Alabama
17-12, 8-8
Arkansas
20-9, 9-7
Alabama Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short Against Arkansas, 76-73
2/24/2018 8:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Braxton Key led the Alabama offense with 16 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocks
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Despite a late rally, the Alabama men's basketball team fell short to Arkansas, 76-73, Saturday evening at Coleman Coliseum. Four players reached double figures as sophomore Braxton Key led the charge scoring with 16 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal.
Other double-digit contributors included freshman Collin Sexton and John Petty scoring 15 points and 14 points, respectively, while sophomore Dazon Ingram put up 13 points. Junior Donta Hall collected eight rebounds while blocking four shots for the Crimson Tide on defense.
Alabama (17-12, 8-8 SEC) ended the game making five of its last six shots, but Arkansas' 36-28 rebounding edge throughout the game along with shooting 50 percent from three-point range (7-of-14) in the second half made the difference.
"It was another slow start for us today," Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said. "We had no rhythm, no sense of energy. To start the game, we weren't ourselves; I'm still trying to put my finger on it. Give them (Arkansas) credit. This is a team that lost to North Carolina last year in the (NCAA) Tournament and they have a bunch of prideful seniors. They came out and played with a lot of energy. We talked at half time about trying to pick up our energy and I thought we did in the second half, specifically Braxton (Key). He came out and played a much better second half, but for us to be successful, we can't play 20 minutes or 22 minutes. We definitely can't turn the ball over 18 times. Another game where we get outrebounded and that's something we're going to have to turn the corner on. I thought we did a good job of making threes tonight, but we didn't do so good a job from the free throw line. At the end of the day, give Arkansas credit. They're some hard-nosed players and they came in and wanted it really badly."
The Razorbacks (20-9, 9-7) took the 35-31 lead at halftime after shooting 48.1 percent from the field (13-of-27) while the Tide connected on 40 percent of its shots (10-of-25) for the half. In addition, Arkansas held the edge in rebounding, 16-14, and points off turnovers, 11-10, to own the advantage at the break.
Arkansas knocked down its first four field goals to lead 11-4 at the 15:01 mark, but the Crimson Tide responded with a 9-0 run over a span of 4:08 to tie the score at 16 apiece with 8:53 left. The Razorbacks would answer and led by as much as 10 points, 35-25, with 1:54 left in the stanza. However, the Crimson Tide ended the half dropping back-to-back trifectas to trail by four heading into the locker room.
Alabama continued to build on its run started in the first half, outscoring the Razorbacks 10-1 to begin the second half and took a 41-37 lead at the 16:55 mark. In all, the Tide's 16-2 run that spanned halftime lasted 5:10.
From there, the game was a back-and-forth affair that featured six lead changes and five ties over the final 20 minutes. With the score tied at 56 with 6:53 left, Arkansas went on a game-deciding 11-3 run over the next 3:22 to take a 67-59 lead with 3:21 left to play.
The Tide would rally back to cut the lead to 73-70 with 30 second left, but Hall missed a pair of free throws that would have cut the lead to one. Alabama would have one final shot at the buzzer to tie the game, but Sexton's half court heave fell short.
The Crimson Tide shot 50 percent in the second half (12-of-24) but the Razorback defense was able to contain Alabama in the final seconds for the win. In the contest, Arkansas forced 18 Alabama turnovers and turned them into 21 points while its bench outscored the Tide, 22-11. The Razorbacks also finished with a 36-28 advantage on the glass.
Daryl Macon led the Razorback offense with 17 points while four other reached double figures.
Alabama will play its final home game of the season when it welcomes the Florida Gators for Senior Night on Tuesday night at 6 p.m CT. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for the ceremony. Tuesday's game will broadcast live on ESPN.
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