Tide Falls At Vanderbilt 96-90

The 13th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide fell to 11th ranked Vanderbilt 96-90 on Wednesday night in Nashville. The Tide fell to 11-4 overall and 1-1 in the SEC while the surprising Commodores improved to 15-0, 2-0 on the season. Alabama’s Aiden Sherrell was considered a game time decision after being injured in the Kentucky game on Saturday. The big man was unable to go which was a big loss for Bama. On top of that All-American candidate LaBaron Philon missed most of the second half with what coach Nate Oats called “full body cramps”, which required IV fluids. Philon was unable to re-enter the game and finished with 18 points in only 20 minutes of action. The Tide had solved the quirky playing at atmosphere of Vandy’s Memorial Gym the last five times as the visitor, but couldn’t make enough plays tonight to continue that streak.

Without Sherrell available Oats used a starting lineup of Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway, Latrell Wrightsell, Amari Allen, and Keiten Bristow. The Tide started slowly, turning the ball over on most of their first possessions, and fell behind 11-3 at the first media timeout at the 16:25 mark. Bama clawed back to a 15-10 deficit with 11:35 left in the half. Vandy then went on another run and pushed out to a 30-17 with 7:39 on the clock. Philon scored seven straight points for the Tide and got some support from London Jemison, who was playing like a man possessed. Wrightsell, battling a terrible shooting slump, got a fortuitous bounce on a corner three to close the margin to 34-32 with 3:42 left. Allen scored in the lane and Philon struck from three point line and all of a sudden the Tide lead the game 37-36 at the 2:44 mark. The Commodores scored five straight to take a four point lead. Jalil Bethea made 2-2 at the free throw line and Allen scored again to tie the game at 41. Allen put in another hoop before Vandy scored at the halftime buzzer to tie the game at 43 at intermission.

In the first half the Tide shot 14-32 for 44%, but only 5-18 for 28% from deep. Bama made 10-13 free throws, and 24 rebounds- eight offensively, six assists, one block, two steals, and eight turnovers. Philon was having a fantastic scoring night with 15 points on 4-7 shooting at the break. Wrightsell contributed eight points, and Allen scored six and had seven rebounds and two assists. Jemison added five points and six rebounds. Considering the start and sloppy play the Tide had to feel pretty good being tied.

Vanderbilt shot 14-31 for 45%, 4-10 from three, and 11-17 at the charity stripe. The Dores had 16 rebounds, with only three offensively, dished out five assists, blocked two shots, had six steals, and took great care of the ball with only three turnovers. Former Troy, High Point, and Oklahoma player,Duke Miles led the way with 17 points.

Alabama began the second half with the same starters. Vanderbilt scored first, but the Tide got an old fashioned three point play from Philon, and five straight points from Holloway to put Bama ahead 51-47 with 15:45 left in the game. Philon left the game, to never to return after playing four minutes. It took TV announcer Daymeon Fishback about 14 minutes of game time to realize Philon had left the game and gone to the locker room. The Tide was able to hang for a while, as Allen and Holloway were carrying the load. With the score 62-60 in Vandy’s favor, Jemison went to the free throw line and missed both tries. Holloway followed and made only 1-2 freebies for a 64-61 game.

The Commodores took advantage of Philon-and Sherrell- being out and the missed free throws for a 69-63 lead with 9:15 left in the game. Oats then received his first technical foul of the seasons and VU took advantage. With 7:46 remaining the score was 74-65 for the home team. Vandy was able to keep the lead between nine and 11 points before Bama made an attempt to comeback. Allen and Holloway kept the Tide on the verge of getting there. Wrightsell hit a three pointer with 1:07 left to close within six at 91-85. Allen scored inside to cut the lead to 94-90 with 36 seconds on the clock. Alabama could not get any closer and the Commodores took the 96-90 victory.

In the second half the Tide shot a miserable 12-38 for 32% with 4-22 for 18% from three and 19-25 at the free throw line. Overall the team finished 26-70 for 37%, 9-40 for an awful 18% from deep and 29-38 from the charity stripe for 76%. Bama grabbed 49 rebounds, 18 offensively, had only one block, only three steals, only nine assists, and 13 big turnovers. Allen was the star with 25 points on 6-11 shooting from the field and 12-12 at the free throw line and grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out four assists. Holloway scored 22 and Philon finished with 18 in his 20 minutes of play. Jemison only scored five but tied fellow freshman Allen with a team leading 11 rebounds. Bol Bowen helped on the boards with seven but only added three points.

Vandy shot 13-28 for 46% in the second half and 3-10 from deep while making 24-33 free throws. Overall the Dores finished 27-59 for 46%, 7-20 from deep, and made 35 of a ridiculous 50 free throw attempts. VU had 38 rebounds, 11 assists, six blocks, nine steals, and eight turnovers. Tyler Tanner scored 29 points with seven assists. Miles finished with 19 and the other three starters finished in double figures as well.

Oats seemed dismayed that Philon went out and couldn’t come back saying “ Labaron left with full body cramps and had to go get an IV and never came back. I don’t know how he had full body cramps only playing 19 minutes, I don’t know how that happened.” Oats praised Allen for his performance and also said that Jemison and Bol Bowen played hard and he “liked what they did”, other than not being able to put the ball in the basket. The seventh year coach said ““we didn’t deserve to win, turned the ball over too much, didn’t come out ready to start the game, and only had nine assists to 13 turnovers.”

This was a frustrating loss to a really good team. Philon and Sherrell are in their own ways the two most valuable players on the team and missing the both was not ideal. Allen did all he could to try and will the team to victory, but needed more help. The Tide had some moments they can’t be proud of. Twice a Bama player got delay of game calls for catching a missed free throw and throwing the ball back at the basket. The second one, by Holloway, was a technical and cost the Tide a point. Oats technical cost two more points. The Alabama bench shot a combined 1-19 from the field and 0-16 from three point range. The ridiculous 62 fouls called in the game is the most in a college basketball game this season. Fifty attempts by Vandy and 38 by the Tide makes the game almost unwatchable. The SEC office needs to know people don’t pay to watch a ref show. Really an ugly performance by Alabama, yet they only lost by six to the 10th ranked team in the country, on the road, without their two most important players.

Next up. Saturday a home game with Texas at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be shown in ESPN.

RollTide