Alabama Hoops Dominates Arkansas, 90-59
It was domination from start to finish for the Alabama Crimson Tide (11-3, 6-0) as they defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks (10-4, 2-4) 90-59.
With this win, The Crimson Tide secured their longest winning streak since the 2011-2012 campaign with 7 straight wins. Additionally, they hold the top spot in the conference with 6 straight SEC wins.
With forward Jordan Bruner out with a meniscus injury and defensive star Herb Jones a game time decision, questions circulated as to whether the Crimson Tide would pick up their dominance right where they left off against a solid Arkansas squad. Those questions were answered fast.
For Arkansas the Hogs only led for 44 total seconds, hitting the first field goal of the game. From there, Arkansas mistakes and a barrage of Alabama 3-point shots let the Crimson Tide take a commanding lead.
Offensively, the star of the game was John Petty. Early in the second half, Petty hit his fourth 3-point shot of the game to solidify his name in Alabama basketball lore by overtaking Alabama great Brian WIlliams for most 3-point shots made in program history with 264. He would finish 5-for-9 from three on the day, putting his career total at 265.
“He could have left after his junior year and decided to come back, you like for guys that come back for their senior year to do great things,” Head Coach Nate Oats said.
“Breaking the school record for threes made, hopefully he can play his way into a first round draft pick.”
Defensively, Arkansas’ 59 points was the second fewest the Crimson Tide have allowed this season since their opener against Jacksonville State. The Crimson Tide finished the game with 12 steals.
“I thought getting those steals and turning them into points was big,” Oats said. “Our whole defense is playing better and better.”
The first 10 minutes of play were sloppy at best for the Hogs, as they shot just 2-13 on field goals and racked up 9 turnovers. The Hogs ended up with 12 turnovers and shot just 6-26 on field goals at the end of the first half. Alabama would end up taking leads of 15, 19 and 23 points, before ending the first half leading 42-19.
In the second half, Arkansas would begin by going on 5-0 run, and would begin to trade buckets with Alabama. It would prove to be their best run of the game as Alabama would jump out to a 30 point lead at 66-35 and would stay around there for the rest of the game.
Alabama heads to Baton Rouge on Tuesday to face the LSU Tigers on Tuesday at 8:00 pm CT. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN 2.
Alabama Basketball Players Who've Played in the NBA