Wednesday, January 24, 2001
Alabama 70, Kentucky 60
Wildcats fall hard on road again
By JOHN ZENOR
AP Sports Writer
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama is no Kentucky and Coleman Coliseum is no Rupp Arena. But in a season when the 18th-ranked Crimson Tide can't lose at home and the Wildcats can't catch a break in the schedule, Tuesday night's game was par for the court.
The Tide (15-3, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) got a torrid stretch from Rod Grizzard and remained unbeaten at home with a 70-60 win over Kentucky.
The Wildcats (10-7, 3-2) were playing their fourth straight game against a ranked opponent and have lost two straight since a seven-game winning streak.
“I think Kentucky is a good basketball team,” Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. “I think you're going to see them in the NCAA Tournament. They're playing one of the toughest schedules in the country.”
Alabama certainly appears tournament bound for the first time in six seasons.
Grizzard finished with 25 points and a career-high 11 rebounds despite picking up his fourth foul with 13 minutes left and going to the bench until the 6:39 mark. He scored 11 straight points after returning, hitting all eight free throws to bring Alabama back from a seven-point deficit.
All of his 13 second-half points came in the final five minutes. Grizzard, who came in tied with LSU's Ronald Dupree for the league scoring lead, said taking over the game like that is “what I do.”
“That's what they look to me for,” he said. “Either we're going to go down shooting or we're going to win it.”
The team managed to stay within three points in Grizzard's absence, making it easier for Gottfried to save him for the stretch run.
“It was a Catch-22. You could put yourself out of reach with Rod on the bench,” Gottfried said.
“I think our players understand Rod is the guy on our team who's going to deliver us.”
The Tide closed the game on a 23-6 run after trailing 54-47 with just under six minutes left.
Alabama's Terrance Meade then hit two free throws and Grizzard followed with his third 3-pointer and six straight free throws.
Grizzard capped a 13-0 run with a jumper.
The league's leading free-throw shooter was 10-for-11 from the line and 3-for-3 from 3-point range.
“We tried to keep the ball out of his hands the best we could,” Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. “We tried to keep him from taking a shot. Obviously, we didn't do good on defense.”
The Crimson Tide shot a season-high 54 percent from the floor while holding Kentucky to 43 percent. Alabama dominated in rebounding, 36-22, and was 19-for-25 from the line in the second half.
The ending was a marked change from the final minutes of Alabama's last game, when the Tide trailed Arkansas by seven points late. The Razorbacks scored the game's final 22 points after that.
“I think we've got that Arkansas game behind us, I really do,” Gottfried said. “I think it says something when we can bounce back real quick like that.”
Doc Martin had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, and Gerald Wallace and Erwin Dudley each had 10 points for Alabama.
Tayshaun Prince had 15 points for the Wildcats and Keith Bogans had 12 of his 14 in the second half before fouling out late.
Huntsville native Marvin Stone had 11 points and Jason Parker added 10.
Point guard Tarik London, who had seven assists, said the season-high crowd of 14,434 lent a helping hand. Alabama is drawing fans at a higher clip than any season since 1993.
“It was the most electric crowd I've ever played in front of,” the senior said. “When we got down and needed them to gave us a big push, they did that. They paid big dividends for us.”
It's a series historically dominated by Kentucky, which had won 11 of the last 13 meetings.
This season, youth is the Wildcats' albatross, with two freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup.
“We've got seven losses. That's a lot of losses this early in the season,” Smith said. “We've got to learn from these experiences.”
KENTUCKY (60)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Fitch 15 1-4 0-0 0-2 2 4 3
Prince 36 5-11 2-2 0-3 1 1 15
Parker 19 5-8 0-0 0-3 1 3 10
Bogans 29 4-12 3-4 2-2 1 5 14
Smith 34 1-5 0-0 1-3 4 4 3
Hawkins 11 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2
Blevins 9 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Daniels 14 1-2 0-0 0-3 0 4 2
Stone 26 4-6 3-5 0-4 1 2 11
Estill 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 22-51 8-11 3-20 12 26 60
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.431, FT-.727. 3-Point Goals:
8-26, .308 (Fitch 1-3, Prince 3-8, Bogans 3-8,
Smith 1-5, Blevins 0-1, Daniels 0-1). Team
rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 1 (Parker).
Turnovers: 16 (Bogans 3, Hawkins 3, Prince 2,
Smith 2, Stone 2, Blevins, Estill, Fitch,
Parker). Steals: 1 (Smith).
ALABAMA (70)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Dudley 27 4-7 2-4 3-6 1 3 10
London 35 1-2 1-3 0-2 7 1 3
K Walker 20 2-5 0-0 3-6 0 1 4
Meade 21 0-3 4-6 1-1 0 0 4
Grizzard 32 6-9 10-11 0-11 2 4 25
G Wallace 27 4-8 2-6 0-2 1 2 10
Martin 28 4-5 2-2 3-6 0 2 12
Stinnett 1 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 0 2
Moss 4 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
Pettway 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 21-39 23-34 11-35 11 13 70
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.538, FT-.676. 3-Point Goals:
5-10, .500 (London 0-1, Meade 0-2, Grizzard 3-3,
G Wallace 0-2, Martin 2-2). Team rebounds: 1.
Blocked shots: 2 (G Wallace 2). Turnovers: 21
(London 6, Grizzard 5, G Wallace 3, Martin 2,
Meade 2, Dudley, K Walker, Pettway). Steals: 7 (K
Walker 2, London 2, Dudley, Grizzard, Martin).
__________________________________
Kentucky 25 35 - 60
Alabama 25 45 - 70
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 14,434. Officials:
Gerald Boudreaux, Tim Higgins, Curtis Shaw.
Sports Stories
Reese skipping RedsFest in contract dispute
Boone's goal: Opening Day
Reds sign Tucker for 2 more years
Schott hospitalized again
Louisville's swagger, glamour gone
XU's formula: More free throws, more wins
Palmer could get job today
Center award named for Rimington
Alabama 70, Kentucky 60
