No. 9 Alabama picked up its second victory of the Players Era Festival on Wednesday, winning 95-90 over Rutgers in the schools’ first meeting since 1969.
The beginning of the first half featured some sloppy play from both teams, as they combined for 9 turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game.
“We got to take care of the ball,” head coach Nate Oats said. “Turnovers are the biggest issue.”
The Crimson Tide had a burst of scoring coming out of the media timeout, going on a 9-0 run and taking a 19-13 lead. The Scarlet Knights responded with a 6-0 run, taking advantage of Alabama’s 11 first half turnovers. The teams continued to trade buckets, and the score was tied at 41 heading into the locker room.
Despite back-to-back 3-pointers to begin the second half from the Crimson Tide, Rutgers continued to play aggressive defense and made tough shots to keep up throughout the beginning of the second frame.
Alabama slowly began to pull away from the Scarlet Knights after a 14-4 scoring run around the 10-minute mark, making the score 73-65. Guard Mark Sears was a major part of his team taking command of the game, scoring in bunches throughout the half.
Things got shaky when Sears exited the game after picking up his fourth foul. Rutgers pounced on the opportunity to attack the Crimson Tide without its All-American on the floor, cutting the Alabama lead down to 2 with seven minutes left to play.
Sears re-entered the game after sitting for three minutes and Alabama began to improve, extending its lead to 87-78 with five minutes remaining.
The Scarlet Knights didn’t go out quietly, cutting Alabama’s lead down to just 1 with two minutes remaining in the game. Similarly to the end of the first half, the teams went back and forth, but ultimately, converting on free throws in the final seconds gave the Crimson Tide the win.
“We were in a dogfight and we were fortunate that we got enough stops late,” Oats said. “This was the second game in a row where we won off of toughness and rebounding. We will get our offense figured out, we have to stop turning the ball over 20 times.”
This was one of those games where Sears took over for Alabama. He was the largest contributor for the Crimson Tide, scoring 24 points, including 18 in the second half. He shot 3/9 from the 3-point line and added 5 assists to his stat line for the night.
“We had Sears with four fouls,” Oats said. “That’s a big deal for our team. He goes out, they go on a 10-3 run, we had to get him back in.”
Forward Grant Nelson again put together a solid performance, scoring 17 points on 5/12 shooting. He also contributed on the glass, coming away with 9 rebounds.
Forwards Mouhamed Dioubate and Derrion Reid each had good games, scoring 10 apiece. Dioubate shot 4/4 from the floor and brought down 9 rebounds. Reid had one of his best shooting games of the season, converting on 2/3 3-point attempts.
“He makes big plays,” Oats said of Dioubate. “He’s tough, he’s got the best attitude when he doesn’t play very many minutes. He’s the best teammate ever. As a head coach you want to find more minutes for him.”
One of the key storylines coming into this game was Clifford Omoruyi and the fact that he was playing against his former team. Racking up 3 fouls in the first half made it seem like he would have little to no impact for the Crimson Tide versus his former teammates, but he ultimately scored 6 points on 3/3 shooting. This included a massive dunk in the second half that gave his squad a shot of momentum.
With the win, Alabama clinched a spot in the Players Era Festival championship game, which will be played on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. CT against Oregon at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game will be streamed on TNT.
