Alabama basketball defeated Rutgers to head to the Championship in the First Players Era Thanksgiving Festival.
Despite letting Rutgers hang around all night long in a game where 55 fouls were called and the game lasted over two and a half hours, Alabama holds on to a 95-90 win to move to the championship game and an extra 500,000$ to the Nil Collective with a victory against Oregon on Saturday night.
Mo Dioubate won the hard hat again tonight for the second time in a row.
“We are not where we want to be defensively, really disappointed, but they are really talented,” said Oats.
Takeaway #1: Bench Steps up in a big way
Alabama needed its bench tonight in a game where Mark Sears was in foul trouble for most of the game, and it stepped up in a big way. The bench had 38 points, with Mo Dioubate, Jarin Stevenson, and Derrion Reid all having 10 points. Stevenson finally knocked down two threes after starting 0-18 from behind the arc. Dioubate almost had another double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Reid made free throws late and buckets down the stretch and had the assignment on Ace Bailey most of the night.
Takeaway #2: Turnovers are a problem
Alabama started the game out slow on the offensive end, partly due to live ball turnovers. By the under-12 media timeout, the Tide had six turnovers and finished the game with 20 turnovers. Rutgers had 23 points off those turnovers, so Alabama held strong for the most part after giving the Scarlet Knights extra chances. Despite the turnovers Alabama still almost hit the century mark in the scoring department, so the Tide needs to be more careful in not making careless passes or preventable offensive fouls.
“Our turnovers are a major issue,” said Oats.
Takeaway #3: Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper Takeover
Alabama basketball could not stop the five-star duo of Bailey and Harper all night. Although Reid stepped up to slow down Bailey, for the most part, not one Tide defender could stop Harper all night. The two will be top 10 picks in the upcoming NBA draft and will try and carry Rutgers to the tournament.
Harper had 37 points, 11-19 from the field, hitting 15-16 from the line. Bailey had 22 points, on 9-18 from the field, and 3-3 from the line. Not many teams will be able to stop the duo, but containing the other guys like Jeremiah Williams, the only other in double figures with 10 points, will be the key to victory.
Next up for Alabama (6-1): vs. Oregon (5-1) -Nov. 30 at 9:30 p.m. EST
Next up for Rutgers (5-2): vs. Texas A&M (5-2) -Nov. 30 at 3:30 p.m. EST