Alabama
Auburn
Men's Basketball Tops In-State Rival Auburn, 79-68
2/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
AUBURN, Ala. - The Alabama men's basketball team outscored the Auburn Tigers, 46-32, in the second half to lock down a 79-68 victory on Tuesday night inside a sold out Auburn Arena. The Tide - winners of two of three, and three of its last five games - has now taken both head-to-head matchups against the Tigers this season.
"I am just really proud of our team tonight,"Alabama head coach Anthony Grant said."I thought they really battled. They showed a lot of heart and determination. I am really happy for our seniors, Levi Rudolph and Rodney Cooper, being able to get the sweep of our in-state rival. I thought our guys really rallied. We got a lot of great efforts out of a lot of people. In the first half, we played well. We had some turnovers there that allowed Auburn to take the lead at halftime. All we talked about was making sure that we make the right decisions. Levi Rudolph said `I am good coach' and I said let's make sure. After the game he said coach I told you I was good and he was. He was really good today. I thought we got a lot of great efforts out of a lot of different guys. I am just happy for our team on the win."
Despite trailing 36-33 at the halfway mark, Alabama (16-10, 6-7 SEC) outscored Auburn 46-32 in the second half to stamp the victory. The Tide dropped a quick 14 points coming out of the half, and never trailed after the 15-minute mark.
Levi Randolph scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the second half, while Retin Obasohan scored 14 of his 16 points after intermission to lead the Tide. Alabama improved on an already strong shooting percentage (46 percent) in the first half to 60 percent in the second and finished shooting 52.9 percent for the game. The Tide shot just 60 percent from the free throw line in the first, but made 10-of-11 (91 percent) over the final 20 minutes.
Michael Kessens was charged with a foul for an illegal screen 5:28 into the game that led to a technical foul on head coach Anthony Grant. Auburn had been on a 7-0 run over the previous three minutes, but following the technical Alabama was able to steal the momentum, going on a 13-3 run over the next three minutes.
Alabama built a six-point lead on three consecutive three-pointers late in the first half, and held a lead over the Tigers until the 3:56 mark. The Tide outshot and outrebounded the Tigers in the first, but had 11 turnovers to Auburn's six. Auburn led 36-33 at halftime with 16 of its points coming from senior guard Antoine Mason.
The Tide got off to a quick start in the second half making four of their first five field goal attempts to take a 43-41 lead. With 15:19 left in the game, Alabama began a 7-0 run to take a 52-46 lead and would never trail again. Just four minutes later the Tide would go on another 7-1 run to extend the lead to eight points, 61-53. The two teams traded baskets until the six minute mark when Alabama would once again spark a 7-0 run to take a 12 point lead, 72-60, with 3:21 remaining.
Randolph finished 6-of-8 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line, while Obasohan hit 6-of-10 shots from the floor. He has now put up double-digits in his last four games and is averaging 12.3 points since the injury to Ricky Tarrant.
Rodney Cooper entered tonight's game needing just two points to reach 1,000 for his career. Cooper's 13 points paired him with Randolph as the second Alabama player to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for his career this season. Cooper and Randolph represent the first Crimson Tide duo to each reach 1,000 career points in the same season since Alonzo Gee and Richard Hendrix achieved the feat during the 2007-08 season.
Shannon Hale posted 11 points to give the Tide four players in double-digits. Jimmie Taylor secured a team-leading eight rebounds. Kessens and Randolph each grabbed seven. Alabama outrebounded the Tigers 40-26.
The Tigers (12-14, 4-9) were led by Mason's 24 points, while KT Harrell put up 21, combining to score 45 of Auburn's 68 points. Cinmeon Bowes scored 14 and led the team with 7 rebounds.
Alabama will now begin a stretch of playing three of its next four games at Coleman Coliseum when the Tide hosts the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2. It will be the lone meeting between the Tide and Bulldogs this season.
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