Tide jumps out early, wins big

How mad was the Alabama men’s basketball team about losing that game against Mercer? It decided its next one in about five minutes.

The Crimson Tide jumped out to its quickest start of the young season with an 18-0 run start to an 89-48 rout of Florida A&M Wednesday night.

In the first three possessions of the game, Ronald Steele hit a 3-pointer and JaMychal Green and Justin Knox each recorded a block.

Two minutes later, Senario Hillman hit a shot then knocked a ball loose, dove to the ground and zipped it up-court to an open Green for a breakaway dunk. 9-0 Tide. A minute and a half later, the Tide had doubled the lead.

“When you lose a game like we did, it’s not hard to get everybody’s attention,” head coach Mark Gottfried said. “Our players want to win. They were hurt. They were grumpy the last couple of days. I’ve been grumpy.”

Rebounding was a deciding factor in the Tide’s opening loss. A grumpy Gottfried approached Knox in the first practice after the loss and told him what he was looking for: a rebounder, pure and simple.

So Knox, who played just four minutes against Mercer, got the start against A&M. His minutes ballooned to 32, during which he scored only four points (2-of-3), but rounded up 12 rebounds, a team high.

“It felt good to have my start, at home in front of my family and friends,” Knox, a Tuscaloosa native, said. “Coming out here I knew that my job was to contain on the defensive end, get rebound, block shots. Tonight, I think I did a good job of that.”

Gottfried agreed. Knox was a big reason the Tide went from low end of a 56-38 rebound disparity to the top of a 49-34 stat.

“He got an opportunity tonight, and he got 12 rebounds, which is what we asked him to do. It was a point of emphasis the last couple days. He was called upon tonight, got his start, and he responded,” Gottfried said.

Until further notice, Knox will keep his starting spot over Demetrius Jemison.

Andrew Steele also received significant minutes in his first game of regular season action.

Andrew finished with 10 points, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, and three steals in 19 minutes. As a result, senior starter Brandon Hollinger’s minutes dipped down to just 11.

“What you want to do is give guys an opportunity. Brandon is still going to play for us. But Brandon has struggled a little bit shooting the ball. Andrew’s another guy, a little like Knox, who took advantage of his opportunity,” he said.

Ronald Steele continued where he left off from last game. He finished as the game’s leading scorer with 15 points. Gee remained in his shooting slump, finishing 0-of-5 from the field with two points.

Green had another strong game, finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Alabama showed marked improvement from the three-point line. The team made 9-of-16 attempts for a 56 percent mark. The team was just 25 percent on 28 attempts against Mercer. Alabama was also a near perfect 16-of-17 from the free throw line.

Alabama moves to 1-1 on the season. Mercer, who edged the Tide 72-69 in the opener, pulled another upset over Auburn, 78-74, Wednesday.

Alabama will head to Hawaii this weekend for the Maui Invitational to be played at Lahaina. The Tide will play Oregon in the opening round on Nov. 24 at 11 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPN2.

Alabama will play either North Carolina or Chaminade Nov. 25, which will be aired on either ESPN or ESPN2. The championship game will be Nov. 26 at 9 p.m.