Tide stuns Baylor in 87-78 upset Saturday

Alabama defeated defending-champion Baylor during a whiteout at Coleman Coliseum

By WVUA 23 Digital Reporter Hunter De Siver

Alabama’s all-around effort combined with the noise of the Crimson Chaos on Saturday, led them to beat the defending national champions Baylor 87-78.

There are very few games in college basketball where fans line up outside of the arena five hours before game time.
Throughout the week, word spread around Tuscaloosa that fans should show up sporting white instead of crimson.

In sports, two teams that stand out when whiteouts occur are Penn State football and the Miami Heat (mainly during the LeBron James era). Wearing white makes the crowd feel more united, which means the fans will erupt even louder.

There was plenty to cheer about in this one. The Tide never really gave up the lead, but had a couple of instances of being down by a bucket.

Alabama guard Jahvon Quinerly led all scorers in the first half with 12 points. His two 3-pointers combined with guard Jaden Shackelford’s five assists led Alabama to a 38-34 lead at halftime.

Things only got better for the team sporting white.

The bench took over in the second half. Juwan Gary’s paint presence on both sides of the ball combined with internet sensation J.D. Davison’s dunking and passing ability helped the Tide maintain an 8-10-point lead for most of the second half.

Alabama finished with five players scoring over 10 points.

Tide Hoops’ inconsistency has been extremely concerning this season. Their next two games are against No. 1 Auburn and No. 5 Kentucky.

If Alabama can pull off three top-5 wins in a row, the college basketball world will be put on notice. They’ve now also defeated three of last year’s final four teams this season (Gonzaga, Baylor and Houston).

Game two of the streak begins at 8 p.m. in Auburn on ESPN.