Alabama Men's Basketball
Crimson Tide Defeats Rhode Island Rams
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics/Robert Sutton |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – University of Alabama men's basketball is back on the winning track after falling from the top 25 this week. It was Crimson Tide junior Donta Hall and sophomore Dazon Ingram getting the job done for UA with both registering double-doubles in the Wednesday night contest to lead Alabama past Rhode Island 68-64 at Coleman Coliseum.
This is the first pair of players for Bama to record a double-double in the same game since JaMychal Green and Tony Mitchell did so back in 2010 against Kentucky. Hall was able to beat his career-high last night hauling down 14 rebounds while scoring 13 points. Ingram scored 10 points while bringing down a career-best 14 rebounds himself.
Not to be outdone, three other Tide players reach double digits as sophomore Daniel Giddens was able to set a career-high in scoring 12 points, as well as pulling down six rebounds on the night. Freshmen Collin Sexton and John Petty rounded out the double-digit scoring for Bama with 11 and 12 points, respectively.
With the win, Alabama, never trailing in last night's game, improved to 7-2 on the young season, while Rhode Island, which entered the contest just on the outside of the top-25 polls, falls to 5-3.
University of Alabama men's basketball head coach Avery Johnson said, "First off, I want to say thank you to our fans, but especially out students. Our student section was rocking tonight. Their energy had an effect on the entire crowd tonight, so thank you. We let you down the last game, all of our fans. I just want to say a special thank you. I have been going to fraternity houses to give speeches. I've been all over campus and I challenged our students that if you want a special basketball team, we need your support. Thank you to the students.
"I'm awfully proud of our team for a lot of different reasons. I'm not going to focus on the turnovers, I'm sure we can improve on those areas. There are a lot of correctable areas in taking care of the ball and ball security. We outrebound the opponent by close to 20 rebounds. We had five guys in double figures, two guys get double-doubles, a lot of balanced scoring and we made our free throws down the stretch. Obviously Collin [Sexton] with his eye injury came back in and helped us. Daniel Giddens was special tonight in a lot of ways with his physicality and post presence. I am proud of our team's effort. We didn't have this kind of effort in our last home game."
Alabama was 52.4 percent from the field compared to URI's 25.6 percent, but the Rams were able to jump on and use Crimson Tide mistakes to keep the game close, scoring nine points off of 14 Tide turnovers.
Next up for Alabama is a trip to Arizona this Saturday to face the Wildcats. Start time is scheduled for 9 p.m. CT, with the game being televised on ESPN2.
| Game Stats | URI | UA |
|---|---|---|
| FG% | .352 | .447 |
| 3FG% | .304 | .182 |
| FT% | .636 | .615 |
| RB | 31 | 50 |
| TO | 12 | 24 |
| STL | 13 | 4 |
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics/Robert Sutton |
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics/Robert Sutton |
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Bama Volleyball's Leah Lawrence
Earns AVCA Regional Honors
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Honors just keep rolling in for University of Alabama student-athletes. This time it's the Tide's volleyball sensation Leah Lawrence. Lawrence has been recognized for her sensational senior 2017 season on the court picking up Honorable Mention All-South Region honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
This is the first honor for Lawrence at Alabama, the the 12th for the Crimson Tide overall since the All-Region designation started in 2007. Ten of those 12 honorees have come under Tide volleyball head coach Ed Allen, with UA volleyball placing at least one player on the list every year since 2013.
Lawrence was a starter in all 32 matches for Bama this season, leading the team with 279 kills, a .313 hitting percentage and 123 blocks. She broke the Alabama career blocks record, one that had stood for 15 years, in the November 12th match against Tennessee, bringing her four-year career with with the Tide to a close with a total of 449. She also ranks second in career block assists (358) and is third in solo blocks (91) and matches played (129).
She excelled not only on the court but also has been recognized for her performance in the classroom. Earlier this year Lawrence earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors for the second-consecutive season.
All-Region honorees are now eligible to earn AVCA All-America accolades, which will be announced later this month. The winners will be honored at the AVCA All-America/Players of the Year Banquet in conjunction with the group's annual convention slated for December 13-17 in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Alabama Defensive Coordinator Jeremy Pruitt
Reported To Be New Head Coach At Tennessee
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| Jeremy Pruitt Photo Credit: Bing.com |
A report from Football Scoop indicates that University of Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt is the new head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. The deal is reported to be worth just over $4 million per season with a six-year term.
The 43-year old Pruitt replaced now Georgia head coach Kirby Smart as the defensive coordinator at Alabama in 2016 and has proven quite effective both at The Capstone and other schools around the Southeastern Conference. Most recently he was Georgia's defensive coordinator under Mark Richt as well as DC at Florida State for Jimbo Fisher.
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Michael Parker Commits To Crimson Tide Football
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| Michael Parker Twitter Photo |
The University of Alabama football program is rolling with the addition of three-star tight end/defensive end Michael Parker. The young man out of Westminster Christian Academy in Huntsville, Alabama let his choice be made known yesterday.
The 6' 6", 236-pounder is the brother of Crimson Tide senior walk-on tight end Jacob Parker. The younger Parker is listed by the 247Sports Composite as the number 45 tight end in the country for 2018.
Parker rolled up 812 yards and nine touchdowns in 11 games this season.
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Alabama Football Picks Up JUCO Commit
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| Saivion Smith Photo Credit: Bing.com |
The nation's top JUCO cornerback has committed to University of Alabama football. Saivion Smith out of Mississippi Gulf Coach Community College by way of LSU made his choice know yesterday.
The 6' 2", 195-pound Smith played in 10 games as a freshman at LSU last season, but then transferred to MGCCC in May. This season Smith participated in eight contests, garnering 31 tackles, two interceptions as well as a pick-six. Additionally he returned a kickoff for a touchdown as well as catching three passes for 26 yards playing on the offense.
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2018 University Of Alabama Football Commits
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team currently has 14 student-athletes who have committed to furthering their football careers at The Capstone. These 14 are considered as hard commits to the Crimson Tide. As new commits and signees are announced the list will be updated and released.
Here is the complete list of 2018 commitments and signees to UA as of 012/7/17:
- Jordan Davis, DE (6-6, 240), Memphis, Tennessee
- Xavier Williams, WR/ATH (6-1, 185), Hollywood, Florida
- Quay Walker, OLF ( 6-4, 220), Cordele, Georgia
- Jalyn Armour-Davis, CB (6-0, 160), Mobile, ALABAMA*
- Skyler DeLong, P (6-4, 180), Ft. Mill, South Carolina
- Stephon Wynn, Jr., DE (6-4, 285), Anderson, South Carolina
- Tommy Brown, OT (6-5, 313), Santa Ana ,California
- Slade Bolden, ATH (5-11, 192), West Monroe, Louisiana
- Cameron Latu, DE (6-5, 236), Salt Lake City, Utah
- Vernon Jackson, LB, (6-3, 240), Boling, Texas
- Emil Ekiyor, OL (6-2, 322), Indianapolis, Indiana
- Nadab Joseph, CB (6-2, 180), Miami, Florida
- Michael Parker, TE (6-6, 236), Huntsville, ALABAMA*
- Saivion Smith, CB (6-2, 195), Perkinston, Mississippi
*State of Alabama
