| MBB/WBB Alabama Falls 83-80 to Georgia State on a Final Second Buzzer-Beater

[UA Press Release]

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team opens the month of December by hosting the Sun Belt Conference preseason favorite Georgia State Panthers at 7 p.m. CT on Tuesday night at Coleman Coliseum. It will mark the first of three home contests over the Tide's next four games.

Tuesday's contest will be the third meeting in series history between the two teams (Alabama leads, 2-0) and the first meeting since Nov. 19, 2013. The Crimson Tide has claimed victory in each of the first two contests. Most recently, the Panthers dropped a 76-58 decision at Alabama a little more than five years ago on Nov. 19, 2013.

Georgia State is the third opponent that Alabama has played in eight games to start the season who was picked in to win their conference in the respective league's preseason poll. The Panthers (Sun Belt) join Northeastern (Colonial Athletic Association) and UCF (American Athletic Conference) as projected league champions. The Tide will also play Stephen F. Austin (Southland) on Dec. 30. In addition, Alabama also faced off with Murray State (Nov. 26), who was picked to finish second by a narrow margin to Belmont in the Ohio Valley Conference.

THE BROADCAST

• Tuesday's game will air on SEC Network+ with Roger Hoover and Wimp Sanderson on the call.

• The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network, Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

PROMOTIONS

• Two For One Tuesday: Buy one ticket, get one free

NOTES YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Tuesday's contest against Georgia State begins an important four-game stretch for the Crimson Tide, with three of those games being played under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum. In addition to tonight's match-up, Alabama will also host Arizona (Dec. 9) and Penn State (Dec. 21). The only game not being played at home over the stretch is the Dec. 18 contest vs. Liberty at the Rocket City Classic, which will be played at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala.

• Most recently, Alabama dropped its first true road game of the new season when it to UCF, 70-64, last Thursday night at the CFE Arena in Orlando. The Crimson Tide battled back from a double-digit first half deficit and briefly held a lead in the second half. However, the Knights used timely shooting and a big advantage at the free throw line (36 attempts compared to Alabama's 14) to seal the victory. Kira Lewis Jr. and Alex Reese each scored 14 points to lead UA, while UCF's B.J. Taylor finished with a game high 24 points.

• Tuesday's contest against Georgia State begins an important four-game stretch for the Crimson Tide, with three of those games being played under the arched roof of Coleman Coliseum. In addition to Tuesday's match-up against the Panthers, Alabama will also host Arizona (Dec. 9) and Penn State (Dec. 21). The only game not being played at home over the stretch is the Dec. 18 contest vs. Liberty at the Rocket City Classic, which will be played at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala.

• The Tide has won the rebounding battle in all seven of its games to begin the season. For the year, Alabama ranks third in the SEC in rebounding margin (+7.9), outrebounding the opposition by an average of 38.6-30.7. Furthermore, UA is third in the conference in offensive rebounds per game, averaging 13.9 heading into the game against Georgia State. As a result of its work on the offensive glass, the Tide is outscoring opponents by an average of +3.2 points per game (12.3-9.1) in second chance points.

• Freshman Kira Lewis Jr. and sophomore Alex Reese have been an impressive offensive combination over the Tide's last three games. During the stretch, both Lewis (19.3 ppg) and Reese (14.0 ppg) have averaged 33.3 points per game between the duo. Lewis is shooting 54.5 percent (18-of-33) from the field and 85.7 percent (18-of-21) from the charity stripe over Alabama's previous three games, while Reese is shooting 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from beyond the arc and 91.7 percent (11-of-12) from the free throw line.

• Alabama boasts a balanced offensive attack that averages 75.1 points per game and is outscoring the opposition by +4.8 points per contest (75.1-70.3). Only two Crimson Tide players average double figures through six games (Kira Lewis Jr. - 14.3 ppg and John PettyJr. - 12.6 ppg), while six others are averaging between 5.0 ppg and 9.4 ppg.

• Over the last five games, the Crimson Tide have had an advantage at the charity stripe, connecting on 80-of-101 (79.2 percent) from the foul line. The improvement at the line was certainly highlighted during Alabama's 90-86 victory over Wichita State in the final game of the Charleston Classic. In that contest, UA knocked down 31-of-33 (93.9 percent) free throws, including going 23-of-24 (95.8 percent) in the second half alone. Kira Lewis Jr. led the way by hitting all 11 of his shots from the foul line in that contest, while sophomore Alex Reese went 9-of-10 in the game.



