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Saturday, March 7
College Station
1:00 PM

Texas A&M

60
vs
61

Alabama

Men's Basketball Falls to Alabama, 61-60

Men's Basketball Falls to Alabama, 61-60

Mar 07, 2015 | Men's Basketball

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Alabama's year hasn't gone as it had hoped, but Crimson Tide guard Levi Randolph had reason to smile at the end of the regular season.

"We expect if we do the little things well, we'll get the win," Randolph said.

Alabama did the big things well, too, in a 61-60 toppling of Texas A&M on Saturday in Reed Arena. Retin Obasohan scored 12 points and three other Alabama players scored in double figures.

"A&M is a very solid defensive team," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. "They make it difficult for you, so we knew we needed to do a good job of sharing the basketball."

Randolph, Jimmie Taylor and Rodney Cooper each tallied 11 points in about as balanced an offensive attack as possible.

The Aggies, trailing 61-60 with 10.7 second remaining, turned to shooting guardPeyton Allen following a time out, but the freshman missed a 3-point attempt from the right side of the key with three seconds remaining.

"I trust Peyton to shoot that `3' every time," said guard Jordan Green, who along with forward Jalen Jones paced the Aggies with 13 points each.

Alabama (18-13, 8-10 SEC), despite losing three of its four previous games, continued its mastery of NCAA tournament hopeful A&M this season. The teams opened SEC play with a 65-44 Alabama victory on Jan. 6 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. This time, the Crimson Tide overcame a 36-22 halftime deficit to prevail on A&M's home court for the first time with both as SEC members.

"For us in the first half, it seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong," Grant said. "I'm proud of our guys, because they never wavered."

A little more than three minutes into the second half, Alabama sliced the Aggies' lead to 39-33 on an Obasohan layup. Neither team led by more than six points the rest of the way, with seven lead changes in that span.

"Give Alabama credit, they came out as the aggressor," A&M coach Billy Kennedy said of the Crimson Tide's strong start to the second half. "Our guys played back on their heels at times, for whatever reason. We had our opportunities, but just didn't get it done. . You've got to put teams away."

The Aggies (20-10, 11-7) played without leading scorer Danuel House (14.8 points per game), who injured his foot late in the Aggies' 66-62 loss at Florida on Tuesday.

"That definitely hurt us," Kennedy said of House's absence. "He's a leader on our team, and makes big plays for us offensively and defensively."

Kennedy said he's "not sure" when House might return to the lineup. A&M is trying to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011, and for the first time under Kennedy, but the Aggies closed out the regular season with two losses, putting a dent in their chances.

"I can't control all of that right now," Kennedy said of any postseason speculation. "I know we have a very good basketball team."


Texas A&M Basketball Post-Game Notes
Alabama 61, Texas A&M 60
March, 7 2015

TEAM RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
● The loss dropped Texas A&M's final regular season record to 20-10 and its SEC ledger to 11-7, the team's best conference mark since joining the league prior to the 2012-13 campaign.
● A&M finished the regular season with a 13-3 mark at Reed Arena.
● Alabama now leads the all-time series 9-4. TEAM NOTES
● The Aggies owned a 33-33 edge in rebounding, but the Crimson Tide pulled down 10 boards off the offensive glass, leading to 16 second-chance points.
● The shooting was a tale of two halves as the Aggies owned a 36-22 halftime lead after shooting 44 percent (11-of-25) during the first half and limiting Alabama to just 32.1 percent from the floor … following the intermission, the Crimson Tide heated up to shoot 58.3 percent during the second half while the Aggies made only 9-of-25 second-half attempts (36 percent).
● The Aggies used the starting lineup combination of Alex Caruso, Jordan Green, Davonte Fitzgerald, Jalen Jones and Kourtney Roberson for the 2nd time this season (1-1).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
● Senior Jordan Green scored 13 points on the afternoon, including 10 in the opening period.
● Junior Jalen Jones and freshman Peyton Allen also reached double digits for the Aggies, finishing with 13 and 11 points, respectively … Allen was 3-of-9 from 3-point range, while Jones pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
● Junior guard Danuel House did not play in the contest due to injury (foot).
● A&M head coach Billy Kennedy is now 70-59 in his fourth season at Texas A&M and 281-238 in 17 years as a head coach.

UP NEXT
● The Aggies will head to Music City for the 2015 SEC Tournament which will take place at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena March 11-15.