The Alabama basketball team hosted Arkansas basketball on Saturday for senior day, and most people expected it to be a sweat-free, easy win for the Crimson Tide to close out the season. Alabama came into the game favored by 15.5 points, so it wasn't expected to be close. The Razorbacks gave the Crimson Tide all they could handle, however, and the game ended up going to overtime.
Arkansas actually outplayed Alabama basketball for the vast majority of this game. They led by 15 points in the first half, and they led by six points with a little over one minute remaining in the game. Two huge late threes by the Crimson Tide got the game into overtime, and Alabama won it there.
“There was a lot of things they did better, but we figured out a way to get a win,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game, according to an article from Sports Illustrated. “We made some tough shots. Wrightsell hit it late to tie it was huge. Sam Walters in overtime was huge when Trelly was hurt.”
It was senior day, and the seniors stepped up big time for Alabama. Nick Pringle and Grant Nelson were two seniors that the Crimson Tide were celebrating, and they had big games. Both players had double doubles. Mark Sears led Alabama with 22 points, and he praised the play of Nelson and Pringle after the game.
“They really helped us win this game today with their tough plays,” Sears said in regards to Pringle and Nelson. “Blue collar plays they made, especially getting rebounds, deflections, blocking shots and affecting shots around the rim. They did a really great job today.”
Arkansas is in 12th place in the SEC, so going down against a team of that caliber as huge favorites on senior day would not have been a good way for the Alabama basketball team to end their regular season. Instead, they were able to comeback and pick up a gritty win as they now head to the postseason.
The Crimson Tide finish the regular season with a 21-10 overall record and a 13-5 mark in SEC conference play. They finished just one game back of Tennessee who won the conference regular season title.
Now, Alabama will head to the SEC Tournament next week, and then after that, the big dance begins. The Crimson Tide are currently ranked #16 in the country so they should end up being anywhere from a 3-6 seed depending on how the SEC Tournament goes.
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