Alabama basketball season recap
By WVUA 23 Digital Reporter AJ Holliday
University of Alabama men’s basketball season came to an end Friday after falling to Notre Dame, 78-64, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide finished the season 19-14, 9-9 SEC, dropping its final four games of the season.
It was a season filled with highs and lows, there were times where Bama looked like a Final Four team and other times where it looked like a team not worthy of making the tournament. One of the most memorable games from the season was when Alabama defeated No. 3 Gonzaga in the “Battle in Seattle.” The win would put Alabama at No. 9 in the AP Poll and the following game was a top-15 matchup against Houston. The Tide would hold on to win at home 83-82 and in the span of a week, defeated two previous Final Four teams.
The next game at Memphis is where things started to fall apart for the Tide. Alabama was ranked No. 6, the highest its been since it was ranked No. 9 in 2007. It was a rough night for the Crimson Tide as they fell to the Tigers 92-78 and a week later lost to Davidson 79-78.
The remainder of the season was up-and-down as Alabama would defeat the defending national champion Baylor Bears in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and would also lose to the worst team in the SEC, the Georgia Bulldogs. Bama would finish the regular season 19-12 and would be a N0. 6 seed for the SEC Tournament where it would lose to Vanderbilt.
Despite losing its last three games, the Crimson Tide earned a No. 6 seed for the NCAA Tournament and would face Notre Dame. Notre Dame defeated Rutgers in its last four in game to earn the 11 seed and the right to play Bama. In the first three minutes of the game, Alabama point guard Jahvon Quinerly went down with a knee injury and didn’t return. The Tide couldn’t stop Cormac Ryan who finished with a career high 29 points and shot 7-of-9 from the 3-point line.
In the end, Alabama was defeated and now the Crimson Tide look towards next year. The 2022 recruiting class is currently No. 3 and it features two five-stars, Brandon Miller and Jaden Bradley.
