Alabama basketball took its foot off the gas late but held on to win over the Arkansas Razorbacks on the road in a hostile environment.
Alabama basketball moved to 9-1 with the 85-81 win tonight with the third time under head coach Nate Oats to start 9-1 in league play, which had not been done since the 1986-87 season before Oats arrived in 2019.
Alabama had 14 turnovers on the night with 17 assists.
Alabama’s Mark Sears won the hard hat.
Aden Holloway became the first SEC player this season with 90 field goals and 50 threes in under 500 minutes of game time, per the Alabama Men’s Basketball page. Holloway had eight points and four assists in the game.
The Tide had three blocks and barely beat the Hogs on the glass 35-32.
“A good road win. Proud of our guys. Just got to close it better,” said Oats.
Takeaway #1: Zvonimir Ivisic and Adou Thiero were unstoppable
Alabama basketball had no answer in guarding Zvonimir Ivisic, who was unstoppable at times, attacked switches and mismatched to score 27 points and hit 5-9 from deep. Ivisic had seven rebounds to show for, along with six stocks (blocks+steals).
Adou Thiero was physical and had problems with the paint, finishing with 22 points on 8-14 shooting, but was limited in playing only 24 minutes because of foul trouble for much of the game.
Takeaway #2: Grant Nelson and Chris Youngblood had an efficient night offensively
Grant Nelson, who had Arkansas on his final list of schools before choosing Alabama back in the spring of 2023, had another efficient night for the Tide. He scored 15 points on 5-7 shooting from the floor and two big-time blocks at the rim.
Chris Youngblood continues his hot scoring stretch with the Tide with another 15-point game and was money down the stretch from deep and from the free throw line when the team needed him most.
Youngblood hit two threes and hit a big and-one three in the corner to help the Tide get out to a big lead in the second half. The minutes continue to skyrocket for Youngblood, with the second-leading minutes of the game playing in 31 minutes.
Takeaway #3: Alabama’s inability to finish out games
Alabama was up 18 points around the seven-minute mark, and Arkansas went on a 21-6 run to cut the lead down to three with 2:57 to go. Alabama got the buckets it needed and got the stops on the other end to force the Hogs to earn every bucket, but the inability to make free throws, play careless basketball with turnovers, and get up bad shots with a big lead is something the team will have to continue to get better at down the stretch of the season with its hardest games looming.
“We’re playing to get better on every possession. And when you start playing the scoreboard, and you don’t play to get better on every possession, that’s the stuff that happens to you,” said Oats.
Next up for Alabama basketball (20-3, 9-1): at Texas (15-9, 4-7) – Feb. 11 at 9 p.m. EST
Next up for Arkansas basketball (14-9, 3-7): vs. LSU (12-11, 1-9) – Feb. 12 at 9 p.m. EST