The ODK-Foy Sportsmanship Trophy, given to the winner of the Iron Bowl every year. (Copyright photo by Brett Hudson)
Below, we have video of the players taking the court for the presentation, Alabama head coach Nick Saban addressing the crowd, linebacker Nico Johnson after the presentation and a small surprise included.
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Anthony Grant coaching the Crimson Tide to its revenge win over Auburn Tuesday night. (AP photo)
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TUSCALOOSA — Never has a basketball team felt better about itself on the offensive end of the floor after scoring 61 points and shooting 39.3 percent from the floor in a winning effort.
Drawing the regular-season series with rival Auburn to an even draw at one after losing on the road Feb. 6 was enough, but it was more satisfying to know that a groove is in place after the 61-43 win over Auburn.
“I thought the improvement we made over the last 20 days showed because we didn’t let (early offensive struggles) rattle us,” Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. “We had some success and built a lead.”
A large part of the offensive renaissance is junior point guard Trevor Releford, who followed his 36-point explosion Saturday against LSU with a 21-point game on 7-for-13 shooting against the Tigers.
“I think I’ve been preparing better recently,” Releford said. “I’ve been more focused and when I’m focused, I have a lot of confidence in my shot.”
Grant added, “I thought Trevor did a great job. He was locked-in. He was energetic, and I thought that was contagious to our team.”
Fellow point guard, redshirt freshman Retin Obasohan, created opportunities for himself via the dribble-drive to the tune of 10 points. Obasohan also had four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Trevor Lacey had a dozen points for the Tide.
“That’s something I’ve been working on,” Obasohan said of his dribble penetration abilities. “Coach always gets after me to use my athleticism. I guess today was one of those days I was able to make some plays for my teammates.”
When they were not scoring, the guards found 11 of Alabama’s 13 assists setting up big men for offensive opportunities, paving the way for sophomore forward Nick Jacobs to put up 10 points on 5-7 shooting.
“I thought Nick Jacobs came in in the first half and gave us a big boost,” Grant said. “Alabama attributed the upgrade in offensive output to halftime adjustments. Alabama’s shooting percentage in the 20 minutes after the intermission was 14 percent better than the 20 minutes preceding it.
“I guess the message at halftime was we have to come out and hit first,” Releford said. “We just can’t let up, because we know we were going to come out and get their best shot. We just had to hit first.”
Grant added, “When we get good looks, trust your preparation, go play. Don’t be hesitant. I thought the guys did a great job of responding to that.”
The Tigers have done the exact opposite, losing rhythm going down the stretch. From Christmas Day to Jan. 16, the Tigers scored 75.8 points per game. Since then, Auburn has averaged 57.75 points per contest. Auburn’s 43 points was the fewest it has scored against Alabama since 1949.
“If you can put a finger on it, it would be easily fixed,” Auburn forward Rob Chubb said. “People aren’t creating how they should be. Aggressiveness on the offensive end is one of the reasons.”
Chubb led the Tigers in scoring with 13 points. Frankie Sullivan continued to slump for Auburn. He finished 1-of-9 shooting for six points.
Auburn coach Tony Barbee added, “Did you watch the game? Missing layups, missing open shots. We probably missed 20 layups tonight. How are you going to win a game when you miss 20 layups?”
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TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — The Southeastern Conference’s media wing always puts together highlights package that interest me because they seem to make odd choices. Sometimes I don’t understand why they pick out certain plays but don’t include others.
When they put together a highlights package between two SEC teams, the selection of plays can lead you to believe it must’ve been a close game, even when one team actually blew out the other.
So you can imagine my interest in seeing the SEC package from the Iron Bowl. How can you possibly make that one look balanced? From looking at the video, it appears the SEC didn’t try that hard. It actually includes all seven Alabama touchdowns.
It does have one Auburn highlight, however. Before you watch the video, try to guess what they included and see if you’re right. The video is about 1 minute, 16 seconds long.
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By now you know Harvey Updyke wasn’t welcomed to Alabama’s SEC softball tournament game Friday. The boys in blue asked the father of Crimson Tyde Updyke to take a hike as Alabama beat Georgia 1-0.
School officials may have been tipped off to Updyke’s interest in attending if they monitored one popular Alabama fan website.
A poster on a TiderInsider.com message board named “Alfromdadeville,” inquired Thursday morning about the SEC softball tournament.
“If they win, what time do they play tomorrow,” the poster asked. He later checked on ticket prices for the SEC softball tournament played in Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2004.
