BIRMINGHAM, Ala. \u2013\u00a0The Alabama men’s basketball team defeated Auburn, 87-85, in the inaugural matchup of The Feud at Legacy Arena on Thursday night. The Crimson Tide outscored the Tigers 34-to-22 in the paint, ending the preseason with a 3-0 record heading into the regular season.<\/p>\n
Amari Allen<\/a> and Qayden Samuels<\/a> paced Alabama’s offense, combining for 43 total points. Allen scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, and finished the night shooting 58 percent from the field.<\/p>\n Auburn was led by Kevin Overton’s 26 points, three rebounds and two assists. He shot 6-of-13 (46 percent) from three-point range.<\/p>\n Head Coach Nate Oats<\/a> Postgame Comments\u00a0<\/p>\n “You know a game with Auburn, the intensity was what we expected. Two programs with pride that always compete for a win. This game is just preseason and doesn’t go on anybody’s record but it is still Alabama and Auburn and nobody wants to lose this game. I love the fact that the intensity was ramped up even though we were missing some key players.<\/p>\n We need to figure some things out in pressure situations and we have a lot of work to do in that sense. We did not play very well but we figured out a way to win the game so I give a ton of credit to our guys figuring out a way to win particularly when we were down late. As bad as we were from the free throw line, in the last four minutes that’s where the majority of our points came from and we got a lot of steals and blocks late.\u00a0<\/p>\n We did not rebound the ball well tonight, but we got enough to pull out the win late. Rebounding has been an issue with us and it was an issue again tonight. We gave up 22 offensive boards tonight which is a major problem, especially their two bigs caused us problems on the glass. We gotta play better on both sides of the ball, but it is great to play this intense of a game before the regular season even starts.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Team Stats\u00a0<\/p>\n
First Half\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Second Half\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Up Next<\/p>\n
\n\tThree Crimson Tide players reached double digit points, led by Amari Allen’s<\/a> 23 and Qayden Samuel’s 20
\n\tAlabama finished with 12 steals and eight blocks, the most out of its three preseason games
\n\tKeitenn Bristow<\/a> neared a double double with nine points and eight rebounds, while adding four blocks
\n\tThe Crimson Tide shot 42 percent from the field and 32 percent from behind the arc
\n\tUA held the Tigers to 31 percent (10-32) from the field\u00a0
\n\tAlabama scored 16 points off of 17 Auburn turnovers
\n\tThe Tide outscored Auburn by 12 points in the paint
<\/p>\n
\n\tAlabama trailed 11-9 after the first media timeout (15:29), despite surrendering a 7-0 Auburn scoring run. All nine of the Crimson Tide’s points came from three-pointers.
\n\tAfter a loose-ball rebound, technical fouls were assessed to Amari Allen<\/a> and Brandon Garrison<\/a> and Auburn’s Caleb Williams and George Kimble III.
\n\tAlabama was getting outrebounded 15-5 at the next media timeout (11:46), but only trailed 19-16.
\n\tThe Tigers took their largest lead of the first half at 31-25 with 7:54 remaining following a 9-2 run over a span of 1:42.
\n\tAlabama responded with a 7-2 run to come within one-point at 33-32 with just over six minutes remaining in the half.
\n\tQayden Samuels<\/a> was the first Tide player to reach double figures after hitting a three-pointer to give Alabama a 37-36 advantage with 3:10 to go. It was Alabama’s first lead since the 9:46 mark.
\n\tThe Crimson Tide held onto its lead for the remainder of the first half, going into the break up 44-41.
\n\tSamuels (14 points) and Keitenn Bristow<\/a> (9 points) carried the load on offense.\u00a0
\n\tThe Crimson Tide’s bench outscored Auburn’s bench 23-12.
\n\tAlabama forced 10 Auburn turnovers and turned them into 10 points on the other end of the floor.
\n\tAlabama racked up seven steals and five blocks defensively.
<\/p>\n
\n\tScoring was back-and-forth to start the second half as Alabama held a 52-48 lead after the first five minutes.
\n\tThe Crimson Tide gained some separation following a three-pointer by Samuels that put Alabama up 58-51 at the second media timeout (11:57).
\n\tAuburn went on an 11-2 scoring run to regain the lead at 62-60, but it lasted all of 47 seconds as Bouie answered with a three-pointer on the other end.
\n\tFrom 9:59 to 9:00, Alabama scored eight unanswered points, highlighted by an and-1 dunk from Garrison.
\n\tThe Tigers would respond with a 9-1 run, but Allen answered with a three-pointer at the five-minute mark to tie the game at 76-76.
\n\tAuburn’s Tahaad Pettiford fouled out of the game with 3:04 to go, which sent Allen to the free throw line. Allen knocked down 1-of-2 free throws to make it a one-point game at 78-77.
\n\tWith the teams tied at 80-80, Allen made an acrobatic and-1 layup to put the Tide up 83-80 and force an Auburn timeout with just over a minute left in the contest.
\n\tAfter two made free throws by the Tigers, Samuels hit a contested floater to keep the Crimson Tide up three with 36 seconds left.
\n\tAlabama would hit four of its final six free throws to seal the two-point victory.
<\/p>\n
\n\tAlabama will open the regular season in Tuscaloosa against Sam Houston
\n\tTipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Nov. 3 at Coleman Coliseum
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