Alabama
8-3
Penn State
6-6
Huge First Half Run Helps Lift Alabama Men’s Basketball to a 73-64 Victory Over Penn State
12/21/2018 10:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Donta Hall recorded a double-double to lead Crimson Tide to third consecutive victory
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team defeated Penn State, 73-64, Friday night at Coleman Coliseum to record the team's third consecutive victory heading into the Christmas break. Senior forward Donta Hall recorded his fourth double-double of the season to lead the Crimson Tide, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the victory.
Three Alabama players scored in double digits on the night. In addition to Hall's performance, sophomore John Petty had 13 points of his own, with junior Tevin Mack adding 11 points. Sophomore Herbert Jones added eight points and four rebounds, while playing some lock-down defense as he added three blocks and three steals in the contest.
"We struggled a little bit early tonight," Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said. "We went to our bench and our bench gave us a huge lift. We finally found a little bit of a rotation there in the first half where we went on a huge run. We took control of the game in the first half and built a double-digit lead. They cut down our lead a little bit going into the half. In the second half, again, just a bunch of different waves. We're up, they're coming back. We finally fought our way to take control of the boards and rebound the basketball and run and get out in space. Overall, this was our best defensive performance, from a defensive efficiency standpoint, against an outstanding basketball team that will have a chance to make it to the tournament."
Alabama went down early in the game, trailing by 14, 23-9, with 9:35 left in the first half. The Crimson Tide responded in grand fashion, rattling off a season-high 24-0 run that spanned over a span of 7:24 which gave Alabama a 33-23 with 2:11 left to play in the first half. The Tide would go on to teak a 33-27 into the locker room.
Mack came out firing in the second half scoring eight straight points to put the Tide up 43-31 with 15:53 to go in the half. However, Penn State would battle back using strong inside play to take regain the lead at 52-51 with 8:53 left in the contest. That's when Hall took over, scoring 10 points over the next 3:37 to give Alabama a 63-58 lead with 5:04 left to play. Freshman Kira Lewis Jr. then sealed the victory by scoring all seven of his points in the final five minutes to result in the final score.
The victory was made even sweeter as the Alabama men's basketball program honored the late Hall of Fame head coach C.M. Newton in a special halftime ceremony. Newton, who coached at Alabama for 12 seasons, leading the Tide to unprecedented heights and, more importantly, integrated the UA men's basketball program. Newton passed away on June 4, 2018 at the age of 88.
"I am just so honored that we had a chance to recognize C.M. Newton at halftime," Johnson said. "He was a great man. I know I shared this with you guys the other day, but he was really a great friend of our program. He was here for my introductory press conference, and it really makes me emotional because he was here, and my college coach Ben Jobe was here, along with Wimp. Both coach Jobe and C.M. are not here anymore, but it just really warms my heart to know that our administration, led by our athletic director, Greg Byrne, honored C.M. tonight. What a special night, that we could win a game on a night we honored him."
Alabama will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 30, when it travels to Nacogdoches, Texas, to take on Stephen F. Austin. The game is set to tip at 5 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPNU.
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