The Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team dropped an SEC home contest to the Texas Longhorns 92-88 on Saturday at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa. Texas senior guard Jordan Pope pumped in 28 points on 8-for-17 shooting and six three-pointers as the Longhorns (10-6, 1-2 SEC) picked up their first conference win.
“Obviously not a good loss,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. “When you’re trying to win the league, you can’t afford to give up a loss at home. You’ve got to give Texas a bunch of credit; I told our guys, this is going to be a much better team. Coach Sean Martin does a good job wherever he’s been. Those guys have some pride. He called his guys out in postgame press conferences and they turned it around.”
Alabama (11-5, 1-2 SEC) was led in scoring by Labaron Philon Jr.’s 21 points, while Aden Holloway pumped in 18 of his own. Aiden Sherrell contributed 13 points, while Amari Allen and Taylor Bol Bowen had 11 apiece.
After leading 46-45 at the half, the Longhorns stretched the lead to 69-56 with 11:27 to go in the second half, but Alabama stormed back with a 17-5 run to cut the Texas lead to one. The two teams traded buckets for the last four minutes, and Texas held on for the narrow victory.
“Texas just out-toughed us in the second half particularly, even in the start of the first half too. They got to the free throw line well, they shot 22 free throws in the second half, so we kept putting them at the line,” Oats added. “We’re just not good enough defensively right now.” TG
