Alabama Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide Defeats UAH In Exhibition Game
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics/Kent Gidley |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – The University of Alabama men's basketball picked up a big win in exhibition action 74-65 over Alabama-Huntsville in Coleman Coliseum. It's a great way to prepared for the official opening of the 2017-18 college basketball season. Crimson Tide sophomore Daniel Giddens led another three players in double-digit scoring with 17 points in the contest.
In addition to Giddens, it was freshmen Herbert Jones and John Petty scoring 14 points apiece as well as junior Avery Johnson Jr. knocking down 10 points himself. Bama was without the services of Braxton Key, Riley Norris, Collin Sexton and Ar'Mond Davis, all of whom sidelined for the Monday night game.
Crimson Tide men's basketball head coach Avery Johnson said, "First of all, I want to congratulate Alabama-Huntsville. What a great game that they played. I'm really proud of the effort that our guys showed, especially in the second half, but again I want to congratulate Alabama-Huntsville for coming out and just playing some great basketball, passing the ball, cutting, moving, and diving on the floor. We were a little bit of a step behind in the first half, but we kicked it in gear late in the game."
Though the Tide trailed 10-1 in the contest, it appeared to only get worse with the Chargers adding another four before Alabama freshman Alex Reese was able to get the Tide on the scoreboard for the first time with a three-pointer after 4:49 had ticked off the clock following the opening tip. Though Bama was able to tie the game at 25-25, UAH went on another tear outscoring the Tide 16-8 to again take the lead with 2:40 remaining in the first half. UA came back again on a 6-1 spurt of its own to cut the lead to two points at the half, 35-33.
Shooting was way off the Tide in the first half, hitting just 35 percent. Bama did, however, narrowly lead the Chargers in the battle of boards, 22-21.
Alabama was able to open the second half on a 12-1 run to take a 39-35 lead that didn't last long. Again UAH came charging back adding five points in just 22 seconds to take a 40-39 advantage. No team, however, would be able to gain more than a two-point lead for the next eight minutes. Then the Tide was able to put together a 14-3 run to take a 61-52 lead with only 9:46 to play. The teams traded baskets pretty much the rest of the way as Bama was able to take the victory.
Alabama was able to hit 53 percent from the field in the second half, much improved over its first half numbers. UAH was able to only drop 34 percent into the basket.
Overall the Tide hauled down 50 rebounds compared to 35 by UAH while outscoring the Chargers 46-23 in the paint. Defensively Bama was able to grab 14 steals while scoring 26 points off 20 forced turnovers.
The Crimson Tide will officially open the 2017-18 season on the road in Annapolis, Maryland taking part in the Veterans Classic. UA will battle Memphis on Friday, November 10th at 5:30 p.m. CT. The contest will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics/Kent Gidley |
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Coach Saban's Monday Press Conference
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| Photo Courtesy Tide TV |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - As is his usual process, University of Alabama football head coach Nick Saban addressed the media on Monday afternoon. Saban briefed everyone concerning the upcoming Southeastern Conference contest on Saturday with nationally-ranked Mississippi State as well as some things on his mind about last Saturday's win over LSU, including updating some injuries.
Here is Saban's opening statement:
"To wrap up the last game after watching the film, I would say it was a classic rivalry game, like a lot of games that we've had with LSU. I think that at times we didn't execute as well as we would've liked, and we certainly have a lot of things that we can clean up and work on fundamentally – technique-wise – and playing on the line of scrimmage. The players showed a lot of persistence, determination and discipline to be able to stay in the game in a tough, hard-fought game, to come out on top and win the game. It was probably a good lesson for everybody to have to deal with; I talked about it after the game, responding the right way because things don't (always) go well. We're playing lots of good teams right now, and we're going to play another good team this week. There's going to be a lot of tough circumstances and sometimes those guys are going to win, and you've got to be able to respond and play the next play, so that's something we learned some lessons about in this game.
"You got the players of the week, but it's especially nice to have a guy recognized with Ronnie Harrison as the SEC Defensive Player of the Week. JK Scott, in terms of special teams, received national Ray Guy (Player of the Week) recognition for what he did in the game. We talked about that after the game; to average 51 yards per punt and have six or seven of them land inside the 20 is pretty significant in controlling vertical field position, and that was really important in the game.
"It's going to be really important for us to create some opportunities for some other people, as we've got some guys nicked up a little bit. I don't think that this is something that anybody should sit around and say 'Wow, I'm going to have to pick up my game now'. I think everybody should've been picking up their game to start with. Everybody has just got to be who they are, do what they do and be a good teammate by supporting the players that are out there and by playing together as a unit while doing their job. That's the way we need to go about it.
"Mississippi State is a really good team as they've won seven games this year. (Head coach) Dan (Mullen) has done a really good job in the years that he's been there. He's a great offensive coach, and he always presents a lot of issues and problems for the defense to adjust to. Nick Fitzgerald has done a really good job at quarterback. He's a very good passer, a great runner and a big, physical, strong guy that they use both ways. They've been very consistent in their run-pass and the mix of what they do and how they do it. Their defense has shown tremendous improvement. Todd Grantham is the new defensive coordinator there, and they've really done well this year as they're one of the top-ranked defensive teams in the country. They're really solid on special teams, as they're highly ranked in almost every category in the SEC in special teams, and their specialists (kicker and punter) have done a really good job for them. This is all-around a really good team and a really challenging place to play, and our players need be able to respond to it the right way.
