| MBB/WBB Second Half Run Propels Alabama to an 83-70 Victory at Florida

[Bammerboy321]

No. 15 Alabama Set for First SEC Road Game Wednesday Night at Florida

The No. 15/20 Alabama will begin a stretch of three road contests over its next four SEC games when it travels to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the Florida Gators on Saturday night at 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) on ESPN2. It marks the only contest between the two teams in the regular season.

The Crimson Tide is coming off a hard-fought 73-68 victory over then-No. 14 Tennessee in Tuscaloosa on Dec. 29 in the league opener for both teams. It was Alabama's third victory over a top-15 team this season (3-0) and places the Tide as one of three teams in the nation to have defeated three ranked teams this year (Gonzaga and Ohio State).

Alabama will be looking for its third win in Gainesville over the last four trips when the Tide takes on the Gators Wednesday night. The lone loss over the last three trips to the O'Connell Center came in UA's last visit on Jan. 4, 2020 when Alabama dropped a 104-98 double overtime contest.

Notes You Need To Know​

• The Crimson Tide comes into the game ranked No. 15 by the Associated Press and dropped a spot to No. 20 in the USA Today Coaches Poll according to the most recent national rankings, which were revealed Monday afternoon.
• In addition to its national rankings, Alabama is ranked in the following (as of 1/3): No. 15 Sagarin, No. 16 KenPom.com, No. 21 NCAA NET, No. 23 ESPN.com BPI. The Tide's "Best" NET wins include: Houston (No. 4), Gonzaga (No. 4), Tennessee (No. 10), Oakland (No. 70), Drake (No. 87) and Miami (No. 95).
• According to the most recent KenPom rankings (as of 1/3), the Tide ranks No. 13 in the nation in offensive efficiency, No. 13 in average possession length and No. 31 in adjusted tempo. The site also ranks UA No. 46 in the nation and defensive efficiency.
• The Crimson Tide is one of five SEC schools that are ranked in this week's AP poll, which is tied with the Big 12 for tops among all conferences (Big East and Pac 12 have four each). Joining Alabama from the SEC is Auburn (No. 9), Kentucky (No. 16), Tennessee (No. 18) and LSU (No. 21).
• The Tide enters the contest ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 17 in the nation in scoring offense at 82.2 points per game. UA also leads the league in all three-point categories, checking in nationally at No. 15 in the nation in threes attempted (384), No. 32 in threes made (126) and No. 38 in threes made per game (9.7).
• With the win over the Volunteers, the Crimson Tide is the only team in the country to have three wins versus teams ranked in the top 10 of the NCAA NET rankings (No. 3 Houston, No. 4 Gonzaga and No. 10 Tennessee). Alabama is second in the nation for combined Quad one and Quad 2 win at six, trailing only Michigan State (7). The Tide owns a 3-2 record vs. Quad 1 opponents (wins: Gonzaga, Houston, Tennessee; losses: at Memphis and vs. Davidson) and is 3-1 vs. Quad 2 foes (wins: Oakland, Drake, Miami, loss: Iona).
• Alabama boasts the No. 1 Average Opponent NET Rank in the nation and is the only team in the top 200 of the NET Rankings to have not played a Quad 4 opponent (H: 161-358, N: 201-358, A: 241-358. In fact, the Tide joins only Jackson State, Prairie View and Mississippi Valley State as the only teams in the nation who have note played a Q4 team, with UA the only one of the four to not have a Q4 opponent remaining on its schedule.

 

[Bammerboy321]

Much like Alabama's identity has been up in the air since Memphis, we don't know what Florida squad will show up tonight. On one hand, Florida has beaten Ohio State and Florida State; on the other hand, they've lost to Texas Southern, Memphis, and an underwhelming Maryland squad.

This game will be won on through a focused practice and good preparation.

 

[Bammerboy321]

 

[Bammerboy321]

Oats sort of called out the staff and Charles Bediako at the 7:50 mark. Says he has to do better guarding and be stronger in his own post matchup. A very Saban-esque press conference message Oats is sending. I'd look out for Bediako to accept the challenge and play really well tonight.

Also regarding practice, Oats said Gurley is becoming more comfortable in Alabama's pace and style of offense. As we've seen, he's been taking a lot of step back 3s that haven't even been close. Last game vs Tennessee, he was getting the ball and being able to get his feet set and drain the shot. He's figuring out when to drive if he doesn't have his feet set and when to shoot.

Oats also said Shack, Keon, and Quinerly are all finding their shot at practice. Now it's just a matter of putting it to the game.

 

[bama alum]

• The Crimson Tide comes into the game ranked No. 15 by the Associated Press and dropped a spot to No. 20 in the USA Today Coaches Poll according to the most recent national rankings, which were revealed Monday afternoon.

 

[Bammerboy321]

So tired of watching our defense be so pathetic and allowing blow bys

 

[Bammerboy321]

JD Davidson is just playing downright awful. I don't know what's in his head, but his confidence is completely shot.

