Postgame Notes from Alabama's loss to Xavier
12/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2013
• Alabama and Xavier played for the sixth time in series history on Saturday night. The Musketeers evened the series at 3-3 with their 77-74 victory.
• Alabama was outrebounded, 38-34, on the night. The Tide falls to 0-5 when it losses the battle of the boards.
• Xavier owned a 17-8 edge in offensive rebounds, which resulted in a huge 19-9 advantage in second-chance points.
• The Tide has now lost 18 straight games when giving up 70 or more points to the opposition. The last time an Alabama team won a game when allowing 70 or more points came on March 3, 2010 when the Tide defeated South Carolina, 79-70.
• Freshman forward Shannon Hale finished with a career-best 14 points on the night. He also established career highs with threes made (3), threes attempted (5), field goals made (5) and field goals attempted (7).
• Junior guard Rodney Cooper recorded nine points and eight rebounds vs. Xavier. He is now averaging 13.0 points and 5.3 rebounds a game over his past three contests. He scored 43 points over his first eight games of the year and has accounted for a total of 39 points over his last three contests.
• The Tide lost by three points, 77-74, and drops to 0-6 this year in games decided by 10 or fewer points. Alabama was leading by seven, 57-50, with 8:30 left, but Xavier went on an 18-6 run over the next 3:24 to lead, 68-63 with 3:06 left.
• Alabama held a seven point lead at intermission, 33-26, and lost for the second time this season when holding a halftime lead (5-2).
• Trevor Releford led Alabama with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. It is the fourth time he led the Crimson Tide in scoring and was his 10th double-digit scoring game this season.
• Xavier scored 51 points in the second half, which were the most points allowed in a half this season.
• Xavier came into game 32nd in the nation in three-point shooting offense (40.1 percent), while Alabama ranked 16th nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 26.9 percent. The Musketeers connected on 5-of-15 of its shots (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc, including 4-of-7 over the final 20 minutes.
• Alabama will return to action after the Christmas holiday when it travels West to take on the nationally-ranked UCLA Bruins on Saturday, Dec. 28, at 9 p.m. CT (7 p.m. PT) on ESPN2. It will mark just the second time the Tide will make the trip to Pauley Pavilion, with the first coming on Jan. 28, 1982 when Alabama stunned then-No. 1 UCLA, 70-67.
