Tide Hoops Beats McGill 97-88 in Exhibition Game
9/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
OTTAWA, CANADA ?? Playing the first of two games in a single day, the University of Alabama basketball team started two freshmen and three sophomores and defeated McGill University 87-88 in exhibition play.
The Crimson Tide is in Ottawa, Canada where it will play four exhibition games between Saturday and Monday. Alabama opened the tour (it is not a tournament) at 11 a.m. CT against McGill on Saturday in the Carleton University gym and will play at the University of Ottawa at 7 p.m. CT Saturday night.
“It was a great game for our young players,” said Alabama coach Mark Gottfried, “and I think it worked out well that the veteran guys didn’t play because the young guys got challenged. We were behind at the half (40-37), so they had to rally a little bit and play really hard. I thought McGill University was extremely well-coached and it was a great game. And I thought most of the guys played well. We’ve got to get a lot better, obviously, and they have to learn how to play at this level but they also did some very bright things as well.”
Because Alabama is playing two full games in a single day, several players did not dress for the McGill game and will play against Ottawa tonight. That group included returning starters and upperclassmen Richard Hendrix, Alonzo Gee and Mykal Riley. All-Southeastern Conference point guard Ronald Steele is on the trip but is not expected to play as he continues his recovery from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee nine days ago. Guard Greg Cage also did not dress as he has an ankle injury.
Alabama started three sophomores, Mikhail Torrance, Justin Tubbs and Demetrius Jemison and two freshmen, Senario Hillman and Justin Knox in the McGill game. Tubbs, Jemison and Knox all fouled out. Hillman led the win, scoring 30 points. He was 13 of 23 from the field, 1 of 5 from 3-point range, and was 3 of 5 at the free throw line. His game also included five rebounds, one assist and one steal in his 30 minutes of play.
“I think it was real fun,” said Hillman of his Alabama debut. “It was my first time playing a college game, and for a first time, I thought I did real well. And I had fun playing. There are definitely some things we all need to work on, like getting back and working on our defense, but I think we did okay for the first time out.”
All five of the starters scored in double digits, led by Hillman’s 30, 18 from Knox (7-11, 4-6), 11 points from Torrance (5-10, 1-3, 0-0) and Tubbs (4-8, 3-5, 0-2), and 10 from Jemison (3-6, 0-0, 4-4). Freshman Rico Pickett came off the bench for seven points and sophomore Yamene Coleman led the team with nine rebounds and scored eight points off the bench.
Alabama shot 51.3% in the game, making 39 of 76 from the field. It was 6 of 19 for 31.6% from the 3-point line and 13 of 21 for 61.9% at the free throw line. It outrebounded the Redmen 41 to 34.
McGill was led by Sean Anthony’s 19 points. He was 4 of 7 from the field but 11 of 17 at the free throw line. Moustafa El Zanaty had 16 points, Daniel Martin 14 and Kyle Bernard 12 points, all three of those players getting their points off the bench. The Redmen made 11 of 33 3-point shots, with Martin going 4 of 4 from that range. Leading 40-37 at the half, McGill shot 28 of 64 from the field for 43.8%, was 11 of 33 for 33.3% from 3-point range and was 21 of 32 at the free throw line for 65.6%.
Alabama took the lead for good with a layup by Hillman with 16:26 remaining in the game that put Alabama ahead then 50-48.
“Scenario was very aggressive. We knew that when we recruited him,” said Gottfried. “To be honest, I thought all three of the freshmen did well. I wasn’t planning on playing Rico that much because I wanted to play Mikhail Torrance more and flip-flop those guys for tonight, but foul trouble kind of created that. I thought Rico played well and I thought Justin Knox played well. Justin did a lot of good things for a young freshman as well. I thought the other young guys did as well, too. They’ve got a lot to learn and we weren’t very good defensively. We’ve got to get a lot better guarding the ball and our defensive transition??some of those things. They’ll come in time. We’re not there obviously. It’s the first of September but today’s game was exactly what we wanted for the younger guys.”
