Saturday, November 18, 2017

Bama Men's Basketball Wins Big; Coach Avery Johnson Press Conference; Crimson Tide Mauls Mercer In Shutout Win; SEC Football Scores; Alabama Volleyball Falls To South Carolina




Alabama's John Petty Sets New 3-Point Scoring Record
In Crimson Tide's Win Over Alabama A&M



Photo Credit: UA Athletics


TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – He was phenomenal. Just as University of Alabama men's basketball head coach Avery Johnson knew he would be. Just as every coach in the nation that had recruited him knew he would be. Crimson Tide freshman guard John Petty set a new school record  by long-ballin' 10 three-pointers to lead the 25th nationally ranked Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team past Alabama A&M by a whopping 104-67 margin on Friday night in Coleman Coliseum.

Petty scoring those 10 three-pointers has now tied him for fourth all-time in Southeastern Conference men's basketball history.  The last SEC player to have 10 or more three-pointers in a single game was Michael Frazier of Florida scoring 11 points against South Carolina just under three years ago on March 4, 2014. Former Arkansas guard Rotnei Clarke currently holds the conference record of 13 three-pointers in a single game.

Five freshman players combined for a total of 78 points for Alabama (3-0) last night, led by Petty who finished with 30. Petty is the first Alabama player to score 30 points since Retin Obasohan knocked down 35 points at LSU back in February 2016.

Fellow freshman Collin Sexton had 25 points and five assists, while fellow classmates Alex Reese (9), Herbert Jones (7), and Galin Smith (7) contributed to Bama's total.

This game is the first that Alabama eclipsed the 100-point mark in a game since defeating Louisiana 105-93 almost two years ago on November 21, 2015. In all the Tide finished the night with 25 assists as opposed to 15 turnovers. Bama also had a big win on the boards, 47-23.

Alabama players were on-point last night, scoring a lot of points with an exceptional 63 percent (40-of-63) from the field, including 59 percent (16-of-27) from beyond the arc in the victory.

Coach Johnson was effusive in his praise for his team, saying, "I am very proud of our effort and what a night for Huntsville's finest, John Petty, to have the type of game he had. I know a lot of his family and friends were here in attendance tonight or watching online. We're not quite there yet on defense. We had a very sub-par second half defensively and that's to be expected. Sometimes your mind plays tricks on you and trying to motivate yourself to come out and play quality defense in the second half. We just didn't get that done."

Sophomore Dazon Ingram contributed 10 points, six rebounds and four assists on the night, while junior Donta Hall added eight points, six rebounds and two blocks.

The Tide will host UT Arlington on Tuesday, November 21st at 8 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum.  The game will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.



Team Statistics
Game Stats  AAM  UA
FG%  .431  .635
3FG%  .533  .593
FT%  .375  .533
RB  23  47
TO  10  15
STL  7  3





Photo Credit: UA Athletics


Photo Credit: UA Athletics

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Coach Avery Johnson Press Conference


Click H E R E to view press conference via Tide TV


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Alabama Mauls Mercer In 56-0 Shutout Victory


Photo Credit: UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Despite the foe, this was a win the fans had been wanting. A blowout of huge proportions. A shutout. A game to allow all the players in all positions in which to participate. A game that would even allow a certain "comparison" to gauge the overall effectiveness between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers since both teams have now played this same foe that caused little brother some trouble early in the season. The No. 1-ranked University of Alabama football team mauled Mercer today in a dominating fashion in its final home game of the 2017 season. The Tide rolled up 530 yards of total offense in the 56-0 blowout over Mercer at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The Alabama Crimson Tide remains undefeated, convincingly one might add, and is sure to retain the No. 1 ranking in all three major polls, the Associated Press, Amway Coaches and College Football Playoff polls. The Mercer Bears now fall to 5-6 on the year.

Tide quarterbacks were spot-on today, connecting on 14-of-18 for 265 yards through the air  and six touchdowns. Bama's ground game chewed up an identical 265 yards and picked up two additional touchdowns. On the day the UA offense averaged 8.8 yards per play. 

