Alabama
6-2,0-0SEC
Oregon
8-0,0-0Big Ten
No. 9/9 Alabama Falls to Oregon, 83-81, in Players Era Festival Championship
12/1/2024 12:02:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide dropped a back-and-forth affair with the Ducks in the game’s final seconds
LAS VEGAS – The No. 9/9 Alabama men's basketball fell in the final seconds to Oregon, 83-81, in Players Era Festival Championship game. The Crimson Tide led for more than 22 minutes in the contest, however, a put back dunk by the Ducks' Nate Bittle with four seconds remaining proved to be the difference
Alabama (6-2) responded with what appeared to be the game-tying bucket, but Grant Nelson's shot came just after the clock buzzer to result in the final score.
Labaron Philon led the five UA players in double figures with 15 points on 6-8 shooting and seven boards. Jarin Stevenson, Aden Holloway and Mark Sears each scored 11, while Latrell Wrightsell Jr. had 10 in the losing effort.
The Ducks (8-0) were led by Keeshawn Barthelemy's game high 22 points while Bittle finished with 19 points and nine boards.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"Tough way to lose a game and our turnovers have been haunting us here in Vegas. Last game (Rutgers) and this game we have been giving up points off turnovers and it is hard to overcome that, so we have got to figure a way to take care of the basketball better. It is everybody that is turning the ball over and we still had issues guarding the post. We didn't shoot it particularly well in stretches tonight but you are going to have games like that and you have to overcome poor shooting nights. This was not what we were looking to do out here but that is a good team, we have to learn from it and we got to play better and get ourselves regrouped for Carolina on Wednesday."Â
Team Stats
- The back-and-forth contest featured 10 ties and nine lead changes,
- The Tide connected on 12 three-pointers, going 12-38 (32 percent) from beyond the arc
- Alabama finished the night with 15 turnovers compared to just eight from Oregon, which resulted in the Ducks owning a 17-5 advantage in points off turnovers
- Grant Nelson finished the contest with seven points, seven boards and six assists, which tied the most he has recorded during his time at UA
- In addition to Nelson's six dimes, Mark Sears and Aden Holloway each had five helpers to combined for 16 of the Tide's 21 assists on the night (on 27 made baskets)
- Alabama held a 44-39 advantage on the boards
First HalfÂ
- Labaron Philon led all scorers in the first half with 11 points while Mark Sears reached double-digits with 10Â
- Oregon outscored Alabama 22-16 inside the paint
- The Ducks' bench outscored the Crimson Tide's bench 15-5Â
- Both teams were efficient on offense to start the game, as Alabama shot 50 percent (6-12) and Oregon shot 46 percent (6-13) within the first seven minutes of the gamer
- Philon kickstarted Alabama's offense, scoring eight points within the first eight minutes of the game
- Grant Nelson recorded a season-high four assists all within the first 11 minutes of the game
- Alabama had a pair of 7-0 runs throughout the first half but the Ducks would convert a three-pointer eight seconds left to tie the game at 39-39 going into halftime
Second HalfÂ
- Oregon went on an 8-0 run early in the half to take a 49-43 lead
- The Ducks would take its first double-digit lead (56-46) of the game at the 12:25 mark
- Alabama got back into the game, hitting a pair of back-to-back threes from Aden Holloway and Jarin Stevenson, to help trim the lead to two points (60-58) with 9:22 left to play
- Stevenson, who scored all 11 of his points after intermission, continued his hot streak in the second half, converting a trio of makes from three-point range within the first 12 minutes of the half
- Alabama went on a 6-0 run to take a 67-62 lead with 6:05 left to play
- Oregon fought back and tied the game at 75-75 with just over two minutes left to play
- Alabama would make just one field goal in the final four minutes of the contest (Holloway three-pointer with 26 seconds remaining)
Up Next
- Alabama will continue its road trip when it travels to square off at North Carolina for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Wednesday, Dec. 4
- Tipoff is set for 6:15 p.m. CT at the Dean E. Smith Center and will be televised on ESPN
