🏀 Alabama Men's Basketball Falls In Heartbreaking Fashion, 52-50, To Florida

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Alabama Men's Basketball

Despite outscoring Florida 28-17 in the second half, the Alabama men's basketball team fell just short, 52-50, to the Gators on Tuesday evening. It was the Tide's fourth two-point decision in its last five games, falling short in three of the four contests.

Alabama (13-7, 3-4 SEC) started slowly, only making two of their first 10 shots. Capitalizing on the Tide's slow start, Florida went on an 8-0 run midway through the first half thanks to its stout defense. The Gators forced five turnovers while tallying three steals in the four-plus minute run. Florida kept Alabama from making a comeback before intermission, going into the half up 35-22, which was the Tide's second-largest halftime deficit this season. The Gators shot 50 percent from the field while limiting Alabama to 31 percent through 20 minutes of play.

The Tide came out of the break strong, stopping Florida's first possession and proceeding to force four Gator turnovers in the first four minutes of the half, helping Alabama slowly chip away at the deficit.

Momentum swung in UA's favor early in the second half, thanks in large part to the defensive effort. Trailing 37-25 with 16:50 left, the Tide used a 16-4 run over the next 9:01 to tie the game at 41-41. The run was due in large part to the play of junior guard Ricky Tarrant, who scored seven of his 13 points during the stretch.

The two teams remained trading baskets down the stretch, with neither team leading by more than five points the rest of the way.

With the score tied at 50-50 in the final minute, Alabama had a chance to take the lead, but Florida forced a turnover. The Gators then converted a dunk with 21 seconds remaining to take a two-point lead. After a timeout, senior guard Levi Randolph took the ball for Alabama and drove to the basket, but his shot was blocked and time ran out as Alabama fought to regain possession.

Cooper led the Tide in scoring with 14 for the night, to go along with five rebounds. Tarrant added 13, while Randolph finished with nine points and six rebounds in the losing effort.

Florida (11-9, 4-3) was led by Eli Carter's 13 points, while Chris Walker recorded 12 points off the bench for the Gators.

The Crimson Tide will close out the month of January when the team travels to Lexington to take on No. 1 Kentucky on Saturday, Jan. 31. The two teams tip off at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

From Rolltide.com—Continue reading...
 
January 28, 2015

Tide falls to Florida

Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist

The University of Alabama basketball team had a chance on the defensive end and a chance on the offensive end - but the opposing jersey said "Florida," and those chances went for nothing.

Dorian Finney-Smith scored the game-winning basket on a dunk with 21 seconds remaining, then blocked Levi Randolph's final shot attempt with four seconds to play, as the Gators defeated Alabama, 52-50, at Coleman Coliseum. It was Alabama's 10th straight loss to Florida - nine straight coming under Anthony Grant as head coach - and dropped the Crimson Tide to 3-4 in SEC play with a trip to No. 1 Kentucky coming up on Saturday.

An abysmal first half from Alabama allowed Florida to win, despite scoring just 17 points in the second half.

Alabama malfunctioned from the outset with center Jimmie Taylor committing a pair of offensive fouls in the first two minutes, starting an avalanche of ineffective play. The Crimson Tide shot just 36 percent, allowed Florida to shoot 50 percent, was outrebounded in the half and committed 12 turnovers. That resulted in the Gators enjoying a comfortable 35-22 lead at the half.

The Crimson Tide battled back in the second half, tying the game at 41-41 with 7:48 remaining. But UA could never get the defensive stop it needed to have a chance to take the lead until the 2-minute mark. A 3-point basket by Tarrant tied the game at 50 with 2:15 to play and Alabama rebounded a Michael Frazier miss.

But the Crimson Tide never scored again. Michael Kessens had a shot with 50 seconds to play that Finney-Smith blocked, setting up the Gators' winning possession. That and Randolph's miss were Alabama's two final gasps, and neither reached the rim.

"It felt like a game we were capable of winning," Grant said. "In the first half, we had too many turnovers, and in the second half, too many defensive breakdowns.

"It's always difficult when Jimmie picks up two fouls. We're a better ball club when he's out there. But I wish I could tell you why we were the way we were in the first half. We just didn't bring the energy we needed to bring."

Rodney Cooper led all scorers in the game with 14 points while Tarrant added 13. Eli Carter had 13 points for Florida and Chris Walker added 12, his first double-figure scoring effort since Dec. 12.

https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1730357
 
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