 

[bama alum]

JD Davidson is just playing downright awful. I don't know what's in his head, but his confidence is completely shot.

To be fair, no one is playing particularly well.

 

[bama alum]

So far a better second half. Having Gurley back on the floor helps.

 

[bama alum]

Bama was up by 15, now just 6. Both Gurley and Bediako have four fouls each.

 

[mando]

Thought the game came on at 8:00 for some reason so I missed it. Looks like they pulled it out 83-70. Going on the road and winning by double digits is impressive no matter what. I am sure they had some struggles but macro view they won handily. These guys are still learning to play together. Someway JD is going do figure it out. Hopefully just in time for a run.

 

[BamaFan334]

Good win. Nice to see the team turn it on in the second half. Definitely shows what we can do. Roll Tide.

 

[rick4bama]

Was Florida rank at all? Because the bottom line on CBS sport. Said it was and unset?

 

[Tidexc1]

Florida was favored by 1. I guess that is why it was an “upset”. Florida was/is not ranked.

 

[mando]

Ok watched the 2nd half. Not sure what they did in the 1st half but Bama D showed up in the 2nd half and the offense was running smoothly as long as you let JQ run the show. Much more like the first 7 or 8 OOC games.

 

[UA Press Release]

Second Half Run Propels No. 15/20 Alabama to an 83-70 Victory at Florida - University of Alabama Athletics

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After trailing by three at halftime, the No. 15/20 Alabama men's basketball team opened the second half on a 22-4 run and ran away with an 83-70

rolltide.com

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After trailing by three at halftime, the No. 15/20 Alabama men's basketball team opened the second half on a 22-4 run and ran away with an 83-70 victory at Florida Wednesday night.

Five Crimson Tide players reached double figures led by forward Juwan Gary and sophomore Jahvon Quinerly. Gary finished with a career high-tying 19 points to go along with a team-high eight boards, while Quinerly also had 19 points to go with a team-best five assists.

It marked Alabama's third win in its last four games at Florida, as the Tide won for the 30th straight time when scoring 80 points in a contest.

Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments​

"This was a huge road win for us. Give a ton of credit to our guys for their effort in the second half. I thought we had to win the turnover battle. We turned them over 20 times, and we only turned the ball over 12 times ourselves, so I thought that was key in the game. Our rebounding, we ended up even, but getting 20 offensive boards, I thought our effort was great. We really needed our guys to come alive and they did. That was just about as good of a half defensively as we played, maybe all year, against a quality team. They're a good team that's going to win a lot of games. They're well coached, they play really hard. I thought they played harder than us in the first half. We chart blue-collar points, they were well ahead of us at the half. I thought our effort picked up in the second half. When our defensive effort picks up, offense usually comes around and that's what happened tonight. We have not shot it particularly great, really for a while, maybe since the Gonzaga game, but we've played hard enough to win two big SEC games here to start the year."

Team Stats​

• Joining Gary and Quinerly in double figures was Jaden Shackelford (14 points), Keon Ellis (13 points) and Charles Bediako (11 points)
• UA forced a season-high 13 steals, led by Ellis who finished with a season-high four
• Bediako added two blocks and two steals to the night
• Florida entered the game ranked No. 29 in the nation in average points allowed per game (59.9) but Alabama scored the most points UF has given up this year
• Alabama scored 21 points off 20 Florida turnovers, while the Gators tallied just 10 points off 12 Tide turnovers
• Gary earned the Hard Hat Award

 

[alabama mike]

I thought the difference in the game was the Tide defense in the 2nd half. Huge difference IMO, in that one category and the difference in the game. Just continue to win baby!

 

[mando]

I thought the difference in the game was the Tide defense in the 2nd half. Huge difference IMO, in that one category and the difference in the game. Just continue to win baby!

Their D and effort will be the difference in all games the rest of the way. This team is a really good team that can play with anyone when they are giving effort on the D end of the court.

 

[Bammerboy321]

The energy in the second half was much much better. JD played better, but he's in a freshman slump I believe.

It was nice to see us turn the game around doing what Florida does best - create live ball turnovers and score in transition. One guy I want to highlight for his effort is Keon Ambrose. Maybe it didn't show up on the stat sheet, but he played his ass off on defense.

Juwan Gary looked like the old Juwan. He and JQ have such good chemistry that it's so tough to defend when they're on the same page. Juwan also looks like a much better ball handler and can attack the rim now. Bediako did look more comfortable in the second half once they were able to feed him inside. I never want to see him shoot a 3 pointer though.

Great win on the road. Another Q1 victory. Onto Mizzou.

 

[PurlJam]

22-4 run starting off the 2nd half. Looks like CNO's halftime adjustments/coaching payed some dividends. Things you like to see, Bediako playing much better (solid with 11 pts, 7 Rebounds, 3-4 FT). All 5 starters scored in the double digits and we had only 12 turnovers. Still struggling from the 3 point line (28.1%), but it was good to see we didn't live by die by the 3 point shot. Good solid double digit conference road win.