The good news? After two straight games that were over by halftime, the Alabama basketball team held a lead going into the second half.
The bad news? The final 12 minutes. And it wasn’t just bad news, but was an absolute collapse as the Crimson Tide saw a 12-point lead evaporate in the course of a 65-56 loss to Texas A&M. The loss completed a season sweep of UA by the Aggies, who have won just four Southeastern Conference games this season, two of those coming against Alabama.
The Crimson Tide led 44-32 on a Herbert Jones dunk with 12:33 to play but scored just 12 more points in the contest, while also rarely stopping the Texas A&M offense during a 33-12 game-closing run. The contest was still tied at 50-50 with 5:49 to go but the Aggies took the lead for good when Donta Hall was called for goaltending on a Christian Mekowulu shot with 5:10 to go.
“They made a heck of a run in the second half, but it started earlier,” Alabama coach Avery Johnson said. “We didn’t have a good start to the (second) half. We didn’t close well in the first half and didn’t come out ready to play in the second half.”
Among the second-half problems was 3-point shooting, going 1-for-11 beyond the arc.
“We missed some timely 3-pointers, open looks that could have really helped us,” Johnson said. “Then they made some tough 3’s right at the end of the shot clock. But give them credit. They scored 41 points in the (second) half and that’s hard to do.”
Alabama was held under 60 points for a second game in a row, the first time since the 2017 season.
“I can’t remember a time this year when we only had one guy (Tevin Mack) in double figures,” Johnson said. “That’s not our game. We’ve got to get back, figure out what’s going on and take and make our shots with confidence.”
Mack led Alabama with 14 points. Savion Flagg and Wendell Mitchell each had 18 points for Texas A&M (11-14, 4-9 SEC).
Alabama (15-11, 6-7 SEC) will look to break its three-game losing streak on Saturday, hosting Vanderbilt.
SCORING SUMMARY
Texas A&M 65, Alabama 56
Alabama (15-11)
Hall 3-5 0-1 6, Ingram 2-6 1-2 6, Petty 3-8 1-1 7, Lewis 2-11 0-0 5, Mack 6-10 1-1 14, Giddens 1-5 1-2 3, A.Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Jones 2-2 0-0 4, Norris 3-8 0-0 9. Totals 23-57 4-7 56.
Texas A&M (11-14)
Mekowulu 2-5 2-2 6, Mahan 1-5 3-3 6, Mitchell 7-17 2-3 18, Collins 0-1 0-0 0, Flagg 7-14 2-2 18, Nebo 1-4 2-2 4, J.Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Starks 1-3 2-2 4, Chandler 3-5 2-2 9. Totals 22-54 15-16 65.
Halftime: Alabama 30-24. 3-Point Goals: Alabama 6-23 (Norris 3-7, Ingram 1-3, Mack 1-4, Lewis 1-7, Petty 0-1, A.Johnson 0-1), Texas A&M 6-23 (Flagg 2-6, Mitchell 2-8, Chandler 1-3, Mahan 1-4, Starks 0-1, Collins 0-1). Fouled Out: None. Rebounds: Alabama 29 (Norris, Petty 6), Texas A&M 33 (Flagg, Mekowulu 8). Assists: Alabama 15 (Lewis 4), Texas A&M 10 (Mitchell, Starks 3). Total Fouls: Alabama 13, Texas A&M 12.
