A 57-point second half helped the top-ranked Arizona Wildcats defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide 96-75 in the annual C.M. Newton Classic, held at Legacy Arena in Birmingham on Saturday.
Alabama led at the half, but the Wildcats outscored the Tide 33-11 through the first 10:36 of the second frame to take control of the game, 72-52. Arizona outrebounded Alabama 28-13 in the second half and scored 15 points off the Tide’s 9 turnovers to seal the win.
“They are the number one team in the country for a reason. We came out, didn’t have a good start and it just progressively got worse,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. “They scored 39 in the entire first half and had 39 in less than 12 minutes to start the second half. So, starting the second half was bad. Obviously, they came out of halftime ready to play and we didn’t.”
The Crimson Tide (7-3) was paced by Labaron Philon Jr.,’s 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Latrell Wrightsell Jr. added 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Philon’s double-double was the first of his career.
Aiden Sherrell, a 6’11” forward from Detroit, added seven points, eight blocks, and five boards in the losing effort. Behind Sherrell’s efforts, the Crimson Tide matched a school record of 15 blocked shots.
Arizona (9-0) was led offensively by Brayden Burries, who scored 28 points on 11-for-19 shooting (5-10 3-point). Motieju Krivas added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Wildcats.
“It’s nearly impossible to win a game whenever your opponent has 28 more field goal attempts than you,” Oats added. “If you look, we outshot them from the field and the free throw line, percentage wise. They made one more free throw than we did and got 28 more field goal attempts. You can’t win games by giving your opponent 28 more field goal attempts. We lost the rebounds by 20 again which has been a reoccurring issue with us.”
The Tide will look to bounce back on Wednesday night at home against South Florida. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT inside Coleman Coliseum and can be seen on SEC Network+. TG
Cover photo: Alabama’s Labaron Philon in action against two Arizona defenders | Courtesy UA Athletics