From TiderInsider.com (Click to enlarge)
Alabama, minus Updyke, will face Florida at noon today for the SEC crown. Tune into ESPN2 for all the action.
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Series starts at 7 tonight in Tuscaloosa.
The two with a history of animosity enter today’s baseball series opener on different paths. Read about that here …
TUSCALOOSA — The first few months of SEC baseball made a mockery of preseason polls.
Auburn was supposed to finish last in the West Division and a third-place finish was penciled in for Alabama. Wrong and wrong, at least to this point in the spring.
The Tigers enter the 7 p.m. series opener in Tuscaloosa tied atop the West Division with LSU while the Crimson Tide went the opposite direction. A light-hitting lineup has Alabama (10-19, 1-8 SEC) last in the league facing its first losing season since 1994.
“We just about got dirt thrown on us in the grave, but at the same time, you’re at a point where a series win would certainly mean a lot to this club right now,” Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard said.
Auburn, meanwhile, won its first three SEC series for the first time in nine seasons and climbed to No. 23 nationally. Wins in seven of the last 10 games gave the Tigers momentum that’s eluded the Tide all season.
Losses in 10 of the last 12 games can play with the psyche of a team with a young pitching staff. But the troubles were spread through all aspects of the team.
Click here for the complete dispatch.
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By now you should have recovered from watching that dizzying display of basketball performed in Coleman Coliseum. Now read how it all came together for the Crimson Tide in a big win over Auburn …
TUSCALOOSA — Shoot a season-low from the field and make just 14 shots wasn’t the plan.
Rodney Cooper (AP photo)
Allow your bitter rival to ugly it up in your own gym should spell disaster. But Alabama snuck one out Wednesday night in a nervous Coleman Coliseum.
It did so with free throws.
A sloppily played night ended with a 55-49 Alabama win over Auburn thanks in part to a 24-5 scoring advantage from the line. The Crimson Tide (20-9, 9-6 SEC) took its fifth straight against Auburn and fourth in a row to close February and all but assure a trip to the NCAA tournament.
The disjointed night of basketball saw the hosts shoot 32 free throws to the guests’ 12. That was enough to overcome shooting 31.1 percent from the field and one of Auburn’s best defensive games of the year.
“I didn’t know what we shot until the end of the game, to be honest with you,” Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. “We were able to get in the bonus early in the second half and we were converting our free throws. It was evident there a few minutes into the second half that this was going to be a grind-it-out possession-type game.”
Leading the rhythm-less second half for the Tide was senior JaMychal Green. The Montgomery native scored 13 of his team-high 15 after halftime while making 7-of-10 free throws.
Green said the unsightly game was reminiscent of the 51-49 Alabama win over Auburn in Tuscaloosa last year. Green tipped in a shot at the buzzer to win that one and he had another crucial follow-up Wednesday night.
His tap-in with 37.0 seconds left Alabama ahead 51-47. Auburn (14-15, 4-11) never got any closer after missing two late 3s and Alabama made 4 of 6 free throws to seal it. The emotions of senior night played a factor early on, Grant said.
Click here for the entire story.
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The final score: Alabama 55, Auburn 49. This was the scene right after the game in Coleman Coliseum.
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Look what just arrived at Coleman Coliseum. It’s the Iron Bowl football trophy. It’ll be handed back to Alabama at halftime.
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Instead of waiting for the students to raid newsstands, the Crimson White went ahead and decorated Coleman Coliseum tonight.
It’s all in the rivalry game, you know.
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I can’t deny my love of numbers and statistics. Nevermind my deplorable history in math class. I can’t get enough. I’m a nerd.
So let’s take a look at some of the more entertaining figures as they relate to the Alabama basketball program with an assist from the media relations game notes. As you know, the Crimson Tide play host to Auburn at 7 tonight in Coleman Coliseum. Historically, that’s a good thing for Alabama.
The Tide is 43-8 against the long-time rivals when playing in Tuscaloosa. The record is 36-7 in Coleman Coliseum. On the road, Alabama is just 26-26 in games played in Auburn.
Alabama is 3-2 in games played on Wednesdays. Sunday, Monday and Friday are better for the Tide since Anthony Grant’s team is 5-0 when playing those days. Alabama doesn’t have a losing record on any single day of the week, but is 5-4 on Saturdays.
The fact that it’s still February is a decent omen for Alabama, too. The Tide is a combined 12-2 in the two bookend months of the season so far (November and February). December and January were not as kind. Alabama was 7-7 in the middle of the season.
