Alabama
Providence
Dudley and Williams Lead Tide Past Friars, 69-61
12/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Chris Woodfin
Led by Erwin Dudley and Mo Williams, the No. 2 ranked (AP) University of Alabama men's basketball team extended its home winning streak to 24 games, defeating Providence 69-61. The Crimson Tide's record improved to 8-0, while the Friars dropped to 4-3 on the season.
After falling to a 27-21 deficit, Alabama rolled off 20 straight points, 14 over the last four minutes of the first half and six points during the first three minutes of the second half to give the Tide a 14 point advantage.
Dudley and Williams combined with Kenny Walker to score 15 of the 20 points.
Although Providence rallied and closed to within five points, Alabama never relinquished the lead, holding as much as a 16 point advantage before taking the 8 point victory.
For the game, Dudley added his third double-double of the season, collecting 19 points and a picking up a game high 14 rebounds.
Williams scored 19 points, grabbed eight boards and dished out a game high six assists while playing all 40 minutes.
Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried was pleased with the play of Dudley.
"He (Dudley) plays hard, comes up with big rebounds, he also makes his foul shots and those are things that a great post player does and it can be hard for the other team to manage," Gottfried said. "He got big rebounds for us on both ends."
Gottfried was also impressed with the performance of Williams.
"He (Williams) played great tonight. I wanted to take him out two or three times and should have, but he really played well and hit some big shots for us," Gottfried said. "I don't know if we will see teams play 40 minutes of zone like they (Providence) did today, but if we do other players besides Mo need to step up for us."
Providence was led by center Ryan Gomes, who picked up his third straight double-double and fourth overall on the season. Gomes led all scorers with 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Alabama will return to action on Monday night when Morehead State visits Coleman Coliseum. Tip-off for the game is set for 7 p.m. The game can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
