For No. 24 Alabama, the search for consistency continues.
Fortunately for the Crimson Tide, the search for wins doesn’t.
A come-from-behind, 74-72 victory Tuesday at Vanderbilt gave the Tide four victories in the past five games and solidified their resume for an at-large bid to next month’s NCAA Tournament.
Alabama (18-10, 8-7 Southeastern Conference) aims to keep its late-season roll going on Saturday when it hosts South Carolina in Tuscaloosa.
The Crimson Tide used 17 second-half points from Jahvon Quinerly and excellent foul shooting to hold off the Commodores. Alabama has been decent at the foul line this season, making 72.8 percent, but took it up to another level by sinking 22 of 25 (88 percent) in Nashville.
“This was a character win,” Tide coach Nate Oats said. “We had every chance we could have to fold. We had a lot of guys make some big plays for us. We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, but we hit our free throws tonight.
“We don’t win that game without every last free throw we made tonight.”
Alabama used the foul line to keep Vanderbilt at bay, going 7 of 8 at the stripe over the final five minutes as the Commodores ate into an 11-point deficit.
JD Davison stuffed the stat sheet for the Crimson Tide with 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Noah Gurley added 11 points and three blocks, while Keon Ellis contributed 10 points and eight boards to supplement Quinerly’s team-high 19 points.
Alabama won without a particularly good outing from leading scorer Jaden Shackelford, who was held to eight points on 3-of-9 shooting over 32 minutes. He averages 16.8 points and 5.6 boards per game.
Quinerly contributes 14.1 points and 4.4 assists per game, while Ellis chips in 11.7 points per game. As a team, the Tide score 80.2 points per contest despite making only 30.9 percent from the 3-point arc.
Meanwhile, the Gamecocks (17-10, 8-7) enter on a roll of their own. They beat visiting Mississippi State 66-56 on Wednesday for their fourth win in a row, pushing them into a tie for fifth in the SEC with Alabama.
Jermaine Couisnard pumped in 22 points for South Carolina as a follow-up to a career-high 33 in a Feb. 19 victory over LSU. It marked the first time in his career that the junior hit the 20-point mark in consecutive games.
South Carolina also got 14 points from Keyshawn Bryant and shackled the Bulldogs’ normally efficient offense. Gamecocks coach Frank Martin threw a variety of looks at Mississippi State — zone press, 2-3, man-to-man — designed to force the Bulldogs to take 3-point shots.
The result: 0-for-14 from beyond the arc and 35.8 percent shooting overall, plus a 38-29 rebounding advantage for South Carolina.
“If we can get clean stops and rebound the ball, we can get out and run,” Martin said. “The guys are doing an unbelievable job of that right now. What we’re doing now fits our team a little bit better.”
This will be the season’s only meeting between South Carolina and Alabama.
–Field Level Media
