Crimson Tide

Auburn, AL&nbsp; &mdash; In a competitive, in-state rivalry game, the Auburn Tigers (21-1, 9-0 SEC) took care of business and defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 100-81. Eastern Kentucky transfer Wendell Green Jr. led Auburn in scoring with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists off the bench. Jaden Shackelford led all players with 26 points.&nbsp;
Auburn freshman Jabari Smith was recently named to the John R. Wooden Award watch list in averaging 15.6 points and 6.8 rebounds. Walker Kessler, K.D. Johnson and Green round out the Tigers&rsquo; balanced attack.&nbsp;
Coming off a huge win at home against No. 4 Baylor, the Crimson Tide (14-8, 4-5 SEC) looked to secure another top-five victory on the road. Their backcourt trio of Shackelford, Jahvon Quinerly and J.D. Davison leads the way on both ends of the floor.&nbsp;
The first half was tight for the first 10 minutes, but by the 3-minute mark, the Tigers had stretched the lead to 47-28. They would lead 51-37 at the break, but Shackelford led all players with 16 points after connecting on 3 of 5 shots from deep. Noah Gurley provided 7 early points off the bench.
Smith led Auburn with 11 points and Green had a very productive start with 10 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds in the first half.
Quinerly started the second half on a tear and brought the Tide back to within two points at 57-55, but Johnson and Green had had enough of that. They would stretch the lead to 81-61 at the 7:07 mark, and never looked back from there. For a brief moment, there appeared to be life for Alabama, but Johnson connected on a triple to end that.
Auburn would put up triple-digit points for the second time this year, the last being in its only defeat in a double-overtime loss to Connecticut.&nbsp;
Quinerly posted 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Keon Ellis provided 9 points, 8 points, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. Smith ended with 17 points and Kessler posted 14 points, 12 rebounds, 8 blocks, 4 steals and an assist.&nbsp;
UPCOMING
Alabama hosts No. 5 Kentucky on Saturday.
Auburn visits Georgia on Saturday afternoon.
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In a competitive, in-state rivalry, the Tigers took care of business and defeated the Tide by a score of 100-81.

Wendell Green Jr. scores 23 as No. 1 Auburn defeats Alabama 100-81

Tuscaloosa, AL&nbsp; -&nbsp; The Crimson Tide take down No. 4 Baylor today at home by a score of 87-78. They played great team defense and were led in scoring by Jahvon Quinerly with 20 points. Jeremy Sochan led Baylor with 17 points.&nbsp;
Led by the No. 7 defense in the country in Adjusted Efficiency, Baylor (18-3, 6-2 Big 12) is again one of the top teams in the nation. Their three guards, LJ Cryer (out with foot injury), James Akinjo and Adam Flagler drive the offense and combine for 39.6 points and 10.9 assists per game. Freshman Kendall Brown is also having a strong season and is currently projected as a lottery pick in June&rsquo;s NBA draft.
The Crimson Tide (14-7, 4-4 SEC) has been up and down. After five &ldquo;Quad 1&rdquo; wins they hit a rough patch in conference play, losing 4 of their last 6 contests. Junior guard Jaden Shackelford leads the team in scoring with 17.1 points per game. Freshman JD Davison is as electric as any at the guard position and also projects as a lottery pick.
In an incredible environment in Tuscaloosa in which the fans put on a &ldquo;White Out,&rdquo; Shackelford and Davison got started early as the Tide jumped out to an 11-3 lead. Baylor responded with some big shots of their own, taking a 19-17 lead halfway through the period. Quinerly would get hot soon after which allowed the Tide to take back the lead at 29-22.
Alabama took a 38-34 lead to the break and had 20 points in the paint in the first half alone. They did so by attacking the lane with purpose and converting at the free-throw line. Quinerly led all players with 12 points. Jeremy Sochan scored 8, while Flagler and Davison each had 7 points.&nbsp;
Alabama remained in control the first few minutes of the second half as the score moved to 43-38. Quinerly and Akinjo were tagged for offsetting technical fouls at the 16:42 mark, and Baylor immediately responded with a cut and alley-oop from Matthew Mayer. By the 13:13 mark, Alabama had gotten back on track and taken a 57-42 lead, thanks to some stifling defense and big shot-making from Keon Ellis.
Things got interesting when Dale Bonner and Flagler connected on triples to cut the lead to 65-60. Shackelford hit a three-pointer with just under five minutes to go, off a beautiful inbound set as the shot clock expired, making the lead 75-66 Tide. With just under three minutes to go, JD Davison made a huge steal and dunk in transition to give Alabama a 10-point lead.&nbsp;
The Tide would hold on for the 87-78 win.&nbsp;
Shackelford ended with 19 points, and Davison posted 14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in another big-time performance. Flagler added 16 points for Baylor, while Matthew Mayer scored 12 on 4 of 8 from the field.
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UPCOMING
Baylor hosts West Virginia on Monday night.
Alabama visits No. 1 Auburn on Tuesday.
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The Crimson Tide take down No. 4 Baylor today at home by a score of 87-78.

