The 9th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide advanced to the championship game of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas on Wednesday night with a hard fought victory over a tough Rutgers team, 95-90. The Scarlet Knights’ two super freshmen, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, almost carried Rutgers to victory, combining for 59 of the 90 points. Mark Sears, Grant Nelson, and Mo Dioubate, along with some help from Jarin Stevenson and Derrion Reid held off the scrappy team from New Jersey.
Coach Nate Oats used a starting five of Sears, Nelson, Latrell Wrightsell, Jr, Clifford Omoruyi, and Labaron Philon for the second night in a row. Harper made his presence known early and often, putting the Knights out to a quick 4-0 lead before the Tide scored. Philon made an early basket after shooting 0-9 on Tuesday night.
The game was another physical affair for two teams that both went to overtime in Tuesday night wins. Reid came in early and notched back-to-back threes to tie the game at 13-13 with 13:35 left in the half. Unfortunately the Tide was turning the ball over at an alarming rate and fouling almost every trip down the court, and on top of that Bama missed several point blank “bunnies” right at the rim. Aidan Sherrell only played two minutes, but did connect on a three to give Bama a lead of 18-13 with 10:40 left in the half. The Tide had several chances to push the lead, but could not consistently make their free throws, while Rutgers, usually a poor free throw shooting team, made theirs.
The Scarlet Knights ripped off a 10-2 run after the Tide had an eight point lead, tying the game at 22 with 7:25 left. Harper and Bailey burned Bama in the lane and at the line to take a 36-33 lead. At that point the Tide was 2-7 at the free throw line with 12 turnovers while Rutgers was 9-10 at the charity stripe. With 2:26 left RU took at five point lead but the Tide closed strong and the game was tied 41-41 at the half.
Bama shot a strong 16-29 for 55%, with 5-13 from deep for 39%, but only 4-9 for 44% on free shots. With 22 rebounds, 11 assists, three blocks, and a steal. The Tide should have had a nice lead, but 11 big turnovers along with the poor free throw shooting held the team back. Nelson had eight points and four rebounds going into the locker room while Sears added six points and five assists. Rutgers shot 14-31 for 45%, 1-8 from three, and 12-16 at the line. The Knights had 14 rebounds, one block, four steals, six assists, and six turnovers. Bailey led with 13 points and Harper added 12.
Oats replaced Philon, who has had his two worst games of the year this week, with Stevenson to open the second half. Stevenson made the move pay off with 18:55 left when he made his first three pointer of the season for a 44-43 Bama lead. Sears heated up with two from long range and a pair of free throws over a two minute period to keep the Tide ahead 56-53 at the 14:58 mark.
It looked like the Tide was taking control after a 16-4 run gave the Tide a 73-65 lead with 10:09 left. But there was no quit in the Knights, Harper in particular. Sears was called for his fourth foul right after and left the game and the Tide went stagnant on offense. With 7:16 remaining Harper had cut the lead to 80-78 by blowing past defenders and scoring at will at the rim, and drew fouls on almost every trip. Sears returned and highlighted a 7-0 run with a blow-by layup for a 87-78 lead with 5:19 left, and Alabama seemingly had the game under control.
Not so fast my friend.
More Harper baskets and free throws combined with some careless Bama turnovers made the lead only 88-87 with 2:22 left. Reid made an acrobatic basket, but a subsequent shot clock violation turnover hurt the Tide and gave Rutgers a chance to tie with 58 seconds left. The defense tightened and free throws from Reid and Nelson were enough for the Tide to hold on for the 95-90 win.
The Tide shot 14-29 in the half, 5-12 from three and 21-27 at the free throw line. Overall Bama blistered the nets at 52% on 30-58 shooting, 10-25 for 40% from deep and 25-36 for 69% at the stripe. The team finished with 43 rebonds- 16 offensively-, three blocks, six steals, 16 assists, but a harrowing 20 turnovers- which led to 23 Knight points. Sears finished with 24 points for the second game in a row, but shot only 7-19 from the field, 3-9 from deep and 7-10 at the free throw line. Sears also had five assists off set by five turnovers. Nelson just missed another double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds, and added three assists. Dioubate was just short of another double-double as well with 10 points, nine rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Stevenson had his best game of the season with 10 points on 2-3 shooting from deep and 4-4 free throws, and also grabbed four rebounds. Reid had a strong game with 10 points and four rebounds of his own.
The Scarlet Knights shot 15-34 for 44% in the half, including only 1-5 from deep, while making 18-19 free throws. Overall Rutgers shot 29-65 for 45%, 2-13 for 15% from three, and a sizzling 30-35 for 86% at the charity stripe. The Knights grabbed 31 rebounds, had one block, eight steals, eight assists, and turnover it over only nine times. The fabulous freshman Harper shined with 37 points on 11-19 shooting and 15-16 made free throws. The son of former NBA star Ron Harper did not make a three point shot, but could score anytime he wanted at the hoop. Bailey shot 9-18 for his 22 points.
After the game Oats said the team battled after playing such a tough, physical, overtime game with Houston last night. The sixth year coach continued that he was “proud of Stevenson for finally getting the lid off the basket” and that “Reid gave us some great minutes on both sided of the court.”
Another tough, scrappy, win for the Tide. It is becoming clear that Dioubate is the glue of this team right now, doing all the little things and bringing back memories of Herb Jones. Nelson has been outstanding all season offensively, defensively, and rebounding. Reid has been a great defender as a freshman and will be a true weapon if he can continue to grow on the offensive end.
Stevenson seeing the ball go through the hoop should wake him up. Holloway has game changing speed, ballhandling ability, and a dead eye from three point range. Early season freshman phenom Philon has struggled mightily during this Vegas run, but has shown that he can be much better. The fact that the Tide was able to beat Illinois without Sears scoring a point, and both Houston and Rutgers when Philon scored only 5 total in the two games, highlights the elite depth on this roster.
Alabama now gets two days off before playing Oregon in the finals of the Festival. The championship game time and network have not been announced at this time, but chances are it will tip around 7:30 p.m. C.T. on Saturday, just enough time to get to a TV after Bama football takes down the Barn.
Roll Tide
Blue Collar Basketball
