No. 3 Alabama Survives at Arkansas, Moves into First Place in SEC

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.–– Winning on the road in the SEC is never easy, even with a large lead late in the second half. Alabama learned that the hard way on Saturday at Arkansas, but maintained enough composure to escape Bud Walton Arena with an 85-81 win.

With Auburn's loss to Florida earlier in the day, No. 3 Alabama (20-3, 9-1 SEC) now shares a tie for first place with the Tigers more than halfway through conference play. The Crimson Tide remains unbeaten on the road in SEC play.

Alabama's slim halftime lead quickly ballooned to 18 points by the second media timeout, and it seemed like the Tide was going to cruise to an easy victory. But Arkansas (14-9, 3-7 SEC) didn't give up at home in front of a large crowd that helped rally the Razorbacks back into the game.

"We risked losing a road game that we were supposed to win by not closing that thing like we were supposed to," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game.

The Crimson Tide had maintained a double-digit lead for almost all of the second half, but Arkansas cut it to three points with 2:56 to go after Zvonimir Ivisic's fifth 3-pointer of the game as part of a career day for the 7-2 forward. He finished with a season-high 27 points to lead the Razorbacks. He cut the deficit back down to three points again with 38 seconds left.

Alabama was unable to add to its lead on its offensive possession, and decided to foul up three. Ivisic only made one of his two free throws to cut it to 83-81. Chris Youngblood got immediately fouled on the inbound, and made his first free throw. Arkansas couldn't secure the rebound on the second, allowing Alabama to hang on for the win after Youngblood made another free throw.

"We're not playing to win the game, we're playing to get better on every possession," Oats said. "When you start playing the scoreboard and you don't play to get better on every possession, that's what happens to you. I'm a little irritated."

A consistent issue for Alabama this season has been slow starts to halves. On Saturday night, the Crimson TIde got off to good starts in both halves, but was unable to finish strong. Alabama led by 18 points with less than eight minutes to go, and Arkansas ended the game on a 28-14 run to make things challenging for the visiting squad.

The Crimson Tide got relatively balanced scoring on the night, but were led by Youngblood and Nelson, who both finished with 15 points.

Alabama will complete its two-game road swing Tuesday at 8 p.m. against Texas.

"We've got a big game Tuesday," Oats said. "If we take care of business Tuesday, then we'll have a big one Saturday."