For the second night in a row, Alabama found itself in a game going down to the wire.
The Crimson Tide were able to fend off a feisty Rutgers team 95-90 to advance to the championship game of the Players Era Festival.
Here are a few takeaways from the game.
Turnover Troubles
For the second game in a row, Alabama has struggled not turning the ball over. The Crimson Tide turned the ball over 20 times, which led to 23 points for Rutgers. Over the past two games, Alabama has turned the ball over a whopping 35 times.
Crashed the Boards
Alabama used its size to its advantage by crashing the boards and dominating on the glass. The Crimson Tide outrebounded Rutgers 43-31. Sixteen of their 43 rebounds came on the offensive glass resulting in 18 second chance points.
Bench Points Depth
Both teams were playing their second game in as many days, and both were coming off an overtime win. The deeper team was going to have a huge advantage with fresher legs. Rutgers’ starters were good, but the Alabama bench was better. Ten Alabama players got in the game and all 10 recorded at least one bucket. The Crimson Tide bench outscored their opponent 38-6.
Strong Second Half for Sears
Last night, Mark Sears broke out of his slump by scoring 24 points. On Wednesday, he continued to stay hot. Sears had a mild first half, scoring just six points, but exploded for 18 second half points to finish with 24 points for the second night in a row.
No. 9 Alabama will play in the championship game of the Players Era Festival on Saturday against Oregon at 8:30 p.m. The game will be televised on TNT.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
