Gritty Tide battles its way to a 98-93 overtime win over No. 24 Florida (2024)

The Alabama Crimson Tide gutted out an overtime win over the big, tough, Florida Gators on Wednesday night.

Despite being down 10 points with eight minutes left in the game, Bama was able to force overtime and then take the win, 98-93 with some spectacular play down the stretch.

Alabama dominated the glass and took care of the ball, but for first 33 minutes couldn’t the water from a boat. Throw in some uncharacteristic dumb plays, poor rotational defense, and early hot shooting by the Gators, and the Tide made it a lot harder on themselves than they had to.

Recap

Prior to the game, it was disclosed that Latrell Wrightsell, Jr would miss the game after suffering a concussion Tuesday in practice. Wrightsell is the best pure shooter on the team and has been on fire over the last month or so.

With Wrightsell unavailable, and Florida loaded with size, coach Nate Oats inserted freshman Jarin Stevenson in his place. Stevenson was joined in the starting lineup by Mark Sears, Aaron Estrada, Rylan Griffen, and Grant Nelson.

For a pair of high scoring teams, the game started off slowly.

With 16:14 left in the half Bama led 7-4. When Estrada made a hoop in the paint with 11:47 left the Tide led 18-17 for the last time in the half. Bama went five minutes only scoring two points, and were down 27-20. The Tide then went on a little roll and closed within 39-37 with 1:59 left.

At the half the Gators led 41-37, and it seemed like it should have been much worse. For a team that makes a living on inside play, the Tide outscored Florida 28-18 in the paint in the half. Conversely, the Gators outscored the perimeter-shooting Tide 15-6 from behind the arc.

At the half, Bama was shooting just 16-42 for 38% and a paltry 2-18 for 11% from three, while making 3-4 free throws. The Tide grabbed 30 rebounds, had five blocks, two steals, five assists, and only four turnovers. Nelson led the way with nine points and Estrada added eight. The Gators 16-40 for 40% including 5-16 for 31% from deep and made 4-6 free throws. Florida finished with 22 rebounds, 13 assists, three blocks, three steals, and committed just three turnovers. Walter Clayton scored 13 and Will Richard tossed in 11.

The same starters came out for the second half. The Tide got a couple of free throws from Sears, Nelson posterized a Gator with a massive dunk and a made free throw to tie the game at 44 with 17:30 left. Florida bounced back and were able to keep a four to six point lead over the next few minutes. Sam Walters came off the bench and hit back to back three point shots to keep the Tide close at 65-60 with around 10 minutes left. Once again UF went on a run and built a 10 point lead with eight minutes left.

The Tide came back behind another Walters three and two makes from long range from Sears. A Sears make with 4:12 left gave Bama their first lead since early in the game, at 77-76. After a Gator, hoop Nelson buried a three-pointer from the corner for a 80-79 lead with 2:56 left. Estrada shot a layup that was blocked and at first called goaltending on Florida. After a review the call was reversed and UF led 81-80 with 2:08 remaining. Nelson made an and-one three-point play to tie things with 1:23 left.

Florida took the lead back, then Sears made a pair of free throws for an 85-85 game with 52 seconds left. After a defensive stop the Tide had a chance to win the game with 14.8 seconds left. Sears drove the lane and had his shot blocked to push the game to overtime.

Free Basketball in Coleman.

In overtime Oats sent out Sears, Nelson, Griffen, Estrada, and Nick Pringle to do battle. The Tide won the tip and scored right away to grab the 87-85 lead that they didn't relinquish. But there was still plenty of drama left.

Griffen pushed the lead to five with a three pointer and when the lead went to seven at 92-85 Florida called a timeout. Suddenly the Gators started a parade to the free throw line and were able to close within three at 92-89 with 1:54 left. Griffen made two free throws for a 94-89 lead and the Gators scored. With a 94-93 lead Estrada followed up a missed shot to make the score 96-93 with about six seconds left. The Gators could not score and fouled Sears who knocked down both freebies for the final margin of 98-93.

Stats

In the second half, the Tide shot 17-31 for 54%, 5-8 from three for 63%, and made 9-12 free throws. In overtime Bama shot 4-11, 1-6, and 4-4. Overall Bama finished 37-84 for 44%, 8-32 for 25% from behind the arc, and 16-20 for 80% at the charity stripe. The Tide finished with 54 big rebounds, with 21 on the offensive boards, 19 assists, six steals, eight blocks, and only eight turnovers. Nelson led the way with 22 points, eight rebounds, and six blocked shots.

Estrada was close to a triple-double with 20 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, and found time to pilfer four steals. Sears streak of eight straight 20 point games was broken, but he finished with a flourish to score 17 with eight assists and seven rebounds, and one huge steal in overtime.

Walters made four of the teams eight three-point baskets and scored 14 important points. Pringle continued his stellar play of late with 13 points and eight rebounds, and his customary five fouls. Griffen looked out of sorts for much of the night but came up big in overtime to finished with 10 points and six rebounds, giving the Tide six players in double figures.

Florida shot 17-35 in the half for 49% 4-11 for 36% from deep, and 6-7 free throws. In overtime the Gators shot 2-6, 0-3, and 4-5. Overall UF shot 35-81 for 43%, 9-30 for 30% from deep, and made 14-18 free throws for 78%. Clayton was close to unstoppable and scored 27 points with eight rebounds and five assists. Richard finished with 17.

Takeaways

It truly was hard deciding on a hard hat winner tonight — Ponch and Mark flirted with triple doubles; Sam Walters hot shooting brought the Tide back; Nick Pringle had another outstanding game.

But deservedly, the honor went to Nelson, who did absolutely everything tonight:

What a fantastic team win on a night when the team frankly played pretty poorly overall. But the impressive takeaway was how the team handled the larger Gators — the Tide dominated the post.

With the three-ball not falling, the Tide continually drove into the lane against the much bigger Gators. Bama outscored the inside oriented Florida team 56-40 on the night.

We are accustomed to seeing Bama turn it on in the second half, but far too often this season, Alabama has been in this position late in the game and it has imploded. That was not the case tonight: They dug deep, and found another gear, and garnered some key contributions from the bench.

Walters was huge, with Wrightsell not available. Sears was off much of the night and still put up all star numbers. Nelson continues to show his toughness and was player of the gamel. Estrada is a swiss army knife and just continues to stuff the stat sheet. Mouhamed Dioubate only played five minutes, all in the first half, but provided needed toughness and six big rebounds.

It was a contest that Alabama did not deserve to win 75% of the time. But big-time players step up, and tonight the Tide had them down the stretch.

Next Up. Ugh

Next up is a trip to Lexington to take on the resurgent Kentucky Wildcats. The game is Saturday at 3 p.m. and will be shown on the SEC Network. The Tide is still in first place, but has the toughest remaining schedule of all the contenders. After Kentucky, Bama has a road game at Ole Miss, home game with Tennessee, a road rematch with Florida, and the finale, a home game with Arkansas.

Roll Tide Folks, this is a special team.