made some big plays late, particularly on offense. Houston didn’t score in regulation and hit a big three in each of the overtime periods.

"Our guys fought hard, we got down 14 early and ended up being down 10 at the half. In the second half we got the lead down to seven, and then it felt like a minute later the lead was back at 14. To be down 14 in both halves and fight your way back to force overtime. We need to do better, but its great to learn from a win.”

As Alabama (19-7, 9-4 SEC) learns from the victory, it'll prepare for its next matchup on the road against LSU (14-12, 2-11 SEC) on Saturday.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral's Hunter De Siver and Henry Sklar provide thoughts and takeaways from the No. 25 Alabama men's basketball team's 117-115 double overtime home win over No. 20 Arkansas.

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