Alabama
21-10,13-5SEC
Arkansas
15-16,6-12SEC
No. 16/17 Men's Basketball Captures Come-From-Behind Victory over Arkansas, 92-88, on Senior Day
3/9/2024 3:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide secures a top-four seed and double-bye in next week’s SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament with Saturday’s victory
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 16/17 Alabama men's basketball team came back from double-digit deficits in both halves, trailing by as many as 15 points, to capture a 92-88 overtime victory against Arkansas on Senior Day in Coleman Coliseum. With the victory, the Crimson Tide (21-10, 13-5 SEC) secured a top-four seed and double-bye in next week's Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
Alabama was led by Mark Sears' 22 points, while Latrell Wrightsell Jr. added 20. Grant Nelson (13 points and 14 rebounds) and Nick Pringle (10 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-double while Aaron Estrada added 10 points and seven assists.
Arkansas (15-16, 6-12) was led by Khalif Battle's 22 points to top five players in double figures.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"We showed a lot of grit in that game, give Arkansas a lot of credit. I told Coach (Eric) Musselman before the game that his teams have always played the best basketball at the end of the year. For them to go through the struggles they've gone through and still play hard is a testament to what they have done. They have not had the year that anybody thought that they were going to have. They (Arkansas) have a lot of talent and they don't quit. They have made two elite eights. The Alabama program has one elite eight in our entire history. He (Musselman) has had two since he's been at Arkansas and he knows what he's doing. Musselman had his players ready to go and we were not. At the beginning of the game, they came out and jumped on us by 15. I thought we made a good run close to half. We made some tough plays in the first half but had too many turnovers. Coming out in the second half our energy was a lot better, but our turnovers were killing us. We had 11 turnovers by the first media timeout in the second half and then over the next four media timeouts we didn't have any turnovers. Once we were able to sit down and stop turning the ball over our guys made some tough plays and things were going well. At the free throw line, they (Arkansas) were 24-27 and we were 17-25. Arkansas shot it better than us and they did a lot of things better than us today. We figured out a way to win today and made some tough plays. That shot that (Latrell) Wrightsell hit late was huge. Sam Walters in overtime was huge. Sam was huge with the three and his offensive put back was huge. He kept telling us to put him back in and he made some tough plays. That's where our mindset has got to be. Obviously, we didn't play well and today was not one of our best games for the large part. You have to give Arkansas a lot of credit. I put on the white board before the game, 'Handle adversity with mental toughness and do it together.' We handled a lot of adversity today."
TEAM STATS
- With its win, the Tide has recorded back-to-back 13-win league seasons, marking the first time that's occurred since 1986-87
- Mark Sears recorded his 21st game of scoring 20-or-more points with his 22-point effort Saturday
- The win was the second consecutive home overtime victory for Alabama, as the Crimson Tide improved to 2-0 in overtime games this season (defeated Florida, 98-93, on Feb. 21)
- Alabama trailed by 15 points (36-21) in the opening stanza and by 10 points (58-48) in the second half before coming back for the win
- It's the third time this year that the Tide has trailed by double digits in the second half only to come back and get the win
- Arkansas led for 38:35 compared to only 3:19 for Alabama
FIRST HALF
- Arkansas dominated the opening 13 minutes of action, jumping out to a 15-point lead, 36-21, at the 6:24 mark
- The Crimson Tide responded with an 11-2 run to trim the lead to six, 38-32, forcing a timeout from the Razorbacks
- The teams traded buckets down the stretch, with Arkansas taking a 42-36 lead into the locker room
- The Tide committed eight turnovers in the stanza, resulting in a 13-5 Razorbacks' advantage in points off turnovers
- Mark Sears led UA with 13 points, hitting all three of his treys, while Grant Nelson added five points and a game-high eight rebounds
SECOND HALF
- After a back-and-forth start to the half, Arkansas went on a 9-1 spurt to turn a two-point lead into a 10-point advantage, 58-48, with 10:29 left to play
- The Crimson Tide responded with eight-straight points to make it 58-56 at the 8:39 mark
- Arkansas was a perfect 13-13 from free throws in the half
- Trailing by three in the final minute, Alabama had a defensive stop and then Latrell Wrightsell Jr. drilled the game-tying three-pointer – the first tie of the game
OVERTIME
- Alabama took its first lead of the game on a free throw by Nick Pringle
- Sam Walters hit a three-pointer and had an offensive putback to help give the Tide an 84-80 lead with 1:38 left in overtime
- UA shot 78 percent (7-9) from the field in the extra period, outscoring the Razorbacks, 18-14
- A dunk by Walters in the final seconds secured the four-point win
UP NEXT
- Alabama will play Friday in the 2024 SEC Tournament, with the game time and opponent to be announced later
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