By Kyle Murphy, UA Media Relations
The Arkansas Razorbacks jumped up early and never looked back in a 63-57 win over the University of Alabama Men’s Basketball team in front of a sold out Coleman Coliseum crowd Saturday afternoon.
Despite a poor shooting night for both teams, the Razorbacks held off a 23-3 Crimson Tide run late in the game to hold on for its third conference win of the season. Alabama would fall to 2-4 in SEC play and suffer its first home loss of the season, its first home loss since January 7, 2006 when the Tide lost to Ole Miss 71-61.
Arkansas sparked early, scoring the first 10 points of the first half and holding Alabama to single digit points until Alonzo Gee hit a free throw with 4:27 left in the first half to make the score 24-10 Arkansas.
The Hogs went into the locker room up 31-18 at the half, despite shooting 12-for-30 (40%) in the first half, including 13 missed shots in the paint. Alabama shot only 7-for-27 (26%) in the first half, including going 1-for-8 from behind the three point line. The Tide would finish the game shooting 1-for-14 from three point land.
“First of all, we’re disappointed,” said Alabama Head Coach Mark Gottfried. “Maybe we found our defense today that we’ve been hunting for. We’re in a period right now where we’re just struggling. Our effort and intensity level was there, we’re just not playing well.
“I thought the guys that came off the bench energized our team. I think that they played with some great intensity and gave us a great lift.”
The Tide’s shooting improved in the second half, thanks to a big performance by Richard Hendrix. After scoring only five first half points, Hendrix scored 23 points in the second half to lead all players with 28 points. He also led the Tide with 11 rebounds.
Bama also received a big defensive spark from freshman Justin Tubbs, who in only 22 minutes led all players with 4 steals.
Arkansas (14-7, 3-4 SEC) was led by freshman Patrick Beverley who scored 19 points. Sonny Weems contributed 16 points for the Hogs. Both players shot 50 percent from the field.
Steven Hill scored eight points and led all players in rebounding with 16 boards. Gary Ervin led all players in assists with six.
Alabama (15-5, 2-4 SEC) will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to take on the LSU Tigers on Wednesday, January 31. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Lincoln Financial Sports. The Tide defeated the Tigers in the first meeting between the two teams this season 71-61 on January 9.
Alabama’s next home game will be Saturday, February 3 when the Tide plays host to South Carolina. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be televised by Lincoln Financial Sports.