The bench has played a major role in the three-game Alabama winnings streak. The reserves have outscored its competition 113-37 in the past four games (23-0 against Florida, 20-6 over Tennessee, 38-17 over Arkansas, and 32-4 over Mississippi State. Alabama even found a way to outscore LSU’s bench Feb. 11 (9-8) when playing just eight players because of suspensions.
The four-game winning streak Alabama’s enjoyed against Auburn followed a stretch of four straight losses to the Tigers. The winning trend is the longest Alabama’s enjoyed in the rivalry since winning eight straight from 2003-06.
Of the last 10 Alabama-Auburn games played in Coleman Coliseum, seven were sellouts. Make it 8-for-11 after tonight’s game since all tickets were sold by yesterday.
I’ll update this if there’s time for more. I hope you enjoyed it.
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Given their records, and player personnel disparities, the Las Vegas line for tonight’s Alabama-Auburn basketball game can’t come as much surprise.
The Crimson Tide enters as a consensus 12.5-point favorite to beat the Tigers at 7 p.m. in Coleman Coliseum.
Click here for the line movement on VegasInsider.com.
The status of injured Alabama freshman Trevor Lacey is still unknown. Mystery still remains surrounding the suspensions of Auburn’s Varez Ward and Chris Denson. The return of either would certainly play a factor in this one.
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There doesn’t figure to be many empty seats in Coleman Coliseum tonight. Auburn comes to town for the basketball home finale, but some of the most anticipated action comes at halftime.
Since the Tide beat Auburn 42-14 on the football field this November, the Iron Bowl trophy will be handed back to Alabama tonight. The Auburn student president will sing “Yea Alabama” and there will likely be some jeering from the audience.
Take a look back at the scene from two years ago when Nick Saban and the football team accepted the trophy and made an unintentional comment that’s still bouncing around message boards. Notice the gasp when Saban refers to “the University of Auburn.”
In the spirit of equal time, here’s Auburn receiving the trophy last season. Gene Chizik took heat for using a certain word when saluting the crowd.
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This may be the first in the series from a basketball game this season. So check out the sights-and-sounds look inside Auburn Arena as the Tide took care of the Tigers, 68-50. Look closely and you can see one of the referees eject an Auburn student coming out of halftime.
One more video to follow in a bit. Stick around.
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In case you wanted to read the story that ran in today’s newspaper, here it is. Some video is coming soon. Stick around for that.
AUBURN — Call it a technical knockout.
First came the technicals, then the knockout.
Riding the momentum of three first-half post-play whistles, Alabama seized control in what became a 68-50 rout at Auburn.
The Tigers were called for three technical fouls in the opening 20 minutes as the Crimson Tide turned a seven-point deficit into an 11-point halftime lead. It was only the Tigers’ second loss in an Auburn Arena that quickly turned hostile.
JaMychal Green’s 19 points paced the Tide, winners of three straight, in its first game without suspended Tony Mitchell. The Alabama bench outscored Auburn’s 28-9 with Charles Hankerson leading the subs with 14. Frankie Sullivan was the only Tiger to reach double figures with 21 points.
Tension peaked after the third technical foul was called in the closing seconds of the half. Tiger coach Tony Barbee earned that one after Kenny Gabriel and Chris Denson each got one for hanging on the rim after dunks.
Gabriel’s put Auburn up 14-7 with 11:44 left, but the 12-4 run Tide run gave Alabama its first and last lead of the game.
Denison’s technical, which sent the sold-out crowd of 8,154 even further into a frenzy, came with 2:16 left. Again, Alabama took advantage. The guests scored the final eight points of the half to take an 11-point to the intermission.
“There were some tough calls that went against us in the first half,” said Tiger Varez Ward, who scored three points and had six turnovers. “Things just went downhill from there.”
Click here to read the whole thing.
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As it turns out, the 68-50 loss Alabama handed Auburn was historic. No Alabama team had ever come to Auburn and won by such a wide margin.
The game turned on three first half technical fouls called on the Tigers. But Auburn coach Tony Barbee, owner of the third, didn’t make any excuses. The first two came on slam dunks refs determined Auburn players did too much hanging on the rim.
““Guys have to protect themselves when their legs are out from under them so the referees made the right calls,” Barbee said. “It had nothing to do with officiating. We just did not play well.”
Tiger Varez Ward said “there were some tough calls” in the first half while blaming turnovers for the turn of events.
Trevor Releford, who made all six technical free throws, saw a difference after the whistles.
“That is a big intensity change for their team and I think I just had to step up and make those free throws and put our team in position to win.”
Read much more about this tomorrow.
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