Alabama
2-2,0-0SEC
Furman
4-1,0-0SoCon
Jaden Shackelford’s Career Night Fuels Alabama Men’s Basketball Team to 81-73 Win over Furman
11/19/2019 10:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide used a balanced scoring attack to topple the Paladins, with four players in double-figures
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team defeated the Furman Paladins, 81-73, Tuesday night at Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide (2-2) used stellar defense and a big second half run to hand the Paladins (4-1) their first loss of the season.
Freshman Jaden Shackelford poured in a season-high 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, 3-of-8 from deep and 8-of-10 from the charity stripe to lead Alabama. Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr., who entered the game as the team's leading scorer, collected 19 points and seven rebounds to mark his fourth consecutive double-digit scoring effort to begin this season. Junior John Petty Jr. had a season-high 16 points, while redshirt freshman Javian Davis added 10 points to give UA four in double figures.
After a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes, the Crimson Tide used a 15-6 second half run that turned a 50-50 tie game into a 65-56 advantage with just under four minutes remaining. Alabama knocked down 11 straight free throws, going 15-of-18 from the charity stripe in the second half alone, to seal the win.
Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
- "That was a big win. Huge. We needed that one. We needed to get to 2-2 before we go play North Carolina. We challenged our guys to not let offensive mistakes and adversity on the offensive end affect effort on defense. I thought we did a really good job of that. I thought our defensive effort was at a pretty high level for about 38 minutes outside of the first two minutes of the second half. I'm really pleased with almost everybody's effort on the defensive end. I thought both these guys (Shackelford and Petty) were really locked in on defense. We've said that if you really get locked into defense when you're a skilled offensive player and just play instinctual, shots are going to drop. John was super proud of the fact that his man was scoreless in the second half. It's all he wanted to talk about after the game. When he's thinking about defense, his shot is going to drop. And they did tonight. It's good to get him back making shots like he does at a high level. Shack came in, I thought his defense is much improved over these first four games, and he's making shots. That's what we've been challenging our guys to do, and they answered the bell pretty well."
Team Stats
- The Tide outrebounded the Paladins 43-34, grabbing seven offensive boards, which marked the fourth-straight game that Alabama has won the battle of the boards
- Alabama notched its fourth consecutive game recording at least 40 rebounds, finishing the night with 43. Alabama now averages 44.0 rebounds a game.
- Despite finishing with 22 turnovers, UA had just 11 of those over the final 30-plus minutes, with the first 11 coming just over nine minutes into the game
- Four Alabama players reached double figures
- Alabama shot 74.1 percent (20-of-27) from the free throw line, making 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) in the second half
First Half
- After falling behind 6-4 at the game's first media timeout, Alabama answered with a 6-0 run to grab a 10-6 lead with 14:34 to go in the first
- Shackelford scored nine straight points for Alabama on 3-of-3 shooting from deep to give the Tide a 22-17 lead with 8:45 remining in the opening half
- The game remained tight the rest of the half and the Tide carried a 34-31 advantage into the locker room
- Shackelford led the Crimson Tide with 14 points in the opening stanza, while Petty added nine
- The Tide held the Paladins to 33 percent shooting (10-of-30) and 20 percent (3-of-15) from deep
- Alabama was 50 percent (12-of-24) from the field in the first half while draining 39 percent (5-of-13) from beyond the arc
Second Half
- The Paladins opened the second half on an 11-2 run, drilling three consecutive three-pointers to grab a 42-36 lead with 17:23 left
- Alabama quickly responded with a 6-0 spurt to even the game at 42-42 with 16:07 remaining in the game
- After trailing 45-42, the Tide surged back with seven straight points and moved in front by a score of 49-45 with 12:15 to play
- At the final media timeout of the contest, Alabama led 63-56 with 3:50 left on the clock
- A steal and slam by Lewis gave the Tide a 72-60 lead with 1:32 remaining – its largest lead of the contest
- After a 13-6 run by the Paladins cut the Alabama lead to just five, Jones came up clutch with a blocked three-pointer to stifle Furman's momentum
The Tide will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 27 as it faces No. 5/4 North Carolina in the first of three games at the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Islands, Bahamas. Tip-off is slated for 1:30 pm CT and will be available on ESPN or ESPN2.
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