Alabama men's basketball falls to Arkansas in OT
Rivals.com
By Tom Murphy
Special to The Tuscaloola News
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. | Bobby Portis tipped in an airball from teammate Ky Madden as the buzzer went off in overtime to give Arkansas a wild 93-91 victory over Alabama on Thursday at Bud Walton Arena in SEC college basketball action.
The Crimson Tide, which stayed in contention all game with torrid 3-point shooting, tied it on Shannon Hale's 3-pointer over Portis with 8.8 seconds left in overtime.
Madden drove in the lane against two defenders and launched an off-balance shot that came up short of the rim. Portis swept in from the left block and tipped the ball in over his shoulder for the winning bucket. The officiating crew huddled briefly to consult the monitor and referee Tony Greene ruled Portis' tip did beat the buzzer.
"I had time to tip it and look back to see what the time was, so I knew that the basket would count," said Portis, who was held to 10 points on 4 of 12 shooting.
Portis' putback was Arkansas' 21st offensive rebound and it gave the Razorbacks a 47-34 edge on the glass.
"They really hurt us on the glass all night," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. "He did what you're supposed to do. He chased it, and he was able to get it in before the horn went off. It was a good basket."
Portis, who scored 35 points against the Crimson Tide here last year, committed a foul on Michael Kessens' short jumper with 2.3 seconds remaining in regulation and Kessens completed the three-point play to force overtime at 78-78.
Alabama (12-6, 2-3 SEC) dropped its third game in a row, while the Razorbacks (14-4, 3-2) snapped a two-game losing streak.
"It's a tough loss," Grant said. "We've got a quick turnaround. We've got less than 48 hours to get ready for our in-state rival in our building so we don't have time to dwell on this too long. We've got to get ready for the next one."
Freshman Justin Coleman came off the bench to spark the Crimson Tide's second-half comeback. The 5-10 guard was 5 of 7 on 3-pointers and led Alabama with a career-best 22 points.
Alabama shot 12 of 24 from 3-point range and made 23 of 28 free throws (82.1 percent) including 13 in a row during one stretch.
Coleman hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the identical spot on the right wing to give Alabama its largest lead at 43-40 with 14:05 left in the game.
Later, after Arkansas had moved ahead 64-57 with a 6-0 run, Coleman was at it again, hitting a free throw and another pair of 3s from the right wing.
"That's my sweet spot," Coleman said. "We always have grit, like coach tells us, so we always try to fight back and get the win."
Foul trouble plagued Alabama, with starters Jimmie Taylor, Rodney Cooper, Levi Randolph and Kessens all fouling out to Grant's chagrin.
Asked if he could ever remember having four players foul out in a game, Grant muttered under his breath, "No" and did not elaborate.
Cooper scored all of his 15 points in the first half. Ricky Tarrant scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half.
Michael Qualls hit 10 of 16 shots and scored 30 points for Arkansas, while Madden added 17 points and freshman Anton Beard 11.
Arkansas held a 78-73 lead with 1:03 remaining before the Crimson Tide closed fast. Tarrant made a pair of free throws with 56 seconds left. After a Portis turnover on the other end, Kessens took a pass from Hale, pumped Portis in the air and converted the and-one to forge overtime.
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