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Men's Basketball
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Defeats Tennessee Volunteers 63-57
Things were not looking good for the Alabama men's basketball team last night. A three-game losing streak and trailing one of their rivals 48-33 in the fourth period could suck the life right out of some teams. But in Coleman Coliseum last night the young men from Bama sucked it up, put on a 30-9 run and defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 63-57.
For the first time since January of last year two Alabama players finished a game with 20-plus points. Senior RETIN OBASOHAN pumped in a game-high 22 points followed by junior SHANNON HALE with his season-high 20 points last night.
Head men's basketball coach AVERY JOHNSON said, "I am really excited for our guys. We got off to a very slow start in the game. It was somewhat of a
hangover from our last game. I didn't scream at them in the first
timeout, I thought I needed to love them up because we have a team with a
lot of character. I am proud of our guys, how we finished the first
half and obviously, I am proud of how we finished the game. Fortunately,
they missed some shots. They are a well-coached team. I love coach
[Rick] Barnes, but I am just really happy for our guys. It has been a
rough couple of days. We had a very, very hard practice yesterday and
they carried over into today's game. We were mentally and physically
tough and focused for a good part of the game. It is exciting that we
got a win. I may sound like worn out record to a lot of you guys, but
thank you again to our students for showing up tonight in bad weather.
The student section was packed and rocking tonight, so thank you, thank
you thank you."
That "very slow start" mentioned by Johnson was a mere four points by the boys from Bama in the opening 10 minutes of the contest. It was punctuated by 11 turnovers in the first half for the Tide and only 18 percent shooting beyond the arc.
Sophomore RILEY NORRIS had 13 rebounds to lead the Tide, followed by Hale with eight, DONTA HALL with six, ARTHUR EDWARDS and MICHAEL KESSENS with four each, and then with one rebound each were JIMMIE TAYLOR, Obasohan, and JUSTIN COLEMAN.
When asked what he had to say to the players when down by eight points and only four minutes to play, Johnson said, "Well the first thing, I was talking to Arthur Edwards and I said, 'Do you remember when you came here on a official trip with your parents? We brought you in because we needed your shooting.' He was open two times and he didn't take the shot. I said, 'Will you please just shoot the ball?' So, fortunately, he shot the next one, a big three for us, and he made it. I was just begging him to shoot.
"I just think, fortunately, we were able to change our defenses. Retin [Obasohan] made some plays so that enabled us to get back and play some man, play some zone, trap a little bit. You know, we came in this game basically, I wouldn't say terrified, but we were very concerned about [Kevin] Punter and Detrick Mostella. They were major points of emphasis. Coach [Rick] Barnes has done a nice job with this team and they won a big game. That was a big win for them in their last game, so they were up. When you win a game, you're a hot team. We're fortunate to get some stops, change our defenses, and Arthur finally took and made a shot for us."
The Crimson Tide won last night's rebounding battle 42-38, putting Bama at 6-1 on the season when out-rebounding opponents. The Tide was 85 percent last night from the free throw line, a season high for the team, finishing 11-of-13.
Alabama's record improves to 11-8 overall, 2-5 SEC while Tennessee's record falls to 10-10, 3-5 SEC.
Alabama travels to South Carolina next. Bama does battle with the No. 20 Gamecocks this Saturday, January 30th at 5 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Photo Credit: RollTide.com/Kent Gidley
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Bama Softball Ranked 5th Preseason
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
As the 2016 softball season nears, the Crimson Tide softball team is ranked No. 5 in both the USA Today/NFCA coaches' poll as well as the ESPN.com/USA Softball media poll. Alabama received one first place vote in both polls.
Florida, the defending national champions, will open the season ranked at No. 1, followed by Michigan and LSU. There's a split between the two polls after that. Auburn is fourth in the Coaches poll while Oregon holds the spot in the media poll.
The Southeastern Conference has nine schools represented in the top 25, the most of any conference in the country. The nine from the SEC are: representing the SEC are: Florida (1/1), LSU (3/3), Auburn (4/6), ALABAMA (5/5), Tennessee (8/9), Georgia (12/14), Missouri (15/12), Kentucky (18/18) and Texas A&M (NR/24). Outside the top 25 the SEC has one school receiving votes in both polls, Mississippi State.
The Crimson Tide has finished in the top 10 for 11 consecutive seasons dating back to 2005, and has a formidable schedule to extend that streak. Alabama has 25 games this season against top 25 opponents to face. There are, of course, the conference opponents listed above, but also highly-ranked non-conference opponents such as No. 9/8 Oklahoma, No. 13/15 Arizona, No. 17/17 UCF, No. 19/21 James Madison and No. 25/NR South Alabama.
Alabama finished the past season ranked sixth in the nation in both polls. They went to the Women's College World Series for the tenth time.
--------------------------------------------------The Crimson Tide has finished in the top 10 for 11 consecutive seasons dating back to 2005, and has a formidable schedule to extend that streak. Alabama has 25 games this season against top 25 opponents to face. There are, of course, the conference opponents listed above, but also highly-ranked non-conference opponents such as No. 9/8 Oklahoma, No. 13/15 Arizona, No. 17/17 UCF, No. 19/21 James Madison and No. 25/NR South Alabama.
Alabama finished the past season ranked sixth in the nation in both polls. They went to the Women's College World Series for the tenth time.
Alabama Offers 2017 Prospect DT Kivon Bennett
Photo Credit: 247Sport.com
Everyone remembers Alabama great Cornelius Bennett, former star linebacker with the Crimson Tide from 1983-1986. "Legend" is often associated with the name. Bennett later went on to an impressive National Football League career with the Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons and the Indianapolis Colts.
This week the University of Alabama made an offer to his son, KIVON BENNETT, a three-star defensive tackle out of St. Thoma Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The young Bennett is a class of 2017 recruit, and Bama is interested.
This tweet from Kivon earlier:
"Extremely humbled to receive an offer from Bama #SEC #likefatherlikeson #legacy #RollTideRoll"
— kivon bennett (@kb_versace)
Most are expecting Kivon to follow in his dad's footsteps and wind up at Alabama.
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2016 A-Day Is Set
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2016 A-Day Is Set
The University of Alabama has announced the date and time for the 2016 Alabama football spring game. A-Day is now scheduled for April 6th, with the game scheduled to begin 1 p.m. CT in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Admission will remain free to everyone. The last A-Day had an attendance of 65,175.
Television coverage for the 2016 A-Day game will be determined at a later date.
2016 Football Predictions
It would appear that the Alabama Crimson Tide football team is "sitting in the catbird's seat."
According to the sports book, Bovada, the Tide has opened as 7-1 favorites to win the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship, the best of any college football team for this next season. This, of course, means Bama is picked to win the SEC. LSU is second choice to win the conference title at 14-1 odds, followed by Ole Miss and Tennessee at 22-1.
Now, not everyone is picking the Crimson Tide to repeat as the national champs. They are picked number one by a few, but many have them second behind the Clemson Tigers.
Just as last season, Bama is returning 11 starters from the national championship team. But other good news is...numerous other players received a lot of playing time throughout the season. And no one is quite as capable at "reloading a team" as head coach NICK SABAN.
