Crimson Tide Cruise Past Tigers

The Alabama men’s basketball team beat Missouri 88-74 at home to improve its record to 10-7, 3-2 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide avoided a letdown performance following its big win against instate rival Auburn earlier in the week. Alabama took a seven point lead into halftime thanks to 11 made 3-point shots, four by forward Alex Reese. The Tide only made two 3-point shots, had its lead cut to just three and saw backup point guard James “Beetle” Bolden foul out in the second half but persevered to win by 14 points. The victory put Alabama over .500 in the still early SEC season; the Tide has won eight of its last 11 contests.

John Petty Jr. led all scorers in the game with 20 points, 9 in the first half off three 3-point shots and added 11 more late to close out the Tigers. Reese and freshman Jaden Shackelford both contributed 17 points for the Tide, Herb Jones chipped in with 11 points and 12 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double and Kira Lewis Jr. supplied 10 points to the scoring effort.

Missouri shot just 31% from the floor for the game but stayed within striking distance due to a school, and SEC, record 31/31 effort from the free-throw line. The Tigers ended three free throw makes short of the NCAA record 34 consecutive makes in a game. The Tigers were led offensively by junior guard Dru Smith with 18 points.

Alabama will go on the road for its next contest to play Vanderbilt on Wednesday, January 22. The Commodores are currently 8-8, 0-3 in SEC play. The contest will be at 8:00 p.m. and will be aired on the SECNetwork. Keep it locked in with Tide 100.9fm, tide1009.com/listen-live and the TIDE APP for all your updates on the Alabama Crimson Tide.