Alabama
0-1,0-0SEC
Penn
1-0,0-0Ivy League
Kira Lewis Jr.’s Career Night Not Enough as Alabama Falls to Penn, 81-80, in Men’s Basketball Season Opener
11/5/2019 9:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Sophomore point guard finished with career highs in points and rebounds in losing effort
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr. had a career night, but it was not enough as the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team lost its season-opener as it fell to Penn, 81-80, on Tuesday night inside Coleman Coliseum.
Lewis scored 22 of his career-high 30 points in the second half to help the Tide make-up a nine-point second half deficit and grab a one-point lead with 15 seconds remaining. However, the Quakers' Jordan Dingle connected on a driving layup with seven seconds remaining to give his team the victory.
Lewis also registered a career-best eight rebounds while adding team highs of five assists and 38 minutes of action. Two UA newcomers tallied double digits for the Tide, as freshman Jaden Shackelford scored 16 and graduate senior Beetle Bolden added 10 points off the bench. Junior John Petty Jr. had nine points, seven rebounds and two steals in the losing effort.
Alabama played all but 9:40 without junior captain Herbert Jones, who injured his elbow and did not return to the game. Jones, who is the team's captain and its top defender, will be reevaluated on Wednesday.
Penn was led by Dingle's 24 points, while AJ Brodeur finished the night with 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"First, I would like to thank the crowd. I thought that the student section was great, almost 2,000 students. That is what we are trying to build, and I think they helped us make the comeback in the second half. Their energy and their noise were great. Obviously, we would have liked to get the win. I think our guys played hard for the most part. We have a lot of mistakes to fix but like I told our guys, we are not supposed to be playing out best basketball on November 5. We need to be playing our best basketball come February and March during the SEC games. We have got a lot to fix, we're going to get back and fix it. Sometimes when you win, the mistakes that were made all game make the guys think they're okay getting away with it. Sometimes you need to take a loss like this. Taking a loss early isn't always the worst thing as long as you are resilient enough to come back. I thought our guys' attitudes were good in the locker room and I think we are going to come back and have a great week of practice and fix a lot of the stuff that needs to be fixed by next Monday."
Team Stats
- UA put up 76 shots (27-of-76, 35.5 percent) which is more than any game since it posted 76 shots in a triple overtime loss at LSU on Feb. 13, 2013
- Alabama outrebounded the Quakers 42-38, including 17 offensive rebounds
- The Crimson Tide bench outscored the Penn reserves 20-9 in the contest
- Alabama blocked five shots and collected 10 steals on the night
First Half
- After Penn opened the scoring with a three-pointer, Alabama responded with an 11-2 run to jump out to an 11-5 lead at the 16:55 mark of the first
- Penn answered with a spurt of its own, an 11-6 run that cut the Tide's lead to 17-16 with 13:09 to play
- With the game tied at 22-22, Lewis and Shackelford brought the Coleman Coliseum crowd to its feet with back-to-back threes that gave Alabama a 28-22 lead with 6:53 remaining in the opening half
- With the Crimson Tide holding a 33-27 lead with 4:15 on the clock, the Quakers ended the first half on an 8-2 spurt, resulting in a 35-35 deadlock at intermission
- The Tide connected on 41 percent (7-of-17) of its shots from beyond the arc in the first half, while holding Penn to 27 percent (4-of-15) from deep
Second Half
- The Quakers opened the second half on an 8-0 run and took a 43-35 lead at the 17:42 mark
- Penn continued to hold the advantage, as the Tide trailed 66-59 with 7:12 remaining in the contest
- With the Tide trailing 70-61 with 6:46 left, Lewis drove in for a layup and Shackelford converted an and-one to bring the Tide within four at 70-66 with 5:20 to go in the game
- Alabama continued to chip away as Lewis scored five straight points from Lewis cut the Penn lead to just 74-73 with 3:32 left to play
- A few moments later, a thunderous slam from junior Alex Reese tied the game at 77-77 with just 2:20 remaining
- With the Tide trailing by two, Lewis drilled a three with 20 seconds left in the game to give Alabama its first lead of the second half at 80-79
- However, the Quakers would cash in the game-winning bucket with just seven seconds on the clock as Penn grabbed the 81-80 win
- Lewis was fouled with 2.4 seconds remaining sending him to the free throw line, however, the team's leading free throw shooter from a year missed both attempts and Penn was able to run the clock out to secure the victory
Alabama will return to action against Florida Atlantic on Monday, Nov. 11 at Coleman Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and will be televised on SEC Network+.
For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
