The Week Ahead - SLU & Oklahoma State
12/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2010
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - With finals and the fall semester in the rear-view mirror, the Crimson Tide hits the court this week with a mid-week home contest against Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday followed by a neutral-site game against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
The Tide begins this week's games at 8 p.m. against Southeastern Louisiana in the fourth-ever meeting between the two programs. UA has won the previous three meetings, all in Coleman Coliseum and all within the last decade.
However, the last time the two squads squared off, SLU gave the Tide all it could handle as UA needed two overtime periods to finally defeat SLU, 63-61. That contest saw the Tide facing a 54-48 deficit with less than a minute to play when Mykal Riley drilled a three-pointer from the corner with 18 seconds left just as the officials blew the whistle for an off-the-ball foul against the Lions. The basket counted and the Tide retained possession of the ball. Seven seconds later, Justin Tubbs nailed his second three-pointer of the game to tie the score at 54-54. A last-second effort by SLU's Dekyron Nicks glanced off the back iron sending the game into overtime.
Riley took over in overtime, scoring all nine of the Tide's points on three shots from beyond the arc, including one with seven seconds remaining to put Alabama up by five and end the Lions' upset bid. Riley finished with a season-high 23 points to lead all scorers.
On Saturday, Alabama will hit the road again to face Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City as part of the 75th annual Lane College Classic at the OKC Arena on ESPN2 at 5:30 p.m. CST. The game will mark the sixth time the Tide and Cowboys have met and the fourth time on a neutral court. Cincinnati and Oklahoma will face each other in the second game of what is the nation's oldest basketball event. Additionally, the Classic is staged at the home of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder whose star, Kevin Durant, is the cousin of the Crimson Tide's Kendall Durant.
Alabama and Oklahoma State have actually met once before in the event during the 13th All-College Classic in 1948. Oklahoma State won that meeting, 44-31. The Cowboys' only other win in the series came in the last meeting in the second round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament when fourth-seeded OSU upended the fifth-seeded Tide, 66-52, in Baltimore, Md.
The Tide had no answer for Bryant Reeves' 26 points and seven rebounds as the Cowboys shot 46 percent and outscored UA by 13 in the second half to pull away. UA was led by future NBA first-round draft pick Antonio McDyess' 22 points and 17 rebounds. His 17 boards are the third most by a UA player in the NCAA Tournament and came on the heels of a 39-point, 19-rebound performance in the first round.
