The Alabama men’s basketball team fell to Vanderbilt, 82-76.
– The Alabama men’s basketball team fell to Vanderbilt, 82-76, in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament Thursday night in Amalie Arena. The Crimson Tide led by as many as 15 points early in the second half but allowed the Commodores to score 54 second half points to result in the team’s third consecutive loss.
Scotty Pippen Jr. connected on only 5-of-19 shots on the night but scored a game-high 26 points as a direct result of drawing 12 fouls and knocking down 15-of-21 free throws in the contest. Myles Stute added 18 points off the strength of six three-pointers.“I give Vanderbilt a lot of credit. They were down 15 in the second half. They stayed with it and fought hard. They’re a tough team. It took everything we had to beat them at their place. We knew it would be a tough game.
The two teams would trade points until the end of the half with Alabama holding a 10-point lead going into the breakUA paced the half in rebounds, 24-17, points off the bench, 11-5, and points in the paint, 16-6Alabama paced the opening seven minutes of action, outscoring Vanderbilt 13-8 to build its largest lead of the contest at 51-36 with just over 14 minutes to play
Vanderbilt tied the game off a pair of free throws, 57-57, with 9:11 to play, however three made free throws from Ellis and an and-1 from Jusaun Holt put UA up 63-57 at the under eight-minute timeout