"I'm sure you all know, as I said after the game, Shaun Dion (Hamilton) had a successful surgery. This is something he'll be able to respond to in a few months and hopefully be able to come back and have an opportunity to do some things to extend his career. Mack (Wilson) had foot injury that will probably put him out four to six weeks; we'll just have to play it by ear and see how fast it heals. We've got some other guys that are nicked up that may not practice today, but we think they'll be ready to go tomorrow and be able to do enough to be ready to play in the game."
Here is the video of Nick Saban's Monday press conference courtesy of Tide TV:
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| Click HERE to watch press conference |
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Jalen Hurts Named Davey O'Brien Award Semifinalist
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| Graphics/Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Everyone that loves Crimson Tide football already know how valuable he is, and now University of Alabama sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts has been named a semifinalist for the 2017 Davey O'Brien Award. The Davey O'Brien Foundation made the announcement today.
Hurts is one of 16 quarterbacks from all across the nation who have been named to the
semifinalist list. This is the second time that Hurts has been a semifinalist for this prestigious award, having been a candidate last year during his freshman season as the Alabama starting quarterback. appearance among the semifinalists is the second
of Hurts' career.
Hurts is already the Alabama football record-holder in quarterback rushing touchdowns (20) and
ranks No. 2 in quarterback career rushing (1,570 yards), third in career
touchdown responsibility (53), sixth in career total offense (5,756
yards), seventh in career touchdown passes (33) and 10th overall in career passing yards (4,186) after not quite two seasons. This season
Hurts is 106-of-175 passes for 1,406 yards and 10 touchdowns
with just one interception. He is also Bama's second-leading rusher with 98 carries for 616 yards and seven touchdowns.
Since 1981 the Davey O'Brien Award has been presented annually to the nation's
top quarterback. This year's winner will be
announced at the ESPN College Football Awards in Atlanta, Georgia in
December.
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Alabama Football Coaches
Recognize Nine As Players Of The Week
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| Alabama coaches select 9 players of the week Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
For the offense the coaches selected Jalen Hurts and Irv Smith Jr.. Defensively Tide coaches picked Rashaan Evans, Ronnie Harrison and Da'Ron Payne. Choices coming from special teams were Keaton Anderson, Keith Holcombe and JK Scott.
Hurts was 4-of-11 for 183 yards through the air and directed the Tide to 227 yards of total offense against the LSU defense. He scored one touchdown passing as well as added 44 net yards himself rushing on 14 carries and one rushing touchdown. Hurts lone touchdown pass was to Smith, who tied for second on the team with two receptions for 25 yards. The Hurts to Smith pass was from four yards out for the first UA score, with Smith adding a 21-yard reception on his second catch of the evening.
Evans, Harrison and Payne all stepped up big defensively for the Crimson Tide. It was a night of defensive injuries for Bama, but the defensive unit was able to limit Tigers to only 155 yards passing on a 48.4 completion percentage, as well as picking up one interception in the game. Evans had a season-high 10 tackles, including one sack (-1 yards). Harrison was successful in plucking his seventh pass of the season from the opposing offense. The junior safety added six tackles, including half a sack for a loss of three yards. Payne made four stops on the night, including half a sack (-6 yards), and adding one quarterback hurry.
It was sophomore Anderson, freshman Fletcher and senior Scott able to combine to help keep the Tigers in unfavorable field position all evening, allowing only two yards in returns on punt coverage. Scott had the best game of his senior season, punting eight times for 413 yards to average 51.6 yards per punt. He had a career-high tying five punts of 50-plus yards with a game-high 58-yard boot to highlight his night. Six of the eight kicks from Scott put LSU back inside their own 20-yard line and the LSU returner was forced to call five fair catches in addition to two downed punts by the Bama special teams. Redshirt junior Holcombe added to his season totals on kickoff coverage, making two stops to lead everyone on special teams.
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What Saban Said...About Last Saturday's Injuries
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| University of Alabama football head coach Nick Saban Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - University of Alabama football head coach Nick Saban provided updates on three players who were injured in this past Saturday's contest against LSU. Crimson Tide linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton suffered a fractured kneecap, linebacker Mack Wilson sustained a foot injury and star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick had a hamstring injury that took him out of the game twice.
According to Coach Saban, Wilson underwent surgery on the injured foot on Sunday. He says that Wilson will be out in the four-to-six week range. Saban commented, "We'll have to play it by ear and see how fast it heals."
Hamilton also underwent surgery on Sunday. Though the prognosis is good, he won't be back at all this season. Saban commented, "This will be something he'll be able to respond to in a few months, and hopefully be able to come back and have an opportunity to do some things to extend his career."
Fitzpatrick suffered a hamstring injury in the LSU game, and should be back to practice "on a limited basis," by Tuesday, according to the coach.
