Alabama Basketball falls to Texas A&M: 56-53

Well folks, there isn’t much to say after this loss. The first half was horribly ugly, so much so that the announcers were joking (though only somewhat) about wanted to forget they ever had to witness such an ugly and boring half of basketball. The second was a little better, but not by much. Texas A&M did not score a single field goal for the last 8 minutes of the game, yet Alabama was still unable to overtake them despite some late-game heroics from Ar’Mond Davis.

Alabama shot 33.9% from the field and 26.1% from 3-point range— both pretty horrendous numbers. Yet Texas A&M was even worse, at 31.1% and 16.7%. The two teams tied in rebounds at 37 each and Alabama had 15 turnovers to A&M’s 12. All in all, you’d expect the Tide to have won with those numbers.

The difference, though, was the free throws. Alabama shot 9 free throws all night, making 7 of them. Texas A&M on the other hand, shot an overwhelming 37 free throws, making only 26 of them. But when a game is decided by a score of 56-53, 26 free throws makes a huge difference.

Ar’Mond Davis was really the only highlight for Alabama this game. He made one impressive steal-breakaway-layup by himself, and three pointer, and an absolutely ridiculous reverse layup going along the baseline all in the final few minutes of the game to even put Alabama in striking position at the very end. He finished with a team high 11 points and added 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

Riley Norris was the only other player in double digits, scoring 10, but not managing to grab a single rebound. Avery Johnson Jr. scored 9 and Braxton Key scored 8 (while also leading the team with 5 turnovers. The rest of the team added a few points here and there, but mostly, everyone just missed a whole lot of shots.

The loss to Georgia on Thursday ended any hope Alabama had at making the NCAA tournament, and the loss tonight to Texas A&M officially ended any chance Alabama had at being a top-4 seed in the SEC tournament—possibly even beginning to endanger an NIT tournament bid.

There are two games left in the season, but at this point Alabama stands to gain very little from them. It’s officially time to start preparing for next season, when the influx of talent by the names of Collin Sexton, John Petty, Herb Jones, Alex Reese, and Daniel Giddens all join the team.