Alabama remains perfect in SEC play, downs No. 15 Arkansas at Bud Walton
Alabama basketball is on some kind of roll right now.
The Crimson Tide blitzed past Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena Wednesday, falling on an incredible final 4 minutes to win, 84-69. With the win, Alabama improves to 14-2 on the season and 4-0 in SEC play.
It’s early, but it’s hard to overstate what a huge win this is for the Crimson Tide in the race for the SEC regular season title and No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament. Alabama is one of just 3 remaining SEC teams that is perfect in conference play, joining Texas A&M and Tennessee. Arkansas, which was the No. 15 team in the nation coming into Wednesday’s game, falls to 1-3 in conference play following losses to LSU, Auburn and now Alabama.
The only team truly testing Alabama for the top spot in the SEC right now is Tennessee. The Vols have blitzed through the start of their SEC schedule, with reeling Kentucky coming to Knoxville Saturday. Alabama faces off against the Vols in just over a month on Feb. 15.
Brandon Miller helped the way for the Crimson Tide against the Razorbacks. The star freshman totaled 14 points with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. His back-to-back 3-pointers with just under 4 minutes remaining effectively slammed the door shut on Arkansas’ late comeback attempt.
Mark Sears led both squads in scoring. He totaled 24 points, adding 4 rebounds and 3 assists in the process.
This is the 2nd time in 3 years that Alabama has started SEC play 4-0. Next up for the Crimson Tide are the LSU Tigers Saturday in Tuscaloosa.
Great win over #15 Arky at Bud Walton. I was concerned about this game.
Not a lot of hoops fans on this site, but we just cooked the Hogs on their home floor. Little man Muss was whining (surprise!) about the officiating in his post game presser makes it an even better win.
Muss is a whining dude, never going to win sportsman of the year. The idea that the hogs were going to scare this Tide team is the wrong strategy. Frankly, BAMA is just too long and dynamic for most. When Clowney and Miller hit those 3 huge 3s in about a minute, it was over and out in Fayetteville.
When those two turned it on at the end there, it was lights out. Again, congrats, ‘Bama
As for Muss, I don’t think he is compensated around being sportsman of the year. Elite 8’s? That’s another matter and I think he is 2 out of 3 on that count. Having said that, Hog’s got issues this year. Injuries are big, but not all the story.
And that’s not even the biggest story, between ‘Bama and Tenn, I think the SEC has at least 1 and maybe 2 final 4 teams. Obviously, I’ll cheer like crazy against you when we play you, but hope you dominate beyond that!
Nate Oats and Bama are very impressive. Great win on the road