The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
4-3
Alabama
4-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 38 | 30 | 68 |
| Texas | 26 | 51 | 77 |
Men's Basketball uses second-half rally to defeat Alabama, 77-68
12.02.2016 | Men's Basketball
Five Longhorns reach double figures in scoring led by team-high 16 points from Kerwin Roach Jr., as Texas rallies from 12-point halftime deficit.
AUSTIN, Texas – Five Longhorns scored in double digits as Texas battled back from a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat Alabama, 77-68, on Friday evening at the Frank Erwin Center. Sophomore guard Kerwin Roach Jr. posted a team-high 16 points, including hitting a career-best 12-of-16 from the free throw line.
In his first career start, sophomore guard/forward Tevin Mack poured in 11 points, all coming in the second half. Freshman forward Jarrett Allen, freshman guard Jacob Young and senior forward Shaquille Cleare each scored 11 points for the Longhorns (4-3). Alabama guard Dazon Ingram led the Crimson Tide (4-3) with 12 points.
Alabama jumped out to a 10-2 lead following a Corban Collins 3-pointer with 16:28 left. The Longhorns cut the deficit to 12-9 on a 3-pointer from Young at the with 14:26 mark. The Crimson Tide increased the margin to 25-16 on a Donta Hall dunk with 9:29 remaining, but Texas responded with six straight points to pull within 25-22 on a pair of free throws by Kendal Yancy at the 7:01 mark.
Alabama answered with a 10-2 run to build a 35-24 cushion after a Braxton Key 3-pointer with 3:00 remaining. After a pair of Roach free throws, the Crimson Tide used a Shannon Hale 3-pointer with three seconds left to take a 38-26 advantage into the break. Alabama hit 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, while the Longhorns converted just 34.8 percent (8-of-23) and had eight turnovers.
The second half proved to be a completely different story. The Longhorns used a 10-1 to open the frame, capped by a 3-pointer from freshman guard Andrew Jones to trim the lead to 39-36 with 16:28 left to play.
Roach brought the crowd of 10,268 to their feet, when he cut the Alabama lead to two (42-40) with a dunk at the 14:31 mark. The Longhorns claimed their first advantage of the game (45-44), when Roach converted a traditional three-point play with 12:47 left.
The two teams traded leads over the next six minutes. Cleare and sophomore guard Eric Davis Jr. used back-to-back baskets to give Texas its first three-point lead of the game (60-57) with 5:55 remaining.
The Crimson Tide clawed back to take a 62-60 lead after an Ingram dunk at the 4:33 mark, but a Mack jumper and another three from Young gave the Longhorns a 65-63 with 3:38 left. Texas outscored Alabama by a 12-5 margin the rest of the way to seal the victory.
The Longhorns travel to face Michigan in their first true road game of the season on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich, and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas 77, Alabama 68
December 2, 2016
Frank Erwin Center
Attendance: 10,268
Team Notes
- Texas improved to 8-4 against Alabama in the all-time series between the two schools. This marked the first meeting between the Longhorns and Crimson Tide since Dec. 4, 1971 (Texas won 85-83 in Austin).
- The Longhorns improved to 481-113 all-time in home games at the Frank Erwin Center. The Horns improved to 209-30 at the Erwin Center in the last 15 seasons (since start of the 2002-03 season). Texas improved to 18-4 at home in the Shaka Smart era.
- The Longhorns rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit (38-26), the largest deficit overcome by Texas this season.
- UT posted a 51-30 scoring margin in the second half. The Horns converted 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from the floor in the final 20 minutes while holding Alabama to just 40.9 percent (9-of-22).
- Trailing 62-60 at the 4:05 mark, the Longhorns closed the game with a 17-6 run.
- Five Longhorns reached double figures in scoring.
- Texas posted a 35-27 advantage on the glass, including a 20-10 margin in the second half.
- UT hit 22-of-30 free throws, while Alabama converted 10-of-18 from the line.
- The Longhorns registered a 38-28 advantage in points in the paint and a 15-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
- Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the fourth time this season (7 games).
- Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the first time this season (7 games) and the third time in his UT career (40 games).
- His 11 points were a season high (previous high was 8, twice) and just 3 points shy of his UT career high (14 vs. Baylor on Feb. 20, 2016).
- Set a career high in rebounds (7). His previous career high was 6 (three times).
- Reached double figures in scoring (11 points, all in the second half) for the fifth time this year (6 games) and 10th time in his career (39 games).
- Set a career high with 37 minutes played (previous high was 30 vs. UTA on Nov. 29, 2016).
- Tied his career high in rebounds (7) for the second straight contest.
- Earned his first collegiate start in his 39th career game played.
- Reached double figures in scoring (team-high 16 points) for the fifth time this year (6 games) and 14th time in his career (39 games).
- Set his career high in free throws made (12-of-16). His previous high was 10 vs. TCU on Jan. 26, 2016.
- Tied his season high in points (third time this year with 16 points).
- Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the second time this year (7 games)
- Set his career high in 3-pointers made (3-of-6).
- Tied his career high in field goals made (4-of-8).
Postgame Quotes
Texas Head Coach Shaka Smart
On how the players exemplified his core values tonight: It all starts with accountability because if we're going to win, the guys on our team have to take responsibility for that. Our definition is that we are responsible for our team, ourselves, and coming off a really tough game last time. We got down 12 at halftime, but I think our guys showed a lot of resolve and fight. That really went well for us in the second half.
