The Arizona Wildcats proved why they’re the No. 1 ranked team in the country Saturday night at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. Arizona turned a two-point deficit at halftime into a second-half rout of the 12th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in a 96-75 blowout.
Alabama (7-3) overcame a seven-point deficit early and took the lead on a 3-pointer from Labaron Philon with inside of 11 minutes to play. Latrell Wrightsell’s tray briefly pushed the Crimson Tide lead to seven at 37-30.
It was a former Alabama player who helped Arizona fuel a 9-0 run. Jaden Bradley knocked down three shots in a row as the Wildcats caught up with the Tide in the final two minutes of the half.
Arizona (9-0) pounced after intermission. A 14-2 run to open the second half gave the Wildcats a 53-45 lead they would never relinquish — and one they pushed to as many as 24 in the final minutes.
Alabama was simply manhandled on the boards, being out-rebounded 52-32, including 22-3 in offensive rebounds. Brayden Burries led the Wildcats with 28 points, and Motiejus Krivas added 14 to go with 14 rebounds. Tobe Awaka pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds in 23 minutes.
“We’ve got rebounding issues,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said after the game. “Until we fix them, we’re not going to be able to beat a good team.”
Philon led the Crimson Tide with 24 points to go with 10 rebounds, and Wrightsell scored 21. Alabama’s next highest scorer was forward Taylor Bol Bowen with eight points.
After the game, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd met with reporters to discuss his team’s 21-point win over the Crimson Tide. Here’s what the fifth-year Wildcats coach said about Alabama.
Tommy Lloyd reflects on Arizona win over Alabama basketball
“A great environment. Thanks to the University of Alabama and Birmingham. You guys, you brought a great crowd and it was a ton of fun competing here. Obviously, you could say that after a win, but I would have said it after a loss, too. So, it was fun coming down here and seeing everybody come out and watch two really strong programs go at it.”
Tommy Lloyd thanks Nate Oats after Arizona basketball win over Alabama
“I’m thankful for Nate for giving us the opportunity and scheduling the series with us. Hopefully, maybe we can continue something like that in the future. I mean, he’s a hell of a coach.”
‘No revenge’: Tommy Lloyd asked about former Alabama player Jaden Bradley making big impact in Arizona win
Bradley finished the night with 13 points, five rebounds, and seven assists in 31 minutes against his former team.
Lloyd said of Bradley afterwards:
“You know, Jaden didn’t have a bad experience at Alabama. And Jaden’s such a good guy. It’s just, I think if you guys did a little research, we literally, in the last three years, we probably have a top 25 transfer team-from-Arizona players out there. It’s just kind of what happens this day and age. So, there’s no ill will towards anything. I mean, we didn’t even talk about it. And obviously, Jaden is so steady as a person that he came back here and just played his normal game. He’s not going to try to do anything over the top. There was no revenge or anything like that.”
Tommy Lloyd on Arizona out-rebounding Alabama basketball
Arizona out-rebounded Alabama, 22-3, on offensive boards. Lloyd was asked if he’d ever part of a game with such a discrepancy.
“You coach and you play in so many games, I don’t know. But we really wanted to come out and we wanted to put it to them on the glass. We feel like we have an advantage there on most nights, and I think we were plus-20 on UConn a few weeks ago. Now, they were missing one of their big guys, so let’s factor that in, as well. We knew a theme for the week for us was early energy, early effort. Because against Alabama, you have to start your possessions like that. You can’t ease into anything.
“And then the word we really hammered in on them was endurance. You have to have competitive endurance against a team like that because they just keep coming at you, coming at you, coming at you. Our guys, I thought they did that, and then we were able to kind of … the game started OK. They made a little run. I felt like the place got going a little bit.
“We didn’t say anything crazy at halftime. Just, ‘Hey, let’s see if we can come out and land the first punch and see what happens.’ Fortunately, we landed a few haymakers, made some defensive plays. Obviously, Brayden got in his own little flow, and it was pretty special.”
Watch Tommy Lloyd’s full postgame press conference below.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Arizona basketball coach Tommy Lloyd speaks out after win over Alabama
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