Bama Men's Basketball Wins; Crimson Tide Men's Tennis Tops Purdue; Women's Tennis Falls To Ohio State; 5th-Ranked Tide Gymnastics Battles Auburn; Alabama Women's Tennis Shuts Out Harvard

Bama Men's Basketball Beats Mississippi State

Tide Now 3-1 On The Road In SEC

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – The University of Alabama men's basketball team improved to 13-7 overall, 6-2 SEC by defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs 71-62 on Saturday night in front of a sold out Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide outscored the Dogs 14-4 in just over six minutes as the game came to a close to seal the nine-point victory. This is the best start start for the Tide in Southeastern Conference play since the 2012-13 campaign.

A proud head coach commented afterward, "This was a hard fought victory for us [last night]," Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said. "We had stretches where we really looked like a good basketball team and then we had stretches where we were playing around with the basketball. A couple of fast break opportunities we didn't convert and that is one of the reasons why we shot 32 percent from the field. But the flip side of that is we made our free throws [Saturday night] and this was a great night for us to make them.

"We have a lot of work to do, give Mississippi State credit. I told our team they are a much better basketball team then the one we played the first time. So fortunately, we were able to battle. We didn't rebound the ball well [last night] and that is problematic. But it keeps us focused and humble. We will get back to the drawing board on Monday, they have earned a day off (Sunday), and we will see what happens in the next one."

Bama hit 31-of-36 free throws in the contest, a season high on both attempts, baskets made as well as free throw percentage at 86 percent.Leading the way in those free throws was redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram, who entered yesterday's game shooting 60 percent from the free throw line, hit 100 percent of those shots last night, going 12-for-12 en route to scoring 15 total points. Freshman Braxton Key was the leader for the Crimson Tide the Tide with 19 points, and pumped in nine rebounds as well. Also scoring in double figures was junior Riley Norris with 13 points. Senior Bola Olaniyan led the team in rebounds with his game-high of 11.

When holding the opposition to 62 points or less the Bama boys are perfect. Last night was no exception, with the Tide improving to 12-0 when the defense is playing tough. The Crimson Tide blocked seven State shots and scored a total of 23 points off Bulldog miscues.

Next up for the Tide is a trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the only contest this season between Alabama and Arkansas. The game is February 1st with a 6 p.m. CT start and can be seen on the SEC Network.

Team Statistics

Game Stats	MS	UA
FG%	.411	.327
3FG%	.313	.333
FT%	.579	.861
RB	40	37
TO	18	13
STL	5	11

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

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Alabama-Mississippi State Highlights

Click HERE to view highlights

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Alabama Men's Tennis

Crimson Tide Tops Purdue 4-3

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

ATHENS, Georgia – The Crimson Tide men's tennis team defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 4-3 on Saturday in the consolation match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend tournament at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts on the campus of the University of Georgia. Alabama improves its record to 3-2, while the Boilermakers fall to 3-1.

Alabama men's tennis head coach George Husack said, "An amazing finish tonight. Great for our team to experience a tug of war match and create a memory as well. Moments like these are invaluable and we will both learn and build from it."

SINGLES:
1. No. 63 Mazen Osama (Alabama) defeated No. 49 Gergely Madarasz (Purdue) 7-5, 6-3
2. Ricky Medinilla (Purdue) defeated No. 78 Thibault Cancel (Alabama) 6-1, 7-5
3. No. 70 Benjamin Ugarte (Purdue) defeated Spencer Richey (Alabama) 6-4, 6-2
4. Stephan Keonigsfest (Purdue) defeated Alexey Nesterov (Alabama) 6-1, 6-2
5. Edson Ortiz (Alabama) defeated Athell Bennett (Purdue) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
6. Dominik Sochurek (Purdue) defeated Langford Hills (Alabama) 6-3, 7-6

DOUBLES:
1. No. 32 Mazen Osama/Spencer Richey (Alabama) defeated Ricky Medinilla/Dominik Sochurek (Purdue) 6-3
2. Ritchie Kruunenberg/Alexey Nesterov (Alabama) defeated Gergely Madarasz/Athell Bennett (Purdue) 7-5
3. Benjamin Ugarte/Stehpan Koenigsfest (Purdue) defeated Thibault Cancel/Edson Ortiz (Alabama) 6-4

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Alabama Women's Tennis

Tide Tennis Tumbles
Ohio State Defeats Alabama

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

COLUMBUS, Ohio – It didn't go nearly as expected. The Alabama women's tennis team lost 4-0 to the seventh-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in the championship match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend tournament. The event was held on the campus of Ohio State University at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Crimson Tide now falls tol 4-2 overall, while the Buckeyes remain in the ranks of the undefeated at 4-0.