On what happened in the locker room at halftime: The difference was the guys just weren't as bummed out. I know that sounds simple, but when you go back to the locker room at halftime, there are still 20 minutes left to play. If, prior to the game, you had planned out a perfect game, you're probably not going to be pleased. You're probably not going to be happy. Certainly if you're down by 12, you're not going to be pleased. Our guys did a good job starting the second half. We got three straight stops at the beginning of the half which we really needed, and we were able to cut into the lead and play from there.
On if the second half was a matter of playing smarter and harder: Yeah. We definitely played harder on the defensive end. I think it's just guys understanding this is what we have to do. Alabama made some really good plays. They made a lot of threes. They made some tough shots. They banked in a tough shot, but our guys didn't get down. It's hard to play with a level of fight when you're feeling sorry for yourself or you get down. I thought we made some progress in that area tonight. Now it's a matter of if we are willing to look at what went into winning this game and try to keep doing those things better and better, or are we just happy that we won without really understanding what created the win.
On the defense: We wanted to get some tempo going by using the press. Guys did a nice job, and that helped us. I thought it at least made it a little different in terms of not being a half-court game on every possession. Alabama was tough to guard in the first half. They were getting us in some isolation situations. They were getting us in rotation, so I think that helped us change the game a little bit.
Senior Forward Shaquille Cleare
On what allowed the team to get over the hump to get the win after being down: Going into halftime we were down 12. Going into the locker room, the guys were motivated. We knew we had a chance to win this game. But in order to do that, we knew we needed to do that on the defensive end. We just fought back. We fought, we fought, and we executed, and we came up with the W.
On how the energy was different during this game versus Tuesday: We just wanted it more. We had a bad feeling about losing the last couple of games. We wanted to win really bad. Coach just told us to go in there and fight and let's see what happens.
Sophomore Guard/Forward Tevin Mack:
On whether the team felt the crowd: Definitely. We were into it all night. I was up there trying to raise the crowd up and get them into it. It felt great to have the crowd out there like that.
On how why his shots started falling in the second half: I think things just opened up for me. My teammates got me some great looks, and I was able to knock the shots down. In the first half, Alabama was aggressively guarding me, so I didn't get the ball that much. It was a great team win and we just pulled it out and stuck together.
On whether he thought he'd play so many minutes: No, I was cramping. I didn't think I'd play that much. I have never played that much or that hard in my life. I think I played 37 minutes. That's basically the whole game. I definitely need to hydrate more.
On whether he was serious about needing to hydrate: That's my first time playing over 30 minutes here at Texas. So I definitely need to work on hydrating more. I see the importance of it. I thought I was never going to be able to cramp, because I'd never really played that much before. I'm going to work on that now, early and not late.
Sophomore Guard Kerwin Roach Jr.
On what allowed the team to have success with high screen and roll: From the first half, we saw how they were playing the pick and roll. I know I can take any big off the dribble, so that's what we were doing.
On why the team beat Alabama at the rim: That put pressure on their defense and put their defense into foul trouble. They put their big men into foul trouble and had to play me straight up. I went to the free throw line 16 times, so I definitely beat them to the rim.
On how difficult it was to put the first half behind: We've definitely been in that position before. We just needed to respond. That's one thing that coach preaches. We did that in the second half. We came out aggressive and wanted to fight and wanted to win and it paid off.
Alabama Head Coach Avery Johnson
Opening statement: We won the rebound game in the first half but the first five minutes in the second half, they came out with a different type of energy and focus. We didn't respond and consequently they were the fresher team in the second half. They seemed like they were a step quicker. They were locked in. We didn't seem to execute as well, had to burn a couple of time outs to settle our team down and unfortunately didn't have any there at the end. We still have a lot of new guys. Dazon Ingram is still a freshmen, and Corbin Collins is a new one. Braxton, he's a freshman and Donte Hall's a sophomore. They (Texas) had some young guys, but their young guys came up big for them and we're still searching for a set rotation. We're not there yet, but it was just a game of two halves. But right there at the end, I think we're up by one and they go on a 15-5 run there. But we've got a lot of stuff on video that we can review to try and help our guys so that if we're in this situation again, hopefully we'll respond better.
On surprise on the shots that Alabama was missing in the last five minutes: We missed some really great looks. We didn't have anybody between here and San Antonio or Dallas. But we've got to keep encouraging our guys. Our guys are young. We've got great kids. They want to make those shots. We've got free throws, but this was not a game that wasn't similar to in our last tournament. We missed so many layups, I mean point-blank layups, at the basket. But our defense wasn't good enough in the second half to win. Roach broke us down and I think he ended up with attempting 16 free throws, made 12 of them. So, while the focus was on Mack, and I thought we did a nice job on him overall and trying to limit the three-point production because they only made five, we did just not do a good job on Roach, especially.
On surprise on the defense in the second half: If you look at in the first half compared to in the second half, in the second half I think we probably had five team fouls in the first five minutes of the second half. That just shows we're moving our feet and we're out of position. We didn't do good on Allen in the post. But give them a credit, this is a team that just lost three on the bounce. We were desperate, but we just didn't have that same type of desperation in the second half.
On Texas switching to a 2-3 zone and press more in the second half: I just think when we broke the press, we didn't do a good job of finishing. That's what I eluded to earlier when we got some rhythm threes, we just didn't make them. But I liked overall how we attacked the press. A little bit at the end of the game got in a scramble situation when we just didn't get organized enough. I've got great kids, it's just a delight to coach them and they're going to learn and we're going to continue to help them get better. But this is the type of position you want to be in on the road. Hopefully we'll be up at the half and with five minutes to go with this 1-point lead or 3-point lead. If we've got that lead, we're going to hope that we can take it. We've got to do a better job of closing games. We did it against St. Louis, but we didn't do that tonight.