ABOUT ALABAMA

• Alabama fell for just the second time in seven games to begin the season (5-2) when it dropped a 70-64 contest at UCF last Thursday night. The Crimson Tide trailed by as many as 12 points in the opening half before rallying to take a second half lead. However, clutch shooting and taking advantage of free throw opportunities allowed the Knights to secure the victory.

• Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. leads a balanced scoring attack that features seven Alabama players averaging 7.9 points per game or more. Lewis' 14.3 points per game tops the Tide, while sophomore John Petty is second on the team with 12.3 ppg. Petty leads UA in minutes (32.1 mpg) as well as three-pointers made(14) and attempted (41), while Lewis is the team leader in total assists (19) and free throw shooting (21-of-24, .875).

• Sophomore Herbert Jones is the Crimson Tide's third-leading scorer at 9.4 ppg, while adding 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He also is considered one of the top defenders in the Southeastern Conference, as he tops UA with 13 charges taken and 7 steals (1.0 spg). Senior Donta Hall tops the Tide in total dunks (10), rebounds (6.9) and blocks (2.0) per game, while adding 8.4 points per contest.

• As a team, Alabama enters its game Tuesday as one of the top rebounding teams in the SEC. The Tide has outrebounded all seven of its opponents on the year and owns a +7.9 advantage on the glass (38.6-30.7). UA is shooting 44.0 percent from the field and 30.9 percent from beyond the arc on the year, while outscoring the competition by 4.8 points per game (75.1-70.3).

• Alabama welcomed back three of its top four and nine of the top 11 scorers from last season's squad. Leading the list of returnees is Hall, who paces all returning players in scoring (10.6 ppg), rebounding (6.6 rpg), blocks (2.0 bpg), dunks (75) and field goal percentage (.726) .

ABOUT GEORGIA STATE

• The Georgia State Panthers come into Tuesday's contest with a record of 5-3 on the season. Most recently, the Panthers dropped a 78-52 decision at Liberty last Saturday night. Georgia State's contest at Alabama on Tuesday will mark the team's sixth consecutive away from home and third straight true road game.

• Georgia State was predicted to win 2018-19 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball title by a vote of the league's head coaches. The Panthers received all 12 first-place votes and the maximum 144 points coming off a season that saw Georgia State (24-11, 12-6 Sun Belt) win the Sun Belt Tournament title, earning their second NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship appearance in the last four years and fifth postseason appearance under head coach Ron Hunter.

• Leading the list is junior guard D'Marcus Simonds, who was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year. A 2017-18 Player of the Year and All-Sun Belt First Team selection, Simonds currently tops the team in points (21.6 ppg), assists (3.8 apg) and minutes (36.1 mpg), while ranking second in blocks (8) and steals (12) through eight games played this year. His 21.6 ppg currently ranked 22nd in the nation.

• Since joining the Sun Belt five years ago, Georgia State has won two conference regular season titles, finished as a regular season runner-up twice, advanced to three conference tournament finals and won two tournament titles in New Orleans. Over the five-year stretch, the Panthers are 53-23 in Sun Belt Conference regular season games.

BOARD WORK

• Alabama has proven to be a strong rebounding team through the early part of the 2018-19 season. The Crimson Tide owns a +6.9 advantage on the glass (38.6-30.7) and has outrebounded all seven opponents it has faced this season.

• The Tide has taken advantage of its aggressiveness on the boards and owns an advantage on the offensive glass. Through seven games, Alabama owns a 97-57 edge in offensive rebounds over the opposition, which averages out to a +5.1 advantage (13.9-8.1) per game. As a result, Alabama has outscored foes by +3.2 points per game in second chance points (12.3-9.1).

Alabama Begins Homestand with Georgia State on Tuesday Night - University of Alabama Athletics

 

[TerryP]

This is going to be a tough out for the Tide. While it was on a neutral court, Georgia State blew out Georgia a few weeks ago by 20+ points. As I recall, all five of GSU's starters were in double figures. UGA didn't help their case any with a lot of turnovers.

 

[Destiny's Child]

I was looking at the schedule and while it is a brutal schedule I can see 20 wins if we beat the teams we are supposed to at home. This game is one I had in the win column but this team could lose it for sure. We are still finding ourselves a little bit and I thought thte comeback versus a good UCF team on the road was encouraging. The discouraging part was that we couldn't throw it in the ocean in the first half and we have to find a way to put the ball in the basket, get to the line or get after the offensive glass.
Bad shooting teams have to be creative to score.. I think we are athletic enough to get out on the fast break and look for our 3 point shooters trailing the play if cut off, we have to drive the lane and get to the line and be intentional about the offensive rebounding to get garbage points.

