Alabama
6-5
Arkansas State
9-3
Alabama Men’s Basketball Cruises Past Arkansas State, 67-52, in Rocket City Classic
12/22/2016 12:23:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Senior forward Jimmie Taylor scored a season-high 12 points to lead the Alabama men's basketball team to a decisive 67-52 victory over the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Wednesday night in the first annual Rocket City Classic. The game was played in front of a sold out crowd at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala., as the Tide played here for just the second time in program history, with the only other game coming on Dec. 18, 1999, when Alabama captured a 75-51 victory over Chattanooga.
Taylor was one of three Alabama players to finish in double figures, as freshmen Braxton Key and Dazon Ingram registered 11 and 10 points, respectively. Junior Riley Norris also had a notable performance, as the local Albertville, Ala., native led the team in rebounds with nine while scoring eight points.
"What a tremendous crowd we had tonight," head coach Avery Johnson said. "I would like to thank the city Huntsville for the great support we've had this week during our time here. We've done some things in the community and it was great to see the fans show up tonight. I think that really gave our guys some energy.
"As far as the game goes, I thought we did a great job defensively and we were very competitive tonight," Johnson said. "This is the first game we've had since I've been here that a team didn't make a three on us in the first half. We gave up a couple of long rebounds but I really liked our flow defensively. Offensively, you saw us trying to run a little more. We simplified a couple of things, so we have something to build on. That's a really good team that's been scoring a lot of points. I'm really proud of our guys tonight."
Both teams battled back-and-forth early in the contest. With the score tied at 11-11 at the midway point of the half, the Red Wolves (9-3) went on a 7-2 run to take an early 18-13 lead with 8:20 left in the opening stanza. However, the Tide responded with an impressive 18-4 run of its own to help propel the team to a 31-26 lead at intermission.
Alabama (6-5) shot 37 percent from the field in the first half, while hitting 33 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. The Tide won the rebounding battle by a 20-16 margin, and it showed an emphasis on defensive end of the floor registering six blocks. Alabama also went 9-of-11 from the charity stripe in the half.
Senior Shannon Hale and Ingram led the Tide with in the first half with seven points each, while sophomore Donta Hall picked up four blocks and three rebounds.
Ingram drilled a three-pointer to start the second half, but Arkansas State responded by scoring six straight points to trim Alabama's lead to two points, 34-32. The Tide pulled away a few minutes later thanks in large part to a 20-4 run that lasted 8:09, which turned a 45-40 Alabama advantage into a commanding 65-44 lead with just under two minutes left to help the Tide cruise to a 15-point win.
Alabama shot 44 percent from the field in the 40 minute contest, while hitting 31 percent of its shots from behind the three-point line. The Tide dominated between the blocks, as it scored 40 points in the paint compared to 26 from its counterparts.
Defensively, Alabama swatted nine shots and collected six steals, while also winning the battle of the boards, 43-40. More importantly, the Tide held Arkansas State's Devin Carter, who came in as one of the top three-point shooters in the country, to 5-of-16 from the floor and 0-of-6 from beyond the arc – the first time in his career he has failed to make a trey in a game.
Alabama will have an eight-day break for the holiday before returning to action on Thursday, Dec. 29, when it plays Coleman Coliseum for just the second time this month as it hosts Stetson at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
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