TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Ricky Tarrant scored 15 points and Retin Obasohan sparked a decisive second-half run to lead Alabama to a 65-44 victory over Texas A&M on Tuesday night.
The Crimson Tide (11-3, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) won its fifth consecutive game in the league opener for both teams.
The Aggies (9-4, 0-1) kept trying to chip away at double-digit deficits but wound up with a season-low in points.
Obasohan scored all 12 of his points in the final 10 minutes to help the Tide secure its fifth straight win in SEC home openers. He only played 13 minutes off the bench.
Levi Randolph and Michael Kessens each had 10 points and nine rebounds for Alabama.
Freshman Peyton Allen led Texas A&M with 13 points while leading scorer Jalen Jones sat out with a sprained ankle. Allen made 3 of 7 3-pointers for Texas A&M. Alex Caruso had six assists.
The Aggies tied the game early in the second half but were dominated from that point.
Texas A&M cut a 13-point deficit to 27-24 by halftime with a pair of big plays by Alex Robinson in the closing 37 seconds. He appeared trapped as the shot-clock wound down before finding Dylan Johns cutting to the basket for a dunk.
Then Robinson drove for a shot that just barely beat the buzzer, with officials reviewing the play before determining he got the shot off on time.
The baskets were the only ones of the half for both players.
Then Danuel House got his only basket of the game with a tying 3-pointer to start the second half. It was mostly Alabama from there, with the Tide scoring the next nine points.
Texas A&M later went 5:25 without a field goal as the game turned into a rout. Obasohan scored eight points during that decisive 17-3 spurt.
n Vanderbilt 64, Auburn 52: At Nashville, Vanderbilt’s strong rebounding and a balanced scoring attack spoiled Auburn coach Bruce Pearl’s return to the Southeastern Conference.
James Siakam scored 14 points to lead four starters in double figures as the Commodores beat the Tigers in front of 10,502 at Memorial Gym.
“That’s a new positive for us and that’s a good positive,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said of his team’s 47-27 rebounding advantage. “If that becomes part of who we are that’s certainly going to build in a better margin for error for our young team because we overcame 19 turnovers.”
Pearl, a former Tennessee coach, appeared in his first SEC game since serving a three-year show cause penalty from the NCAA for lying about a cookout at his home for recruits in 2008.
Pearl replaced the fired Tony Barbee in March.
“When we don’t play with that energy, getting after people and turning people over, then what we do is just OK,” Pearl said. “I think our guys have learned that. Vanderbilt is a good team and they run good stuff.”
Vanderbilt (11-3, 1-0 SEC) extended its winning streak to four games in the conference opener for both teams.
The loss ended Auburn’s five-game winning streak.
Auburn (8-6, 0-1) lost its 15th straight SEC road opener and 10th consecutive game to Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt’s Riley LaChance, wearing a faceguard to protect his broken nose, scored 13 points. He was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the second time Monday.
Vanderbilt’s Damian Jones added 11 points and Shelton Mitchell had 10.
Auburn’s Antoine Mason, a Niagara transfer who scored the Tigers first six points, led the visitors with 16.
Vanderbilt enjoyed a 35-17 edge on the defensive glass. Commodores forward Luke Kornet and Siakam each grabbed 10 rebounds. All 10 of Kornet’s rebounds were on the defensive end. Jones added eight boards.
“That was basically our game plan,” Siakam said of the rebounding advantage. “We knew there were a lot of rebounds to be had and that’s what we did. We just had to crash the boards really hard and it helped us win the game.”
Auburn’s K.T Harrell, who entered the game as the SEC’s second-leading scorer (17.9 ppg) was held to eight points on 3 of 9 shooting as Vanderbilt’s Jeff Roberson guarded him tightly.
“I knew coming in that they had one of the top, leading scorers in the SEC and it was going to be critical to kind of limit him because a lot of offense comes through him,” Roberson said. “So I went in trying to focus on defense, trying to limit him as much as possible. I consider myself a pretty good defender.”
