Tide Defeats George Washington 93-57
12/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA ?? Powered by 25 assists on 35 field goals made, the University of Alabama defeated George Washington 93-57 Saturday night in Coleman Coliseum.
With the win, Alabama improves to 10-3 overall as it readies for a Southeastern Conference vs. Atlantic Coast Conference showdown Tuesday, January 1 when Alabama plays host to Clemson at 3:30 p.m. CT. George Washington drops to 4-6 with the loss and is now off until January 10 when its plays host to Saint Louis.
Saturday night's Alabama win found two Crimson Tide starters end the game with double-doubles in points and rebounds, led by Alonzo Gee with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Richard Hendrix, who scored his 1,000th Alabama career point with 17:33 remaining in the first half, ended the game with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
"I think there are a couple of things that stand out about our team right now," said Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried. "The first thing that jumps off the page on the stats sheet is 25 assists off of 35 baskets. One thing with this team, it's been this way all year long. They share the ball. They move it. The open man has it. It doesn't stick in our hands a long time. If there is somebody that's got a better look at it or a better opportunity, the ball moves. I like that about our team. I thought the key today, too, was the first seven or eight minutes of the game. I thought our defensive intensity was excellent. We got off to a great start on both ends of the floor. And Richard in the middle, he kind of sets the tone in there when the ball goes in. I thought Alonzo Gee, his athleticism and how hard he has been playing??we've said that just about every game---but the guy is playing so hard. He's getting offensive rebounds. He's running the floor. It's amazing when you play that hard how you shoot the ball better. It always works that way. Our point guards today, you look at (Rico) Pickett and (Mikhail) Torrance combined, they get 14 assists between the two of them. So there were a lot of good things in the game, and (Brandon) Hollinger shot it great in the first half. He made some big baskets; so it was a good day for us."
Hollinger came off the bench and scored all 15 of his points in 14 minutes on the floor, shooing 5-8 from the field and 5-7 from 3-point range in the game.
"The guys just found me and I let it go and we just made baskets," said Hollinger, a junior from Mobile. "I credit my teammates for finding the open man though. Penetrate and kicking, Richard passing out the post. They were finding me while I was open and I was able to make the shots."
Torrance came off the bench and had 10 assists, and Pickett scored six points and had four assists and a block. In all nine of Alabama's 14 players had a least one assist in the game.
Alabama shot 47.9% from the field, making 35-73. It was 11-24 from 3-point range and 12-17 at the free throw line. It held George Washington, a team that has advanced to three straight NCAA tournament appearances, including 2007, to 34.4% shooting, making 21-61 and 2-15 from 3-point range. It was 13-21 at the foul line. Rob Diggs led the Colonials in scoring with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Wynton Witherspoon had 15 points and Maureece Rice had 11 points.
The Tide dominated under the boards, outrebounding George Washington 52 rebounds to 33, led by 13 from Gee, 11 from Hendrix, eight from Mykal Riley (to go with 15 points) and six from Demetrius Jemison. Gee has now had back-to-back double-doubles as he had 23 points and 11 rebounds in Alabama's December 23 win against Iowa State. Saturday marked his third double-double of the season. Hendrix has now had six double-doubles this season, though Saturday marked the first since the November 28 Texas A&M road game where he'd opened the season with five in a row. He's flirted with it twice since them, coming just one rebound short in two different games.
Alabama plays two more non-conference games before it opens its SEC slate against two-time defending national champions Florida at 8 p.m. CT on January 8. Alabama hosts No. 21 AP/No. 20 Coaches' Clemson on January 1 at 3:30 p.m. CT then Chicago State at 7 p.m. on January 4. Tickets are available to all of those games and can be purchased through Alabama's official website, www.rolltide.com or by calling 1-877-TIDETIX.
