🏀 Alabama Men’s Basketball Picks Up First NCAA Tournament Win Since 2006 After Defeating Virginia Tech, 86-83

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

Softball showing some support before the tip...

 

[UA Press Release]

Freshmen Collin Sexton and John Petty combined for 45 points in the win

PITTSBURGH – The No. 9-seed Alabama men's basketball team edged No. 8 seed Virginia Tech, 86-83, in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night.

The Crimson Tide (20-15) earned its first NCAA Tournament win since 2006, after defeating the Hokies (21-12). The Tide is now 19-19 all-time in tournament games.

Freshman Collin Sexton poured in a game-high 25 points to go along with six assists, while fellow freshman John Petty was red-hot from beyond the arc, going 6-of-8 from three-point range and finishing with 20 points off the bench. Junior Donta Hall finished with 10 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the floor and sophomore Dazon Ingram had nine points, seven rebounds and four assists in the win.

"Virginia Tech shot the ball extremely well in the first half from the three-point line," Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said."We couldn't guard them from three. We had some breakdowns, but those mistakes were correctable. We did a much better job defending them from the three-point line in the second half.

"I'm really proud of our team. This is a new season for us. Our preparation for this game was extremely well, and it was primarily because of their leadership. Obviously, we're glad, happy, that we're advancing. We came here to advance. We didn't come here to just show up. But give Virginia Tech a lot of credit for a hard-fought game. But also I'm really proud of our guys for battling a lot of adversity tonight on the court."

The neck-and-neck second-round battle saw 10 ties and 10 lead changes throughout, but the Crimson Tide's three-straight field goals and free-throw shooting down the stretch allowed UA to hang on for the win.

Alabama shot a scorching 60 percent (30-of-50) from the field, including knocking down eight three-pointers in the contest. UA got significant help from its bench, with its reserves outscoring the Hokies bench 36-24, while also outrebounding VT, 26-22 for the game.

The first half was a shootout, as the opening 20 minutes saw four ties and seven lead changes. Alabama shot an impressive 59.3 percent from the field (16-of-27), but Virginia Tech's 7-of-9 performance from beyond the arc and 68 percent shooting from the floor (17-of-25) gave the Hokies the 43-41 lead at halftime.

The Crimson Tide opened the game by knocking down eight of its first 10 field goals, but the Hokies' 4-of-5 shooting from the three-point line gave them the 22-20 edge at the 10:43 mark. The teams continued to trade baskets until Virginia Tech dropped five-straight field goals for its largest lead of the stanza, 34-29, with 5:59 left in the half. However, the Crimson Tide answered back with a 7-0 spurt over 1:26 to snatch the 36-34 lead at the 3:14 mark. A Petty three-pointer as the finals second ticked gave the Tide some momentum heading into the locker room.

After a back-and-forth start to the second half, Virginia Tech extended its lead by five, 52-47, at the 14:26 mark in the second half, but Petty scored five-straight points to knot the score at 52 apiece with 13:50 left to play. The two squads continued to exchange baskets until the Tide used a 7-0 run over a span of 2:40 to lead 70-64 with 5:10 left on the clock.

The Hokies pulled within two, 70-68, to force a timeout at 3:13, but Alabama responded by knocking down a trio of field goals and a free throw to lead 78-72 with 1:06 left. After Virginia Tech cut the lead to a two possession game, 78-74, with a minute left, freshman Herbert Jones induced a charge, which gave the Tide the ball back with 48 seconds to go. From there, Alabama would knock down 9-of-11 free throws to seal the win.

Alabama shot 60.9 percent from the field in the second half (14-of-23), tying its season-high set on Jan. 27 against Oklahoma, and outscored the Hokies 45-40 to secure the win.

Justin Robinson led the Hokies' offense with 19 points, while Justin Bibbs and Nikeil Alexander-Walker both reached double figures scoring 17 points and 15 points, respectively.

