Breaking News:Really sad and terrible one for the Alabama Crimson
On Wednesday night, Alabama fell to the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats at the Hall of Fame Series in Phoenix, Arizona, with a final score of 87-74.
The Crimson Tide went winless in its tough stretch against top 10 opponents, dropping games against then-No. 4 Purdue and No. 8 Creighton before Wednesday night’s contest.
This was an anticipated matchup for several reasons. Obviously, this was a game between two highly talented teams, but there were also a couple of connections between this Arizona team and last year’s Alabama team.
Most notably, Arizona guard Jaden Bradley was donning a crimson and white jersey this time last season. He entered the transfer portal in early April, eventually deciding to take his talent to Arizona.
In addition to this, the Crimson Tide once again faced off against forward Keshad Johnson. Alabama fans may remember Johnson as part of the San Diego State team that knocked the Crimson Tide out of the NCAA tournament last season in the Sweet 16.
Despite the hype heading into this game, both Alabama and Arizona struggled offensively in the first half. It was the defensive play of both teams that kept this one close until halftime.
Alabama shot just 3-22 from long range in the first half. The Crimson Tide shot 22 3-pointers total in its previous contest against Creighton. Alabama finished the game shooting 8-40 from 3.
It was a particularly rough half for forward Grant Nelson. The North Dakota State transfer went just 1-9 from the field in the half, going 0-7 from beyond the arc.
Picking up some of this slack for Alabama was forward Sam Walters. The freshman had his best offensive half of the season, putting up 9 points on 3-6 shooting and tallying 6 points at the free-throw line for 15 total points.
“If he’s open, everyone on the team thinks the ball is going in,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said of Walters postgame.
Guard Mark Sears and Arizona guard Caleb Love were expected to be going at each other’s throats all night, but both guards were uncharacteristically quiet in the first half.
Sears finished the half with just 7 points on 1-4 shooting from the field, with 5 of his points coming from the free-throw line. Love went 0-3 from the field in the half, scoring his only 2 points from the free-throw line.