LAS VEGAS | So many trips to Sin City end in broken dreams and empty pockets.

Not so for the University of Alabama basketball team, as Sunday capped another trip to Las Vegas with another win and a shiny trophy.

Alonzo Gee scored a game-high 23 points and both Mykal Riley and Richard Hendrix added 18 as the Crimson Tide put together perhaps its best game of the season to defeat Iowa State 83-68 and win the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic at Orleans Arena.

“It was pretty solid,” Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. “I like a lot of things about how we played, offensively especially. We are sharing the ball really well, and we are getting good shots. That is how we shot 55 percent from the field.

“Defensively, too, we were a lot better in the second half. First half, we made some errors, but the guys corrected things. We are getting good contributions from a lot of people, and that is what is important right now.”

Alabama improves to 9-3 with the victory, its fifth straight win. Iowa State falls to 7-5. Both Gee, Riley and Hendrix made the All-Tournament team, with Riley taking home the Most Valuable Player award.

After a tight first half that produced a 40-40 tie, Alabama took an early lead out of the gate – going on a 9-2 run to lead 49-42. Gee hit a 3 and added a layup in the run, with Demetrius Jemison and Mykal Riley adding layups.

Iowa State muscled back to within two points, only to see Alabama get two steals by Hendrix down low, a Hendrix layup and a Rico Pickett 3 for a 54-46 advantage with 15:18 to play.

“I thought the first couple minutes there was key,” Gottfried said. “We established a lead, even though they got it back, and we built it out there again. Our emotion coming out of the half was good for us.”

“At halftime, coach told us to stay on them and be aggressive and rebound the ball,” Gee said. “That is pretty much what we did.”

Alabama kept pouring it on both inside and outside, as Gee skied for a rebounded tip-in and Riley hit an NBA-length 3 to make it 61-51 with 12:20 to go.

The Tide put the game away coming out of the under-8 media timeout, as Gee canned a short jumper, Hendrix banked in a layup and hit a jumper, Riley converted a steal into a dunk then drilled another 3 to make it 81-64 with 3:49 to play.

The Tide finished making 11 3-pointers on 17 attempts – its best shooting from behind the arc all season.

Alabama took an early lead based on torrid 3-point shooting, making its first six 3s – only to see Iowa State whittle back to tie the game at the half with the same outside touch. Both teams finished the first 20 minutes with six 3s, the Cyclones hitting mainly off Alabama’s 2-3 zone defense.

The Tide was also hurt when Hendrix sat for several minutes toward the end of the first half, limiting UA on the low post with Yamene Coleman and Demetrius Jemison unable to convert often in the paint.

Alabama did end the half on a strong note, as Jemison lofted a length-of-the-court pass to Hendrix in the paint – with Hendrix laying it in at the buzzer to tie the game at 40.

Sunday’s victory marked the third straight win Alabama has recorded in Las Vegas under Gottfried. The Tide downed Oregon 87-86 in 2004, and upended Missouri State 81-73 to advance to the Las Vegas Classic final.

“That is a great percentage, isn’t it?” Gee said. “We had a great time out there, and this is a good tournament with some really good teams.”

Wesley Johnson led Iowa State with 20 points. Gee also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, and Pickett added 13 points for Alabama.

Alabama returns to action Saturday at home against George Washington. That game is at 5 p.m., and will be televised by CSS.



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

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