Alabama will be back on the courts on Saturday, February 18th when it hosts TCU. Match time is set for 1 p.m. CT.

SINGLES

1. Erin Routliffe (Alabama) vs. No. 1 Francesca Di Lorenzo (Ohio State) 6-4, 1-1 DNF

2. Andie Daniell (Alabama) vs. No. 41 Anna Sanford (Ohio State) 6-3, 5-2 DNF

3. Danielle Spielmann (Alabama) vs. Gabrielle De Santis (Ohio State) 6-3, 3-1 DNF

4. Sandy Niehaus (Ohio State) defeated Smith Hinton (Alabama) 6-1, 6-1

5. No. 59 Miho Kowase (Ohio State) defeated Maddie Pothoff (Alabama) 6-1, 6-0

6. Ferny Angeles Paz (Ohio State) defeated Juliana Valero (Alabama) 6-0, 6-1

DOUBLES

1. Erin Routliffe/Maddie Pothoff (Alabama) vs. Anna Sandord/Sandy Niehaus (Ohio State) 5-4DNF

2. Francesca Di Lorenzo/Miho Kowase (Ohio State) defeated Andie Daniell/Danielle Spielmann (Alabama) 6-1

3. Olivia Sneed/Ferny Angeles Paz (Ohio State)  defeated  Smith Hinton/Juliana Valero (Ohio State) 6-1

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5th-Ranked Tide Gymnastics Battles No. 16 Auburn

University of Alabama Gymnastics Team
Photo Credit: UA Athletics

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - The fifth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide gymnastics team faces the 16th-ranked Auburn Tigers this afternoon in the third-annual Elevate the Stage meet in Birmingham, Alabama's Legacy Arena.

All four apparatus today will be competed on a raised platform, also  known as a podium. In addition to spotlighting the competitors, it will also give the equipment some extra bounce. Incidentally, this will be the same setup that the gymnasts will see at both the SEC and NCAA Championships.

Both the Tide and the Tigers went through a practice session yesterday afternoon in preparation for this first of two regular-season contests in 2017. The practice session was needed in order to adjust to the equipment since it is not used regularly in meets. Alabama is 2-0 in Elevate meets, including a 196.875-196.075 victory over Auburn in 2016.

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Alabama Women's Tennis Shuts Out Harvard

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Alabama women's tennis team shut down and shut out Harvard 4-0 on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Event. The event was held on the campus of Ohio State at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Crimson Tide (4-1) will face the seventh-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes this morning at 11 a.m. CT. A victory today will give Bama an opportunity to clinch a berth to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.

Yesterday's win marks the third time that Alabama has shutout an opponent this season. With a win today, Alabama will qualify for the 2017 ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships, which is held in Flushing, New York from February 10-13.


SINGLES
1. No. 86 Erin Routliffe (Alabama) defeated Erica Oosterhout (Harvard) 6-2, 6-2
2. Andie Daniell (Alabama) defeated No. 111 Lexi Milunovich (Harvard) 6-1, 6-3
3. No. 109 Danielle Spielmann (Alabama) vs. June Lee (Harvard) 4-6, 5-4 DNF
4. Smith Hinton (Alabama) vs. Jenna Friedel (Harvard) 6-2, 6-5 DNF
5. Maddie Pothoff (Alabama) defeated Annika Ringblom (Harvard) 6-2, 6-2
6. Juliana Valero (Alabama) vs. Irene Lu (Harvard) 7-6, 5-3 DNF

DOUBLES
1. Erin Routliffe/Maddie Pothoff (Alabama) defeated Erica Oosterhout/Lexi Milunovich (Harvard) 6-2
2. Andie Daniell/Danielle Spielmann (Alabama) vs. Annika Ringblom/June Lee (Harvard) 4-3 DNF

3. Juliana Valero/Smith Hinton (Alabama) defeated Jenna Friedel/Irene Lu (Harvard) 6-2