It was a messy affair, dominated by fouls, questionable refereeing, sloppy play and poor shooting, but when the final buzzer went, one thing remained.
Alabama beat Auburn.
The game didn’t look like it would turn out that way. Alabama trailed for most of the game, leading for only seven total minutes. Starting point guard Ricky Tarrant was ejected from the game with eight minutes to play. The clock was winding down in the second half and it looked like Auburn had all the momentum.
But Alabama’s seniors wouldn’t let them lose. After Tarrant’s ejection, senior guards Levi Randolph and Rodney Cooper combined for 15 total points as Alabama went on a 16-8 run to end the game. With six seconds to play, Cooper rebounded Randolph’s miss, stuffing the putback home to give Alabama it’s last lead of the night, winning the game 57-55.
“Great job finishing the game,” Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. “Levi, Coop and really our whole team made plays down the stretch to be able to get it done. Really odd situation there with Ricky being ejected from the game. I thought our guys really rallied from that point forward. Really happy for Ricky, he was very emotional when that happened and then after the game, emotional again. I think his teammates really stepped up in his absence and did a great job tonight. Really gutty, gritty win.”
Just 48 hours after an Arkansas late tip-in saw Alabama fall in overtime in Fayetteville, the Crimson Tide out-rebounded Auburn 31-29, including the decisive putback.
“That’s basketball, you know?” Grant said. “That’s basketball and we’re fortunate to be on the right side of it this time.”
Randolph finished the game with 18 points, 11 of which occurred in the second half and all after Tarrant’s ejection. From that timeout, Randolph stole the ball and drove for a dunk and Alabama’s defense locked down, allowing only nine more points.
“It was a big lift,” Cooper said. “Levi, me, we’re both upperclassmen so we just wanted to make plays for the team. They look up to us so we just want to be the leaders on the court.”
Halftime saw the presentation of the Foy-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy to Alabama football coach Nick Saban for the Crimson Tide’s win in the Iron Bowl in November. The rest of the game, the in-state rivalry was a little more vitriolic.
Tarrant earned his first technical for his reaction to a hard foul early in the first half, before what Grant termed an “inadvertent elbow” led to his disqualification following lengthy discussion by the officials in the second.
“It’s a tough situation there, because I’m sure his first reaction was that he let his team down,” Grant said. “Just happy that our guys were able to rally for him and it’s a learning lesson for him. It’s his first game in the rivalry so it’s a great learning lesson for him.”
Auburn’s Cinmeon Bowers made a point of encouraging the sell-out crowd in Coleman Coliseum to boo. More often than not they willingly obliged, serenading Auburn with certain profanities during timeouts. Both Grant and Pearl spent time in the faces of the referees, who called 19 fouls on each team, many of them hard fouls along with a few flagrant.
“There’s no team I want to beat more than Alabama,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. “There’s no team my fans want me to beat more than Alabama. We didn’t get it done, so we’re not going to travel back to Auburn real happy about it.”
For the rest of the season, Alabama, which improved to 13-6 and 3-3 in the conference, has to keep winning to build a tournament resume. For tonight, Grant and the 15,000-plus Alabama fans left with what they came for – three “Rammer Jammers” and a win over their most hated rival.
“I mean, Auburn-Alabama,” Grant said. “I’ve been here, this is my sixth year, and it’s an intense rivalry. It’s as intense as any I’ve ever been around. I think it’ll always be that way.”
