This is the 2nd installment of "The Top 10 Bama Stories of 2006" (in chronological order.) We started things off a few days ago with the football team's Cotton Bowl Victory over Texas Tech.
March 16
NCAA Tournament, 1st Round
San Diego, CA
Cox Arena
Alabama 90, Marquette 85 (Box Score)
Eight 3-pointers and seven freethrows earn you the right to fistpump
For most of his Crimson Tide career, Jean Felix never met a shot he didn't like. Any Alabama basketball fan has at least a few memories of wanting to yank the 6'7" forward from the Congo Republic (via France) off of the court due to his love of shooting the ball regardless of how improbable the shot was of actually going in.
On March 16th though, Crimson Tide fans rejoiced at his love of shooting the ball as Felix went 8 of 11 from beyond the arc and 7 of 8 from the free throw line (three of those free throws made came when he was fouled while taking one of the few threes he missed.)
Felix was a pretty strong defender and that's how he'll likely be remembered by most fans. Felix guarded Marquette's hot shooter Steve Nowak most of the evening and was quite a menace to him. Nowak, though he had 17 points, never got into a rhythm and much of that can be attributed to Felix's defense.
Felix's comments about his performance:
Alabama was eliminated in the 2nd round of the tournament by UCLA by a heartbreaking score of 59-62.