Alabama Falls to Arkansas in Fayetteville
The No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide (18-6, 13-2) fell to the No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks (18-5, 10-4) 81-66 on the road, failing to capitalize on its opportunity to secure the SEC regular season championship. Arkansas is now riding an eight-game winning streak in the SEC after the victory.
The Crimson Tide shot a putrid 37% from the floor and committed 32 fouls sending the Arkansas Razorbacks to the free-throw line for 43 attempts to Alabama's only eight free-throw attempts.
"We've got to be able to defend without fouling," said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. "We had a season-high in fouls. You can't put them at the line 43 times and expect them to win the game. We need to do a better job on the defensive end."
The Crimson Tide were facing a seven-point deficit late in the first half when a graduate transfer Jordan Bruner deposited four consecutive 3-point shots to close the half and take the Tide into the locker room only trailing by one.
Alabama would take the lead in the second half and grow it as large as six points. The Razorbacks rode freshman Jaylin Williams to a 17-2 run in the second-half giving Arkansas the lead and its first home win over a ranked opponent in three years.
Bruner would lead the Tide in scoring with 14 points, followed by Jahvon Quinerly with 13, John Petty with 12 and Juwan Gary with 9.
Alabama had a difficult time getting offensive rhythm due to the fouls being called, prolific scorer Jaden Shackelford only scored five points after picking up three of his five fouls in the games first 10 minutes. Petty and Herb Jones joined Shackelford in fouling out of the contest.
Moses Moody carried the load for the Razorbacks, scoring a game high 24 points. Moody scored 16 of his 24 by way of the free-throw line, taking advantage of sloppy defending and a tight whistle.
The Crimson Tide will have another chance to claim the SEC regular season title on Saturday as Alabama hits the road to play Mississippi State. A victory would give Alabama the conference title for the first time since 2002. The programs had the tip-off moved today to 5 p.m. CT on Saturday.
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