The Crimson Tide basketball team picked up an emotional comeback victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks in the opening round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday afternoon in Nashville. The Tide overcame an 18-point deficit in the final 12 minutes of the game and broke open a tie game in the final minute. To look back at this big win for the program, we'll take a look at what the media are saying this morning about the game...
The Alabama Crimson Tide had blown enough leads this season to know nothing is safe. The South Carolina Gamecocks got too comfortable nursing an 18-point margin.
Mikhail Torrance's 9-foot jumper broke a tie at 62 with 57 seconds left, and Alabama rallied from that deficit in the second half to beat South Carolina 68-63 Thursday in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Teresa Walker | Tuscaloosa News
The Wildcats departed the arena with about 12 minutes remaining in the second half, surely expecting to face the Gamecocks (15-16, 6-10) in the quarterfinals.
Indeed, there appeared little hope for the Crimson Tide. In the first half, Alabama shot 30 percent, committed eight turnovers and had players occasionally bickering when things went awry. South Carolina increased an 11-point halftime lead to 18 and reached cruise control behind guard Devan Downey, who tallied a game-high 21 points.
Gentry Estes | Mobile Press-Register
Alabama's pressure defense finally started paying off in the second half of the opening game of the SEC Mens' Basketball Tournament, rallying to beat South Carolina 68-63.
South Carolina had come here knowing it would need an improbable run in the SEC tournament to reach the NCAA tournament. And for 30 minutes Thursday, the Gamecocks played like a team on the way to doing something good.
Then it unraveled, in a way that was a fitting end to a disappointing season.
Torrance finished with 17 points, Justin Knox had 16 and JaMychal Green added 10 for Alabama coming off the bench.