| MBB/WBB Kira Lewis Jr.’s Triple-Double Not Enough as Alabama Falls Short at No. 11/11 Auburn, 95-91, Despite Record-Setting Performance
- Thread starter UA Press Release
- Start date
bama alum
Member
Yes sir! This team hasn't quit at all! Great, great effort tonight!
Well did not see the first half. Sounds like I was wrong about the first 5 minutes defining how the rest of the game was going to go. Came in from dinner and the barn was up 58-54. Bama kept fighting but in the end the same result. Keep pushing guys and playing hard. It has to eventually make a difference.
Forbes did look good the part I saw. Hit the 4 pointer in OT. I guess some of these younger guys are growing. Shackleford looks like he went off. A few more points out of Lewis or Reece may have made the difference. Very frustrating team. So close but can't make the last 1 or 2 plays to get over the hump.
Kira Lewis Jr.'s Triple-Double Not Enough as Alabama Falls Short at No. 11/11 Auburn, 95-91, Despite Record-Setting Performance - University of Alabama Athletics
AUBURN, Ala. – Sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr. recorded the program's second-ever triple-double and the Alabama men's basketball team set a pair of school and conference records, but it was not enough as it dropped a heartbreaker in overtime, falling 95-91 at No. 11/11 Auburn on Wednesday night.
rolltide.com
The Tide broke SEC records for threes made and attempted in the contest, finishing 22-of-59 from beyond the arc
AUBURN, Ala. – Sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr. recorded the program's second-ever triple-double and the Alabama men's basketball team set a pair of school and conference records, but it was not enough as it dropped a heartbreaker in overtime, falling 95-91 at No. 11/11 Auburn on Wednesday night.
The Crimson Tide (13-11, 5-6 SEC) nearly completed an improbable comeback after trailing 16-0 to start the game, thanks in large part to connecting on a school and Southeastern Conference record 22-of-59 three-pointers. The 22 made treys bettered the program's former mark of 19 while the 59 attempts demolished the school record of 41 – both of which were recorded against East Tennessee State on Dec. 1, 2004.
However, the night belonged to Lewis who joined former Alabama standout Roy Rogers as the only players in school history to record a triple-double in a contest. Lewis finished with 10 points and career-highs of 10 rebounds and 13 assists, with just one turnover, in playing the entire 45 minutes. He capped an outstanding week as he was coming off a career-best performance in the overtime win at Georgia last Saturday of 37 points.
Rogers recorded the UA's first triple-double nearly 24 years to the day, achieving the feat on Feb. 17, 1996 against LSU (27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks).
In addition, it was the program's first back-to-back overtime contests since March 3 and March 6, 2004.
Lewis was not the only UA player who shined as freshman Jaden Shackelford tied his career-high of 28 points, shooting 7-of-17 from beyond-the-arc, while grabbing eight boards. Junior John Petty Jr. finished with 20 points, marking his second consecutive 20+ scoring game, while graduate senior James Bolden and freshman Jaylen Forbes notched 11 points apiece to five the Tide five in double figures.
Auburn (22-2, 9-2) was led by Isaac Okoro who finished with 19 points, while Austin Whiley added 18 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"It was a tough game. Give Auburn credit. They came out ready to play. We got down by 16 at the first media timeout. We can't do that in an environment like this. We expected to get a favorable result. There were a lot of positives for our guys. To fight back from a 16-0 start to really cutting it to three at the half is big. When we were down late in regulation and got into overtime because of a huge shot. We had a lot of guys take and make huge shots. We've talked about this before. We are right there. We just have to figure out how to get stops and figure out how to play a full game. We're capable of beating anyone in the league when we're playing for 40 minutes. It just didn't happen tonight. Some of the positives for us obviously are Kira with the triple-double was huge. I couldn't afford to take him out of the game. He's playing all 40 minutes which is hard, but we had to do it. He didn't have turnover until 20 seconds to go in the overtime game, so he played almost 45 minutes without a turnover. It speaks to the way he controlled the game. I thought he was unbelievable. I thought Shackelford played well for us offensively and we needed his numbers. Petty was good and hit some clutch shots in the game too."
Team Stats
- The 186 combined points were the third-most in the 182 games played between the rivals
- Shackelford has scored 20 or more points in three of the team's last five games
- Shackelford shot a career-high 23 field-goal attempts and set career-high threes made (7) and attempted (17)
- Herbert Jones played huge minutes despite his fractured wrist, finishing the game with a +/- of +13 in seven minutes as he earned three boards, a block and a steal include key defensive stops down the stretch
- Lewis' 13 assists ties for fourth place in the most assists in a single game throughout Alabama history
- Forbes earned his first double-digit scoring game of his career, sinking a career-high 3-of-4 from beyond-the-arc
- Auburn outrebounded Alabama 60-44, including 20-15 on the offensive glass to result in a 24-16 edge in second chance points
- The Crimson Tide was whistled for 27 fouls compared to 21 called against the Tigers, however, Auburn had a huge advantage at the free throw line as it finished the game 26-of 39 while UA was just 9-of-16
- The Tigers got off to a blazing start, leading 16-0 at the first media timeout
- Alabama came out of the media stoppage on a 10-3 run to trim the deficit to 19-10 at the 13:07 mark
- A block by Lewis led to a Petty dunk, which made it 38-33 with 3:37 to go in the half
- With Auburn leading 40-33, the Tide finished the period on an 8-4 run to go into the half trailing 44-41
- After falling behind 16-0, the Tide outscored the Tigers 41-28 over the final 15:42
- Bolden led UA in scoring with 11, while Petty and Shackelford added eight each. Lewis dished out seven assists in the opening half
Second Half
- Alabama tied the game at 44-44, but a 6-0 run by the Tigers made it 50-44 at the 17:16 mark
- With Auburn leading 60-58, the Tigers used an 8-0 run to make it a 68-58 game with 11:29 left in the game
- Alabama cut the lead to 71-66, but Auburn stretched it back out to 76-66 at the 6:10 mark
- The Crimson Tide fought all the way back to make it a 79-78 Auburn lead after a three-pointer from Lewis
- The Tigers led 81-78 with just 1:35 left on the clock
- With 14 seconds to go, Petty drilled a pull-up three-pointer to tie the game at 81-81
- Auburn's game-winning attempt at the buzzer missed and the game headed to overtime
Overtime
- After Auburn opened the overtime period on an 8-0 burst to make it 89-81, Forbes was fouled on a made triple and sunk the ensuing free throw to convert the four-point play and make it 89-85 with 1:57 remaining in the overtime period
- Back-to-back triples from Petty and Shackelford kept the Tide in it and made it a 93-91 score in favor of Auburn with only 23 seconds left
- Auburn would make two free throws to ice the game to result in the final score
The Tide will return home on Saturday, Feb. 15 as it hosts the LSU Tigers for their second meeting of the season. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. CT and will be available to watch on ESPN2.
Probably would but I do not see it happening. I think there are 7 SEC games remaining before the SEC tournament. 4 home and 3 on the road. Assume they see the same results they have seen so far (5-6) that is likely 3-4 puts them at 16 wins. I just don't see them getting to 18 or 19 wins. Hope I am wrong. They really screwed up letting the Florida game get away from them and losing to UT and Ark at home.