Bama sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts was perfect passing today, going 7-for-7 passing for 180 yards and three touchdowns, now moving him to fifth on Alabama's career touchdown passes list with 37 during the course of his 26-game Tide career. The Crimson Tide's leading receiver was junior Calvin Ridley, who hauled down three passes for 103 yards along with a touchdown. That touchdown reception moves Ridley to third on the UA career touchdown receptions list with 17. He is also fourth in career receiving yards boasting 2,672.

Oh how the defense did also shine. Freshman linebacker Dylan Moses led the team with a career-best 11 tackles, four for loss, and added his first career interception which came at the end of the first half. In total, Tide defenders held the Bears' offense to only 161 total yards. Third downs for the Bears were a paltry 5-of-16 thanks to the domination of the Alabama defensive unit.

Commenting on today's game, Alabama football head coach Nick Saban said, "There were two things we wanted to try to accomplish today and I was pleased with the way we did both of them. I wanted our players to play with a standard to try to create momentum as we move forward in the season here. Everyone understands the challenges we have ahead of us and the importance of all those games. The second thing is we really wanted to do a good job for the last game with the seniors that played here today. We kept the ball on offense for seven minutes at the end so we got a couple of defensive players in. I think every senior, every senior walk-on; we dressed every player that was eligible for this game and tried to get every senior in the game and I think we accomplished that. It will be a best memory for them.

"I am really proud of the way we played. Obviously, there are things we can do better. We got the chance to play a lot of players out there today and I think that experience is very helpful to their development and growth and to the depth on our team. I do not think anybody got injured today that is of significance. Andy (Pappanastos) did not kick because he has a little bit of a pull and we felt we did not want to push it. I think he could have kicked today but it would have pushed the envelope. It was bothering him last week at Mississippi State so we shut him down for a while and the doctor felt it would be better if he did not have to kick so we decided to do that."

Tide DB Hootie Jones, concerning his last game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, said, "It's was a great feeling playing here one last time. I had four years that were great to me at The University of Alabama. The fans were great to me, the school was great to me. It was a great time wearing the 'A' while playing in Bryant-Denny. "

Next week is Iron Bowl week, when Alabama resumes Southeastern Conference play on the road against Auburn on Saturday, November 25th. The game will be broadcast live by CBS with a planned start of 2:30 p.m. CT.

**updates to follow**


Photo Credit: UA Athletics


Photo Credit: UA Athletics

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Southeastern Conference Football Scores




  1  ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE 56  Mercer 0
  6  Auburn 42  UL Monroe 14
  7  Georgia 42  Kentucky 13
16  Mississippi State 28  Arkansas 21
      Florida 36  UAB 7
      South Carolina 31  Wofford 10


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Alabama Volleyball Falls To South Carolina



Photo Credit: UA Athletics


COLUMBIA, South Carolina – The Bama belles fought...but came up just short of the victory on Friday when trailing 2-1 in the match, the University of Alabama volleyball team was unable to take advantage of set point in the fourth set as the South Carolina Gamecocks rallied to claim victory of the Crimson Tide in four sets.

Alabama (17-12, 5-10 SEC) was able to capture the opening set 25-20, but unfortunately dropped the next two to South Carolina (12-15, 5-10 SEC) 22-25 and 23-25. Bama needed that fourth set to come out on top, but fell 24-26.

The Tide had four players with double-digit kills, led by sophomore Hayley McSparin with 16 on the night, her second-highest total in Southeastern Conference action. She also led the team with six blocks, a season-best in SEC play for McSparin. Freshman setter Meghan Neelon collected her 12th double-double of the season, finishing with 49 assists and 12 digs. Incidentally, sophomore Ginger Perinar was able to set a career-high on service aces with three in the match.

Alabama returns home to host LSU (18-7, 9-5 SEC) this Sunday, November 19th at 3 p.m. CT.



Team Statistics
Game Stats   UA  SC
Kills   58   54
Errors   29   24
Hitting %   .188   .211
Points   68.0   68.0
Aces   3   1
Blocks   7.0   13.0
TA   154   142
Assists   57   51