Alabama knocks off No. 4 Baylor, 87-78

SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Jaden Shackelford scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half, Jahvon Quinerly and JD Davison both hit key 3-pointers, and No. 16 Alabama held off Gonzaga&rsquo;s big second-half rally for a 91-82 win over the third-ranked Bulldogs on Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide (7-1) made 10 of their 13 3-pointers in the first half, led by Shackelford&rsquo;s sharp shooting from deep. Alabama led by 16 at halftime and withstood every charge the Bulldogs made in the second half to hand Gonzaga its second loss in three games.
Gonzaga trailed by as many as 18 at the beginning of the second half, but pulled within 76-72. The Bulldogs missed several chance to cut the deficit, and Davison and Quinerly hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Crimson Tide a big cushion.
Shackelford made 10 of 16 shots and all six of his 3-pointers came in the first half. Davison finished with 20 points off the bench and Quinerly added 17.
Drew Timme led Gonzaga (7-2) with 23 points, but it was another sputtering offensive performance for the Zags, who lost to Duke last week in Las Vegas and looked lethargic in a win over Tarleton State earlier this week.
Julian Strawther had 13 points, and Anton Watson and Chet Holmgren 10 each for Gonzaga, but the Bulldogs didn&rsquo;t hit perimeter shots at key times and struggled badly at the free-throw line.
Alabama led 53-35 in the opening seconds of the second half, Gonzaga pulled within 74-70 and 76-72 on Watson&rsquo;s rebound basket with 5:27 left, the closest the Bulldogs had been since late in the first half.
Gonzaga was empty on its next three possessions and Davison&rsquo;s 3-pointer pushed the Alabama lead back to seven with 3:33 left. Quinerly added a 3 the next time down for Alabama and the lead was 10.
The Crimson Tide had missed five straight 3-point attempts before Davison&rsquo;s make.
WELCOME BACK
It was the return of Gonzaga playing one game per season in Seattle. The event had lost its luster and some of its marquee opponents from when the game first started in the early 2000s. The last game was in 2015, a 86-79 win over Tennessee.
There was also the lack of a place to play in recent years while Climate Pledge Arena was undergoing its transformation. But the operators of the arena made a big push for Gonzaga to be the first marquee basketball game played in the building &mdash; aside from some Seattle University home games.
BIG PICTURE
Alabama: Shackelford was nearly perfect in the first half, making 7 of 8 shots and six 3-pointers. His step-back 3 at the halftime buzzer gave Alabama a 51-35 lead at the break. Shackelford had not made more than five 3s in a game yet this season. More than half of Alabama&rsquo;s first-half field goals came from behind the 3-point line with 10 3s and just eight field goals inside the arc.
Gonzaga: The Zags were terrible at the free-throw line, finishing 13 of 25 and missing the front end of one-and-one situations several times. Entering the game, the Bulldogs were 71.2% from the line.
UP NEXT
Alabama: Hosts No. 15 Houston on Saturday.
Gonzaga: Hosts Merrimack on Thursday.

No. 16 Alabama held off Gonzaga’s big second-half rally for a 91-82 win over the third-ranked Bulldogs on Saturday night.