Tide Defeats Arkansas, 59-56 at Home
2/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By: Tyler Roberts
UA Media Relations
TUSCALOOSA-The University of Alabama men’s basketball team (15-13, 4-9 SEC) avenged an overtime loss to western division foe Arkansas (18-9, 7-6 SEC) with a 59-56 victory Wednesday night at Coleman Coliseum. The win pulls the Tide into a four-way tie for third place in the west.
Alabama led for the majority of the second half, but Arkansas would not go away. The Tide needed some hustle plays, including a diving effort from Richard Hendrix to retrieve a loose ball that he tipped forward to teammate Rico Pickett for an empathic dunk with 2:19 left to give the Tide a 53-48 lead, to keep the Razorbacks at bay.
The Tide also made 6-8 foul shots over the final two minutes to secure the victory.
Alabama got a huge performance from sophomore forward Demetrius Jemison, who stepped up with 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Tide in both categories. Complimenting Jemison’s double-double, Hendrix put together a double-double of his own with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“After a couple of buckets, I get in these rhythms,” Jemison said. “I just feel like I can’t miss, and I’m going to play as hard as I can on the defensive end. I have that intensity going. I’m going to do whatever it takes to stop my man from scoring, and anything that comes off the rim, I’m going to get. I just got in one of those rhythms.”
For the game, Alabama shot 41 percent (22-54) from the field while holding Arkansas to 36 percent (22-61). Both teams had trouble finding the range from behind the arc as the Tide went 2-10 and the Razorbacks 3-21 from three-point range. Alabama held a narrow edge on the boards, out-rebounding Arkansas 42-40.
“We did a really good job guarding them,” head coach Mark Gottfried said. “They got through us a couple of times and got some baskets, but our guys were able to do a great job. I thought tonight we did a good job hustling and making a lot of tough plays defensively. I think they are a very good basketball team so I consider this a very big win for us.”
The Tide took a 26-23 lead into the half thanks in large part to the efforts of Jemison who scored 11 of his points in the first frame. Both teams struggled shooting in the first half as Alabama shot 37 percent from the field compared to 30 percent for the Razorbacks.
Sonny Weems and Darian Townes paced Arkansas with 17 points apiece. Weems also led the Razorbacks with eight rebounds.
Alabama will travel to Oxford, Miss. to battle the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday, March 1. The Tide took down the Rebels in Tuscaloosa earlier this season with a 76-67 victory. The game will air on Raycom Sports at 1:00 p.m.
