Tide's Hendrix scores 30 points in victory

LAS VEGAS | Like a proud father watching a child taking those tentative first steps, Mark Gottfried watched the University of Alabama basketball team earn a passing grade Saturday night in a very important course.

Call it WIN 101 – Introduction to Winning Basketball.

Gottfried’s Crimson Tide, trailing by eight midway through the second half, poured it on late to overcome Missouri State 81-73 in the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans Arena.

“We are getting more and more familiar with our roles and settling into them every game,” Gottfried said. “In the meantime, we have been playing some awfully good teams. Tonight, we got down eight and strapped it on a little tighter. We kept on fighting and overcame that deficit to find a way to win. Against Georgetown and Texas A&M, we couldn’t do that. We just kept playing, even through the mistakes, and good things happened”

Junior center Richard Hendrix led all scorers with 30 points to help Alabama improve to 8-3. The Tide will take on either Purdue or Iowa State in the championship game at 9:30 tonight. Missouri State (7-4) takes on the Purdue-Iowa State loser at 7 p.m.

“It was a physical game, but it is something I see every night,” Hendrix said. “We are a very young team, especially at the guard position, but we are growing older every game – being in situations to win a game down the clutch like this.”

After staying with Missouri State step for step en route to a 31-31 halftime deadlock, Alabama frittered away a four-point lead as Missouri State simultaneously ripped off a 15-3 run to take a 51-43 lead with 13:51 to play.

Instead of panicking, though, the young Tide backcourt of Mikhail Torrance and Rico Pickett instead calmly went possession-by-possession, feeding Hendrix down low before Alonzo Gee awakened from a slow first half with seven points in a two-minute stretch to tie the game at 56 with 8:47 to play.

“We just lost our composure and were making bad plays, turning the ball over and not being poised,” said Gee, who finished with 18 points. “We weren’t being patient at all and running the offense. I got off to a slow start, but coach asked me to play as hard as I could in the second half.”

“Alonzo had some turnovers early and shot an airball, but he played hard,” Gottfried said. “Because he plays so hard, good things happen. Because it was one of those games for him, he can still find ways help because he plays so hard.”

Neither team was able to build more than a one-possession lead for the next five minutes until Mykal Riley turned in the most pivotal series of plays in the game – stealing the ball from Missouri State’s Shane Laurie, was intentionally fouled driving for a layup, made one of two free throws and, on the ensuing Tide possession, canned a 3-pointer to give Alabama a 76-71 edge with 47 seconds to go.

“That was a big swing right there, and it is what you want from your senior,” Gottfried said of Riley, who finished with 13 points. “Back to back like that was big for the end of the game like that.”

From there, Hendrix thwarted a Bears comeback by stuffing Ryan Jehle’s 3-point attempt back in his face and making one of his two free throws on the other end. Torrance added an exclamation point with a fast-break slam at the buzzer for the final margin.

“Richard was huge,” Gottfried said. “He played terrific and was so unselfish. The guy gets 30 points, and is one of the most unselfish guys on our team. That is one thing I like about this team. We have a lot of flaws, whether it be foul shooting or making defensive errors, but our team will play really hard every night. We find a way to slug one out.”

“That is natural to me, seeing a teammate that is open and having confidence in them making a play,” Hendrix said. “If you are going to be a good team, you have to be five guys playing with high confidence. I have no problem sharing the sugar.”

Laurie and reserve Chris Cooks led Missouri State with 13 points apiece. Torrance finished with 10 points and Hendrix pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for Alabama.

Neither team shot well from the free-throw line, with Alabama making 13 of its 22 attempts and Missouri State making just 8 of its 23.

Reach David Wasson at david.wasson@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0229.