“Proud of our guys for being able to get the win tonight,” coach Anthony Grant said. “We turned it over 15 times. We went 2-of-17 from the three-point line. There were a lot of mistakes that for our basketball team on Nov. 17, I think there’s a lot that we can learn from. The thing I told the guys in the locker room is, it’s great when you can learn and win. We were able to do that today, so we’ll take our lessons from this, move on, and get ready for the next one.”
Two games into the season, the Alabama basketball team has called on its newest talent to help win a 47-foul slugfest over the Catamounts. Transfer guard Ricky Tarrant led the Crimson Tide with 18 points and three rebounds, shooting 8-10 from the line and 5-10 from the field.
Tarrant transferred to Alabama from Tulane in the summer of 2013 and was forced to sit out a season in accordance with the NCAA’s transfer rules. Tarrant saw his first competitive action in over a season in the Crimson Tide’s season opening 82-54 win last Friday night, when he went 0-8 from the field.
“Friday, I was a little anxious to get back out there, but Coach and my teammates kept telling me to be aggressive and keep shooting the ball,” he said. “It’s a great feeling. My coaches and teammates believe in me, and I’m just doing what I can do, doing everything possible to help the team win and play my role.”
True freshman point guard Justin Coleman led the Alabama offense in most of his 20 minutes on the court. Coleman drilled a three-point shot with 4 minutes to play, putting the Crimson Tide up 70-69 and giving Alabama the lead for the final stretch of the game.
“He’s a competitor,” Grant said. “That was a big shot for us, and I thought he responded really well. We had nine guys tonight in double figures [for minutes], Justin ended up with 20. I thought Justin came in and gave us great minutes.”
Forward/center Jimmie Taylor had a career night for Alabama, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and pulling down 10 rebounds. Taylor scored 15 points for Alabama, a career high.
“I think Jimmie is just scratching the surface of where he could be,” Grant said. “With every game, with every practice, he continues to get better. It’s great to see him witness the benefits of his hard work in tonight’s game. I’m really proud of him – his first career double-double. I thought he did a great job.”
A career performance by Western Carolina guard James Sinclair kept the Catamounts in the game when Alabama’s offense went quiet midway through the second half. Sinclair scored 31 points and shot 4-10 from three-point range, 10-18 from the field and 7-9 from the charity stripe.
“He found his rhythm,” Tarrant said. “I give him and his team great credit. They came out tonight, played hard. I give those guys great credit.”
Grant credited his team’s response to adversity, praising his players’ defensive intensity as the team finished on a 19-7 run.
“I was really proud of our guys because that’s a tough situation,” Grant said. “When you’re at home against a team that everyone thinks that you should beat, they got a rhythm going, they got it flowing. It was great to see that we were able to handle adversity in terms of all the things that were going wrong, all the chaos that was going on.”
