
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men’s basketball team used a big second half to beat East Tennessee State by a score of 85-69 Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide scored 49 points and shot 55 percent from the field and 41 percent from beyond the arc in the second half to secure the 16-point win.
Guard Jaden Shackelford led the way with a career-best eight three-pointers (8-of-13) on his to scoring a game high 26 points. Guard Jahvon Quinerly also had a big game with 14 points to go along with a career-best nine assists compared to only one turnover, while forward Jordan Bruner added eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
Alabama (5-3) improved to 5-0 this season when it scores 80-or-more points. The Crimson Tide used a 39-29 advantage on the glass and outscored the Buccaneers 21-2 in second chance points on the night.
Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
“I thought we played really well in the second half. We haven’t been able to hit shots for a lot of games this year so it was nice to see Shack get going from three. He got us going and that second half he had was huge. It makes things a lot easier when shots are going in. I was really happy with a lot of the guys to be honest. I thought Quinerly had a huge game and did a pretty good job on defense in the second half. Our effort was where it needed to be in the second half. We had a big run that increased our lead from five to 15 and Alex Reese set the tone with that. It’s a big credit to him. His attitude has been great really all year. I think he’s been huge for us and he’s been what we are looking for out of our seniors. I was happy that he got that run started for us.”
Team Stats
- After leading by just one point at the end of the first half, Alabama outscored ETSU (4-4) 49-34 in the second half to pull away
- The Crimson Tide dominated the paint, outscoring the Bucs 34-16 on the night
- UA had 20 assists compared to just 12 turnovers, only three of which came after intermission, and owned a 20-11 edge in points off turnovers
- Alabama’s bench contributed 26 points while only giving up 12 to the ETSU bench
- Shackelford led the Crimson Tide with a season-high 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 8-of-13 from beyond the three-point arc while grabbing four rebounds in 34 minutes of action
- Shackelford’s 16 second-half points were key to the Tide’s victory
First Half
- After a back-and-forth first 10 minutes of action, Alabama lead ETSU 16-15
- With 5:41 left to go in the first stanza, the Crimson Tide and the Bucs stood tied at 20-20
- Alabama held its largest lead of the half at 33-28 with 2:24 remining, but ETSU used a quick run to send the game into the locker room trailing the Tide by just one, 36-35
- The first half featured four ties and five lead changes, with neither team leading by more than six points
- Shackelford led the Tide with 10 first-half points, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc in 19 minutes of action
Second Half
- ETSU began the half leading the Tide 40-39 with 18:17 left to play, but that would be the last lead for the Bucs
- The UA leading 49-44 at the 13:26 mark, an Alex Reese three-pointer followed by a dunk keyed a 13-3 run over the next 3:43 to give the Tide a 62-47 advantage with 9:43 left.
- The Crimson Tide outscored the Bucs 23-18 in the last seven minutes of the game and would lead by as many as 20 points before settling for the 16-point win
- Alabama shot an efficient 54.8 percent (17-of-31) from the field in the second half while outscoring the Bucs 49-34 over that span
- Shackelford scored 16 second-half points, making five three-point shots (5-of-7) down the stretch
Up Next
- After closing its non-conference slate with a win over ETSU, Alabama opens Southeastern Conference play on Dec. 29 against Ole Miss
- The game will be held in Coleman Coliseum and will air on the SEC Network at 8 p.m. CT
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