We look like a team that can make the tourney but a first round game looks to be the ceiling to me unless they really start coming together as a unit.

 

[#80]

Pitiful loss at home tonight we lead by 21 at half. 15-31 at the FT line and many misses were the front end of one and ones. I seriously doubt this team dances.

 

[ColAngus]

Avery needs to go. He’s a con artist.

 

[JoshB]

I wonder what it feels like to be a fan of a good basketball team?

 

[footballer]

This is only my humble but honest opinion. It looks, feels and seems like CAJ is trying to teach his players a NBA type team system instead of a disciplined college team type system. The NBA is a highly advanced system of Bb. College teams are a group of undisciplined high school players trying to become good enough to be a good college team. A college team has to have constant work on fundamentals and court discipline. His players do not look to be advancing in maturity or skill. Guys, gals, throw me out if I am off base and not paying attention.

 

[UA Press Release]

Four Alabama players score in double figures in a three-point home loss to Georgia State


TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team fell in a heartbreaker to Georgia State Tuesday night, 83-80, on a buzzer-beater three-pointer inside Coleman Coliseum. Georgia State (6-3) used a strong second half and stifling defense to come back from a 21-point halftime deficit and secure a narrow win over the Crimson Tide (5-3).

Four Alabama players scored in double digits in the losing effort. Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. led the Tide with 19 points, including knocking down five threes on the night. Junior Dazon Ingram had a strong showing off the bench with a season-high 17. Senior forward Donta Hall recorded his third double-double of the year with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while junior forward Tevin Mack started in his first game this season and put in 12 points of his own.

"It was a tale of two halves tonight," Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said. "We got off to a really good start with shooting the ball really well in the first half and kept them on their heels. We were attacking with ball movement, player movement and our shots were falling and I thought we did a decent job at the line in the first half. It all fell apart in the second half. We just didn't do a very good job on either end of the floor, we didn't get enough support help from the weak side. Offensively we had too long of a scoring drought. We saw it a little bit in our last game, but we just didn't do a good job.

"Like I've been saying since day one, I'm the coach, I'm the one responsible, not the players. As much as I was responsible in the first half, it was the same in the second half, even more. I didn't sense the focus at halftime and I was very concerned because I knew this game wasn't over. Hopefully we will learn and grow from it, but this was a tough loss and we can't lose games like this at home when you're trying to build a resume. I'm hoping we will get back to work, focus and know that we have to finish games."

The Crimson Tide started the game on a strong note with two quick runs in the first half. Using an 8-0 run in only a 1:39, Alabama was able to jump out to an 18-9 lead. Georgia State cut the lead to five before Alabama used a 17-2 run over a 3:34 stretch to increase its lead to 47-29. The Tide led going into halftime, 52-31.

The second half saw Georgia State capitalize on a long offensive drought from Alabama. The Crimson Tide was unable to hit a field goal for a span of 9:18 over the course of the second half. During that time the Panthers were able to trim the lead to 69-61.

D'Marcus Simonds, who led all scorers with a game-high 23 points, scored nine straight in under two minutes to put Georgia State up 80-78 with 43 seconds left in the second half – the Panthers' first lead of the contest. Ingram responded with a made layup on the other end of the court to draw even with 24 seconds remaining in regulation. However, Georgia State's Malik Benlevi drilled a game-winning trey from the wing as the buzzer sounded to result in the final score.

Alabama will play its second straight home game on Sunday, Dec. 9, when it takes on Arizona at Coleman Coliseum. The game will tip off at noon and will be televised on ESPN.

Alabama Men's Basketball Falls 83-80 to Georgia State on a Final Second Buzzer-Beater - University of Alabama Athletics

 

[TerryP]

I didn't feel like watching the game last night but based on what I've read over the last few minutes ...

There may have been a ugliest loss in Avery's time here, but it couldn't have been much worse.

A lot of room to improve, no doubt.

I seriously doubt this team dances.

At this point, I'd say it's too early to give up.

I believe there were a dozen top 25 teams that lost last week. And, several of them were against "buys."

 

[bama alum]

I didn't feel like watching the game last night but based on what I've read over the last few minutes ...

There may have been a ugliest loss in Avery's time here, but it couldn't have been much worse.

A lot of room to improve, no doubt.

I seriously doubt this team dances.

At this point, I'd say it's too early to give up.

