Labaron Philon: "I'm Not Really Worried About Accolades"

TUSCALOOSA, Ala - On Wednesday evening inside Coleman Coliseum, a top 25 matchup between Alabama and Arkansas was nothing short of spectacular. Darius Acuff's historic 49-point game wasn't enough as the Crimson Tide ground out the win 117-115 in double overtime.

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The guard matchup between Acuff and Labaron Philon Jr. was as competitive as it gets. Acuff may have outscored Philon, but he wasn't too far behind, finishing with 35 points in 41 minutes. Philon surpassed the most 20-point games in a season that was previously held by former second-overall draft pick Brandon Miller.

"I'm not really worried about accolades," he said. "The only thing on my mind is Alabama basketball."

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Philon clearly showed it throughout the game. The main instance being with Houston Mallette in overtime. In both halves, Mallette was scoreless, yet Philon would trust him in the clutch to make his shots.

"Once he got the ball in his hands, I just felt so confident," he said. "I was backing up past half court because I knew he was going to make it, and that was a big-time three from him."

Philon finished the game with seven assists, and one of the guys he was feeding was his big man, Aiden Sherrell. Even with six of his points coming from the line, Sherrell finished the game with 26 points and 13 rebounds, which both were career highs for him.

This game at points didn't look like it would lean in favor of the Tide. Early in the second half, Alabama was down 14 points. Even in a double-digit deficit, Philon brought his team together.

"We just have been through a lot of adversity this season," he said. "I just told my guys, don't break. We can change this around."

The team in the second half shot 76% from the field, 42.9% from three, out-rebounded, and out-scored the Razorbacks. It was just enough to send the game into overtime 95-95. Overtime played in favor of the Crimson Tide because of the lack of depth from the Razorbacks.

"They didn't really have a deep rotation, and we knew it," Philon said.

With the win, it gives Alabama the tiebreaker over the Razorbacks since both teams have identical records with 19-7 overall and 9-4 in conference play. The Tide travels to Baton Rouge to play the LSU Tigers (14-12) on Saturday at 5:00 P.M. CT.