Alabama
20-6,15-2SEC
Auburn
12-14,6-11SEC
No. 8/5 Alabama Men’s Basketball Earns Season Sweep of Auburn with 70-58 Win
3/2/2021 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Jaden Shackelford led four players in double figures with 23 points to earn first sweep of Tigers since 2014-15
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 8/5 Alabama men’s basketball team used a big second half run to pull away from in-state rival Auburn, taking a 70-58 victory in the regular season home finale Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide complete a season series sweep of the Tigers for the first time since 2014-15 as it finished the season with a home record of 12-1.
With its victory, Alabama improved to 20-6 on the season and earned the 15th win in SEC play (15-2) which is tied for the second-most league wins in school history. Only the 1986-87 team that finished 16-2 in league play had more conference wins.
Guard Jaden Shackelford led the way with 23 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep to collect his team-leading fourth 20-point game of the year. Guards Jahvon Quinerly and John Petty Jr. each had 11, while forward Herbert Jones added 10 points and led the team with nine rebounds, six assists and three steals in the victory.
Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
“This was a good win for us. It’s great to finish the home conference season unbeaten. I thought our defense was great. Our defense has carried us for a month now. I cannot say enough about the job our guys are doing with the defense. We turned them over a lot with 23 turnovers. The only issue I saw was defensive rebounding because we gave up too many second chance points. Shack works so hard, so I am happy he started making shots. He was great tonight with 5-of-9 from three. Maybe we can get more of our shooters going. We needed the offense tonight from Shack. I thought Petty Jr. gave a great effort because he has been playing so hard lately. He got offensive player of the week not too long ago and he has really given effort and locked down on the defensive side. This means so much to our seniors. They have really bought in and we have something special. We are a better defensive team than I have ever coached. We are top five in defense in the country for two months. We have hung our hat on defense lately, but we are going to have to work on our shooting.”
Team Stats
- The Tide finished with a season-low seven turnovers while forcing a season-best 23 turnovers by Auburn that resulted in a 24-6 advantage in points off turnovers
- Alabama ended league play a perfect 9-0 at home, which marked the first time it has finished unbeaten in Coleman Coliseum during SEC play since the 2012-13 season
- UA remains unbeaten on Tuesday night, improving to 10-0 this season
- The Tide’s 13 steals marked the second-most this season and helped UA to a 24-6 lead in points of turnovers
- Alabama is now 18-0 when holding a halftime lead this season
- It marks the first time since 2012-13 the Tide has recorded at least 20 wins during the regular season
- The last time UA collected its 20th win in 26 games or less came in 2004-05 when it had a 20-4 record through 24 games
Gallery: 03-02-21 MBB vs Auburn
First Half
- An electrifying alley-oop by John Petty Jr. jumpstarted the Tide’s 5-0 spurt to start the game and led 8-4 at the under 16 media time out
- With Alabama leading 10-8 at the 14:08 mark, the Crimson Tide went on an 18-4 run over the next 7:09 that included a pair of three pointers by Shackelford to extend its lead to the largest of the half at 28-12 with 7:54 left in the opening stanza
- The Tigers would answer with a quick 8-2 spurt to shrink Alabama’s lead to 30-20 with 5:24 left in the first half
- The two teams traded baskets the rest of the way with Alabama taking the 37-27 lead into the locker room at the half
- The Tide forced the Tigers into 15 first half turnovers which resulted in a big 17-2 edge in points off turnovers for UA
Basketball School ?? ??#RollTide | #BlueCollarBasketball pic.twitter.com/P7NhfWIBNd
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) March 3, 2021
Second Half
- Auburn was able to whittle the ball down to seven, 42-35, at the 15:04 mark before a Petty three-pointer stretch it back to 10 points
- With the Tide holding onto a 52-40 lead with10:21 left, the Tigers went on a 7-0 spurt and cut the lead to 52-47 at the 7:52 mark
- Petty drained a three-point to start a 17-5 run over the next 6:27 to give Alabama a 69-52 run with just over a minute remaining
- After the Tide emptied its bench, Auburn finished the game with a 6-1 run to result in the final score
Next Up
- The Tide will play its final regular-season game before the start of the SEC Tournament when it travels to take on Georgia on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) on CBS.
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.