I believe there were a dozen top 25 teams that lost last week. And, several of them were against "buys."

I agree, but if/when it comes down to two teams getting in the dance, Bama and whomever, we all better hope that other team has a worse home loss than what happened last night. What an awful second half!

 

[TerryP]

]

I agree, but if/when it comes down to two teams getting in the dance, Bama and whomever, we all better hope that other team has a worse home loss than what happened last night. What an awful second half!

I'm sure there will be. We're looking at two teams in UCF and GSU who are very likely tournament bound.

A few things I'm betting a lot of fans don't mention about this loss. While it was ugly—allowing a team to come back 20 something points for the win—in the end it's just a loss. The committee will be looking at the game as a Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 game.

I suspect we'll see a lot go with "loss to a mid-major." That's something that really doesn't exist any more in my view. Especially with the way the selection process works itself out.

One thing I have to say. When this team gets 'cold,' it's C.O.L.D.

 

[bama alum]

]

I agree, but if/when it comes down to two teams getting in the dance, Bama and whomever, we all better hope that other team has a worse home loss than what happened last night. What an awful second half!

I'm sure there will be. We're looking at two teams in UCF and GSU who are very likely tournament bound.

A few things I'm betting a lot of fans don't mention about this loss. While it was ugly—allowing a team to come back 20 something points for the win—in the end it's just a loss. The committee will be looking at the game as a Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 game.

I suspect we'll see a lot go with "loss to a mid-major." That's something that really doesn't exist any more in my view. Especially with the way the selection process works itself out.

One thing I have to say. When this team gets 'cold,' it's C.O.L.D.

Completely agree!

 

[Elderfalsedemigod]

I just want to see some consistent improvement

I do not feel like we have seen that yet

 

[TUSKtimes]

If our team had the upward trajectory of a Tennessee or barner program right now, who wouldn't feel good about this team? The truth is it's easy to see when it happens and it's just as easy to go into denial when you don't.

 

[Elderfalsedemigod]

The truth is it's easy to see when it happens and it's just as easy to go into denial when you don't.

It bugs me because (A) I want coaching continuity (B) I really like CAJ but I am not seeing consistent team or individual improvement

A case in point IMO. D Ingram and his turnover issues. To my eyes he hasn't improved and at times he has gotten worse. Also it seems to me that team effort is rarely high for a whole game. I am not saying replace CAJ, partially because I don't know who you get and I hate to see another wasted 3-4 years but something has to change JMO

 

[TUSKtimes]

It bugs me because (A) I want coaching continuity (B) I really like CAJ but I am not seeing consistent team or individual improvement

A case in point IMO. D Ingram and his turnover issues. To my eyes he hasn't improved and at times he has gotten worse. Also it seems to me that team effort is rarely high for a whole game. I am not saying replace CAJ, partially because I don't know who you get and I hate to see another wasted 3-4 years but something has to change JMO

Unlike Grant, I don't think there is much of an undercurrent to do anything about the basketball program. I would be surprised if that even occurred if we have another very average season. Everyone likes Avery and he recruits just well enough to wonder if he can turn it around.

I see Ingram, Hall, Johnson, ebb and flow like they were still freshmen. Mostly we look timid in big moments and this team can't finish. We just saw everything going against us in Atlanta for 3 quarters and the team found the fortitude, and fearlessness to make it happen. To finish. Jalen said that mentality happens at practice. I don't think the type of sport has anything to do with that belief and mentality. And it still happens at practice.

 

[Elderfalsedemigod]

I see Ingram, Hall, Johnson, ebb and flow like they were still freshmen

Exactly. They flash and look better but then 1 minute or 1 half later they look the same as when they got here

I don't think the type of sport has anything to do with that belief and mentality. And it still happens at practice.

Agreed

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

The success of the Barn and 10RC is going to bring heat to Avery. You're paying top money for a HC and the product doesn't mach the payroll. I don't see how anybody that has watched some of these players for two years or 3 can see any/much improvement in those players. Hell some have gone backwards.

Judge Kipler........ Are you in over your head, son?

Rudy Baylor.........Absolutely!

 

[BamaFan334]

The success of the Barn and 10RC is going to bring heat to Avery. You're paying top money for a HC and the product doesn't mach the payroll. I don't see how anybody that has watched some of these players for two years or 3 can see any/much improvement in those players. Hell some have gone backwards.

Judge Kipler........ Are you in over your head, son?

Rudy Baylor.........Absolutely!

We started this way last year and played the exact same and made it to the second round of the tournament.