Alabama advances to the Round of 32 to take on No.1 seed Villanova on Saturday in PPG Paints Arena. The game will tip at 12:20 p.m. ET/11:20 a.m. CT and will air on CBS.

Alabama Men’s Basketball Picks Up First NCAA Tournament Win Since 2006 After Defeating Virginia Tech, 86-83 - Alabama Athletics

 

[TerryP]

Interesting quote from Sexton:

Sexton said, “First half I had to come out and pick my spots, because I’d never seen that (type) defense before. It was the first time, so I got my teammates involved.​

​

“In the second half, Coach (Johnson) just told me to score the ball and make the right decisions.”​

​

A note I found sort of ironic...last RD1 win for Bama in the tournament was against Marquette...then coached by Tom Crean who's reportedly headed to Athens.

You may not want to look at the BPI projections for a Bama win against 'Nova tomorrow.

Spoiler

It's at 6.8% this morning.

'Nova with two guards that are juniors and a sophomore. It's guard play in this game...can't escape that feeling.

You guys see Gregg Marshall's team sitting down there?

 

[BamaFan334]

Love the glass half empty guys every game on here, then praise our boys after they win. Like a bunch of writers projecting so you can say "I told you so".

 

[rick4bama]

Next Game:
vs. Villanova University
3/17/2018 | 11:10 a.m. CT
CBS
This mean I will get to see the game!!

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

Congrats to Avery and the Tide. I am one of those really happy if the Tide can make it into the tournament each. Winning that 1st round game is Great. Now Avery and the team gets to measure themselves against a great team. Wishing them all the best.

 

[TUSKtimes]

I have to say I enjoyed the heck out of the game. Good Bama was hitting from the outside and even though it was uneven play throughout, they had VaTech on their heels quite a bit too. Collin Sexton tends to bring the fight out in opposing guards. I guess his style and defensive pressure really annoys the guys he's guarding. But it really was a gritty game and it felt like life and death for both teams from time out to time out. Is it just me or is Avery Johnson not micromanaging the players from the sidelines as much? Could we be playing better because of that? I hope at the end of the season someone does an autopsy on Braxton Key, maybe someone can figure out who stole his soul.

 

[TerryP]

I hope at the end of the season someone does an autopsy on Braxton Key, maybe someone can figure out who stole his soul.

This season has been basketballs version of Bama's field goal kickers for Key.

It's been a tough season for the kid. We watched him coming off the injury and saw glimpses of his game but he's never been able to put it together. (Yeah, overuse of cliches there.) I do believe he's a victim of the rotation(s) we've seen this year. And, it's important to note those rotations were victims as well to the ol' injury bug. This team has had a lot of them this season.

Hrrmmpphh...guess the football analogy wasn't so bad after all.

 

[UAgrad93]

'Nova can be beaten. I feel that for it to happen, we need a similar game from Sexton and Petty, and a Donta Hall 6-8 performance with 8-10 boards and 3-4 blocks to go along with it. I believe CAJ will have these guys focused on the task at hand though and we will win by 5. RTR!!

 

[BamaFan334]

I have to say I enjoyed the heck out of the game. Good Bama was hitting from the outside and even though it was uneven play throughout, they had VaTech on their heels quite a bit too. Collin Sexton tends to bring the fight out in opposing guards. I guess his style and defensive pressure really annoys the guys he's guarding. But it really was a gritty game and it felt like life and death for both teams from time out to time out. Is it just me or is Avery Johnson not micromanaging the players from the sidelines as much? Could we be playing better because of that? I hope at the end of the season someone does an autopsy on Braxton Key, maybe someone can figure out who stole his soul.

I'm of the thought that he allows his assistant coaches to handle that. I have seen many times throughout the year where the assistants are the ones speaking with the guy that just came off. I've seen John Pelphrey so many times instruct our guys as they come off and using his body to show what the players are doing and not doing. He's a heck of a coach, and I can definitely see where him being a past head coach comes in with the instruction of our guys on the sideline during the games.

