Alabama Uses Big First Half Run, Balanced Scoring to Race Past Belmont, 92-72, in 2019 Rocket City Classic - University of Alabama Athletics
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Alabama Crimson Tide had six players score in double digits to lead a balanced offensive attack en route to a 92-72 victory over Belmont in
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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Alabama Crimson Tide had six players score in double digits to lead a balanced offensive attack en route to a 92-72 victory over Belmont in the 2019 Rocket City Classic on Saturday. With the win, the Tide has now won four of its last five contests overall to improve to 6-5 on the year heading into the Christmas break, while also capturing its fourth consecutive win in Huntsville at the annual event.
Among the season-high six players registering double figures was a pair of Huntsville-area natives in sophomore Kira Lewis Jr. and junior John Petty Jr. Lewis finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and just one turnover, while Petty was equally has good knocking down 4-of-7 from deep to finish with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds which marked his third double-double over the team's last five games after having never recorded one over his first 76 career games. Additionally, it was the sixth time in Petty's last seven games he's reached double digits.
Freshman Jaden Shackelford led had a team-high 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, while Herbert Jones contributed across the board with 15 points, 6 boards and 5 assists. Junior Alex Reese (13 points) and redshirt freshman Javian Davis (12 points) also hit double figures on the night.
Belmont (8-4) was led by Tyler Scanlon's 20 points on the night.
Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"This was a quality win. It was great to come up here to Huntsville and get a win going into Christmas. That's a good team, Belmont. They're one of the better teams in the country. They went up to Boston College and blew them out. We had talked to our guys about moving the needle a little bit here. We were only 5-5 but we got a road win at Samford and kind of moved up in some of the analytics. If we're going to make a run at the NCAA tournament, we can't just beat teams by what you're supposed to beat them. This was supposed to be a one-point win, according to KenPom. We talked about dominating teams on both sides of the floor and I thought it was a lot better. Kira comes out and almost has a triple-double with eight assists and seven rebounds. 15, 8 and 7 is a pretty solid night. I think it's really our defense, because when we get stops there are rebounds for him to get and he's a really good rebounder for a point guard. When he gets the rebound, we're in transition fast and his points and assists go up. We keep emphasizing the fact that the better we are on defense, the better we are on offense. I thought we did a really good job of getting out in transition. Obviously, John has been on fire lately, so it was good for him to come in here and play well. It's going to be hard for him, teams are not going to let him get shots off. Again, in transition he can really get some threes off before they find him. So, it was good for us to get back out in transition a little more and I was happy with our effort on the defensive end for sure."
Team Stats
- Alabama trailed by as many as six points, 32-26, in the opening half, forcing Oats to call a timeout. The Tide responded by using a 27-6 run that spanned halftime and lasted a total of 5:50 seconds that gave the Tide a 53-38 lead with 18:54 left to play
- With 14 points and 11 rebounds, junior John Petty registered his third double-double in five games. Those three double-doubles are the only three throughout his 81-game career (no double-doubles through the first 76 games he played at Alabama)
- Alabama's 92 points were the second-most scored in game this season, behind the 105 scored last Wednesday vs. Samford, the sixth time in 10 games the Tide has collected 80 or more points
- Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr. stuffed the stats sheet, finishing with 15 points, 8 assists, 7 boards, 2 steals and a block
- The Tide finished the game with 20 assists and just 13 turnovers which is the best assist-to-turnover ratio in any game this season
- It was the second straight game UA has recorded 20 assists in a game (had 20 vs. Samford)
- As a team, Alabama finished with season highs of 34 made field goals
- Alabama once again used the three-pointer to get going, making three of its first four attempts from deep to race out to a 13-5 lead at the 15:30 mark
- A 16-8 Bruins run tied the game at 21-21 with 9:23 to go in the first half
- Back-to-back threes from Belmont gave the Bruins a 32-26 lead with 5:00 remaining in the opening half, forcing an Alabama timeout
- A 16-2 run over the ensuing three-minute span gave the Tide a 42-34 lead with just 1:44 left until halftime
- Over the final 4:44 of the opening stanza, the Crimson Tide outscored Belmont 20-6 to carry a 46-38 lead into the intermission
- Petty and Shackelford led Alabama with 11 points apiece in the first half
- As a team, the Tide shot 57 percent (17-of-30) from the floor and 53 percent (8-of-15) from three in the first
- Alabama opened the second period on a 7-0 run to extend its lead to 53-38 just a minute in
- The Tide outscored the Bruins 16-6 before the second half's first media timeout, giving Alabama a 62-44 advantage at the 15:55 mark of the second half
- UA lead grew to as many as 23 points, 71-48, with just over 10 minutes left to play
- Belmont would not back down and cut the Alabama lead to 73-58 with 7:22 to go
- The Crimson Tide would maintain a 15-point advantage into the final media timeout of the contest, as Alabama was out in front 82-67 with 3:23 left to play and cruise the final score