Auburn’s Jordon Granger hit a 3-pointer to cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 55-50 with 2:13 left.
LaChance answered with a layup to increase the Commodores’ lead to 57-50 with 1:05 left.
Vanderbilt held a two-point lead when it went on a 12-0 run, boosting the Commodores’ advantage to 25-11 on Mitchell’s layup with 7:10 left in the first half.
Midway through the run Pearl called a timeout to try to change the momentum, but the Commodores kept pouring it on.
Auburn came out cold, missing 16 of its first 20 shots.
Vanderbilt hit 46.4 percent of its shots from the floor during the first 20 minutes to take a 33-19 halftime lead.
The Commodores nearly doubled Auburn’s rebound total in the first half with a 24-13 advantage.
Auburn narrowed the gap to 43-38 on Mason’s layup with 10:42 left.
Vanderbilt rallied, stretching its lead to 50-38 on LaChance’s 3-pointer with 9:10 left.
Auburn was seeking its longest winning streak since winning seven straight in 2008-09.
Pearl was 3-3 at Memorial Gym at Tennessee, including a 72-69 loss when Tennessee was ranked No. 1 in 2008.
His SEC winning percentage of 67.1 trails only Kentucky’s John Calipari (76.2).
Auburn hasn’t won at Memorial Gym since 2000.
Auburn’s Cinmeon Bowers, a junior college transfer who entered the game as the SEC’s leading rebounder, grabbed nine boards.
n Arkansas 79, Georgia 75: At Athens, Georgia, a road win was the perfect way for Arkansas to open its Southeastern Conference schedule and for coach Mike Anderson to celebrate a contract extension.
Bobby Portis scored 21 points, Michael Qualls added 17 and No. 23 Arkansas rallied from a first-half deficit of 13 points to beat Georgia on in the Southeastern Conference opener for each team.
The Razorbacks are 71-41 under Anderson, including 60-6 at Bud Walton Arena. They improved to only 11-35 on the road in four seasons with Anderson.
“This was a great win for us,” said Alandise Harris, who had 15 points. “People say we can’t win on the road. That’s the stigma of Arkansas forever.”
Arkansas (12-2, 1-0 SEC) needed a strong second half for its sixth straight win. The Razorbacks played from behind before taking their first lead with about 6 minutes remaining.
Anderson, awarded a two-year extension through the 2019-20 season earlier Tuesday, said the road win was a good sign for his team’s toughness.
“It’s a little tougher to do it on the road, but when you do it, it tells you a little bit about your team, the mental toughness, the physical toughness and just finding a win to win against a very good Georgia team,” Anderson said.
A rebound and basket by Georgia’s Marcus Thornton with 4.5 seconds remaining cut the Arkansas lead to 77-75. Two free throws by Qualls pushed the lead back to four points.
Nemanja Djurisic led Georgia (9-4, 0-1) with 16 points. The loss ended the Bulldogs’ six-game winning streak, their longest in four years.
“I thought we played very hard, but we didn’t get the stops we needed to get,” said Georgia coach Mark Fox. “You can’t give up (51.7) percent from the field and expect to win versus a good team.”
With Arkansas leading 74-70, Georgia’s Kenny Gaines missed a long jumper. Following a missed attempted tip by Georgia, the Razorbacks quickly pushed the ball the other way to set up a powerful jam by Qualls.
Georgia led the full first half, including a big lead of 13 points at 38-25. The Bulldogs made only four of their first 18 shots in the second half, opening the door for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas pulled even for the first time at 61-all on a 3-pointer by Anton Beard. It took its first lead at 63-61 on a jumper by Harris with 6:33 remaining.
Georgia freshman Yante Maten answered with an inside basket but missed a free throw, leaving the Bulldogs with their last lead at 64-63.
Harris sank a long jumper and then added a 3-pointer on the Razorbacks’ next possession. A basket by Qualls pushed the lead to 70-64.
Djurisic had 11 points as Georgia led 44-37 at halftime, despite 15 points by Portis. Georgia made six of nine 3-pointers in the half.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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