 

[BamaFan334]

'Nova can be beaten. I feel that for it to happen, we need a similar game from Sexton and Petty, and a Donta Hall 6-8 performance with 8-10 boards and 3-4 blocks to go along with it. I believe CAJ will have these guys focused on the task at hand though and we will win by 5. RTR!!

Against Virginia Tech the refs were calling some very tit for tat fouls. If we can mold our game around that and not get into foul trouble and give Villanova the Bonus with fourteen freaking minutes left in a half, we can beat them. We'll need an offensive performance like you stated, but we'll also need to minimize turnovers, because they will take us to the woodshed if we give them ten to fifteen extra opportunities through turnovers.

 

[UAgrad93]

Against Virginia Tech the refs were calling some very tit for tat fouls. If we can mold our game around that and not get into foul trouble and give Villanova the Bonus with fourteen freaking minutes left in a half, we can beat them. We'll need an offensive performance like you stated, but we'll also need to minimize turnovers, because they will take us to the woodshed if we give them ten to fifteen extra opportunities through turnovers.

I had a soccer match to attend last night, so I was looking at just the stats in the first half and saw 6 PFs on each team in the first half. It seemed like they let them play in the first half but then tried to tighten up in the 2nd half. I always hated those type of refs as a player and as a coach. My Dad officiated for 42 years and he said it was always best to call it tight in the beginning and then loosen up rather than vice versa. It keeps things from getting chippy and you often avoid having to T someone up. Much like a school teacher, like myself. You be a hard ass on them in the beginning and then slowly give them some slack as the year progresses.

 

[PhillyGirl]

Booyah!! I was the only one to pick Bama in our office pool and now I am in in first! (upset picks get double points)

 

[BamaFan334]

I had a soccer match to attend last night, so I was looking at just the stats in the first half and saw 6 PFs on each team in the first half. It seemed like they let them play in the first half but then tried to tighten up in the 2nd half. I always hated those type of refs as a player and as a coach. My Dad officiated for 42 years and he said it was always best to call it tight in the beginning and then loosen up rather than vice versa. It keeps things from getting chippy and you often avoid having to T someone up. Much like a school teacher, like myself. You be a hard ass on them in the beginning and then slowly give them some slack as the year progresses.

So they finally called Sexton out on his little drive where he likes to bounce off a guy and flay his arms up in the air as an offensive foul. He has been very good at selling it all year long if you know the little move I'm talking about, but they called it on him offensively last night a couple of times. That's how he got some quick fouls in the first half. They also got Ingram on some questionable calls to me. I agree with you on your methods, let em know whose boss early, and then you can always dial it back. Much more questionable to be lenient, and then hammer down because it goes to motive.

 

[TUSKtimes]

So they finally called Sexton out on his little drive where he likes to bounce off a guy and flay his arms up in the air as an offensive foul. He has been very good at selling it all year long if you know the little move I'm talking about, but they called it on him offensively last night a couple of times. That's how he got some quick fouls in the first half. They also got Ingram on some questionable calls to me. I agree with you on your methods, let em know whose boss early, and then you can always dial it back. Much more questionable to be lenient, and then hammer down because it goes to motive.

Sexton was overselling the step back move he has. It has to be subtle and I think he was so hyped up he was getting a little too enthusiastic about it. It's also the kind of stuff that gets the opponents fired up. I'm with you on Ingram. He got some terrible calls at the start of the second half and he was playing well for us. The charging call where the referee stood there it seemed like an hour and a half before he called it was the worst to me. But to tell you the truth the Hokie players were dropping like flies too. Had the game gone to OT, I don't think they could have fielded more than 2 starters on their team.

 

[colbyjacks]

The charge that Herb Jones took at the end of the game Well, game changer is all I an say.

 

[#80]

The charge that Herb Jones took at the end of the game Well, game changer is all I an say.

H. Jones drew for charges than any player in the SEC this season. He is going to be a special player.