Alabama men’s basketball survived a comeback bid from Arkansas on the road Saturday night, winning 85-81 despite leading by as many as 18 points late in the second half.
The Crimson Tide got off to a poor start from behind the arc, missing its first three attempts, but still controlled the pace and held a 10-6 lead with 15:18 in the first half.
One minute later, guard Mark Sears got Alabama going from the 3-point line, knocking down a deep triple to give the Crimson Tide a 13-6 lead.
Alabama’s turnover troubles that have plagued the team all season began to creep up, as the team committed five within the first 10 minutes of the contest. By contrast, the Razorbacks had zero, which kept the game close. The score was 22-18 in favor of Alabama with 10:40 left.
A pair of 3-pointers from Arkansas forward Zvonimir Ivisic helped the Razorbacks pull within 1 at 31-30 with 7:10 left in the half.
“He killed us tonight,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said of Ivisic. “I thought we had a decent game plan for him but we didn’t execute it great at times.”
The Razorbacks then missed 10 consecutive field goal attempts in the last six minutes of the half, resulting in the Crimson Tide taking a 40-34 lead into the locker room.
Despite holding the lead, turnovers were an issue, with the Crimson Tide committing 9 in the opening frame. This made up 27% of the team’s possessions throughout the half.
It was Alabama’s 59.3% shooting and the cold spurt from the Razorbacks that primarily gave the Crimson Tide the advantage at halftime.
The team got off to a scorching start to the second half, opening up a 10-point lead at 46-36 in just the first two minutes.
The Crimson Tide continued to push the tempo, ballooning its lead to 56-40 with 14:07 left in the half. This was thanks to a shooting start of 8/11 from the field and just one turnover in the first six minutes.
The teams then began to trade buckets for several minutes, but Alabama pulled away by creating turnovers and scoring at a high clip in the paint holding a 73-55 lead with 7:08 left in the game.
Despite the game’s nearly 20-point margin seeming like a guaranteed win for Alabama, it was stunted when the Razorbacks cut the lead down to just 8 at 79-71 with 3:57 left.
The Razorbacks’ push didn’t end there, as they forced an Alabama turnover and a missed layup. They took advantage with a massive dunk from forward Billy Richmond III and a 3-pointer from Ivisic to cut the margin to 79-76 with 2:57 left in the game.
Sears converted on a layup at the other end to make it 81-76, but it was answered with a pair of Razorback free throws with 1:17 left.
Forward Grant Nelson scored on a putback to get the lead to 5 with just 0:59.5 remaining. An Ivisic reverse layup made it a one-possession game at 83-80 with 38.3 seconds on the clock.
“It looked to me like maybe we ran out of some energy,” Oats said. “Maybe we got to have some other guys in there. Maybe guys were tired.
Alabama was forced into a late shot clock 3-point attempt from guard Aden Holloway with 11.2 left, a shot which clanked off of the rim and gave Arkansas possession.
Sears then fouled Ivisic with 5.5 left. Ivisic hit one of the two free throw attempts, making the score 83-81 with 4.5 left. Alabama guard Chris Youngblood was likewise fouled and put at the line. He made the first shot and missed the second, but the missed shot was hit out of bounds by Arkansas, giving the Crimson Tide possession and subsequently Youngblood another trip to the line with 1.4 left. He made one, sealing the win for Alabama.
“We got to do a better job of closing,” Oats said. “We risked losing a road game that we’re supposed to win.”
Nelson and Youngblood both had 15 points on the evening, the most among Alabama players. Both shot the ball well, going 5/7 and 5/9 from the field, respectively. Forward Mouhamed Dioubate contributed 14 points on 7/9 shooting and also hauled in four rebounds.
Sears had 11 points on 5/12 shooting, adding 3 assists and 3 rebounds. He also took home the blue-collar hard hat.
Losses from No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Duke on Saturday put the Crimson Tide in position to take over the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll that will be released on Monday.
After the game, Oats was asked what his “pitch” would be for his team to be ranked No. 1.
“I don’t really care, to be honest with you,” he said. “I’m probably not going to make a pitch.”
He noted that his focus was on Texas and that his team needed to “just take care of business” regarding rankings and SEC seeding.
Part 2 of the Crimson Tide’s road trip will take place on Tuesday night in Austin, Texas, against the Texas Longhorns. The game will be at 8 p.m. CT and can be streamed on ESPN.
