It was everything we thought it would be, but it’s unfortunate that a thrilling shootout ended up being decided by a ref show.
Alabama escaped Arkansas 117-115 in double-overtime in Tuscaloosa. The story of the game was, as it should be, Darius Acuff, who scored 49 points in an absolutely heroic effort. His 3-pointer to give him 41 sent the game to overtime. In the end, however, he ran out of teammates.
The degree to which Alabama beat “Arkansas” may be questioned due to the Ship of Theseus situation that had unfolded by the end of the game. The Razorbacks ended the game with Jaden Karuletwa and Elmir Dzafic on the floor after four Razorbacks fouled out: Nick Pringle in regulation, Meleek Thomas in the first overtime, then DJ Wagner and Billy Richmond III in quick succession in the second overtime. The Hogs were already without Karter Knox and Isaiah Sealy, who are injured, so they had three regular players on the floor at the end: Acuff, Trevon Brazile, and Malique Ewin. Acuff played all 50 minutes but was the only guard for the final few possessions.
Arkansas was whistled for 26 fouls and Alabama attempted 34 free throws. A large chunk of the fouls were not shooting fouls but were just ticky-tack grabs and blocking fouls. Lead official Doug Shows is widely known at this point for being whistle-happy, particularly to the benefit of the home team. That’s benefitted Arkansas before, but not this time.
I’m sure everyone has a bunch of thoughts about how this game played out. I think Arkansas wins easily in regulation if Thomas doesn’t get into foul trouble. Most of Alabama’s comeback from 10 down at halftime and 14 down early in the second half came with Thomas on the bench. I still think Arkansas probably wins if Richmond and Wagner are able to finish the game in the second overtime. I think the Hogs would be thrilled to see Alabama in the SEC Tournament semifinals on a neutral floor.
And it’s easier said than done, but I would’ve liked Acuff to shoot a 3 on the final possession. You aren’t winning in triple-overtime with Karuletwa and Dzafic on the floor. Just shoot for the win there. Alabama was trying to prevent exactly that, but maybe the Hogs could’ve tried a pick-and-pop with Brazile, although I understand why they wouldn’t want to take the ball out of Acuff’s hands in that situation.
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Advanced stats
This was an offensive masterpiece by both teams. I’m disappointed at the bottom number. Arkansas allowed 58 points in the paint because they switched everything on the perimeter to prevent Alabama from getting hot from 3, which pretty much worked, although allowing the Tide guards to drive was part of what created the opportunity for so many fouls.
But Arkansas should have scored more than 46 points against a horrible paint defense. I wrote in the preview that they might need 50, and that would have done the trick here. But the Hogs appeared scared of Tide center Aiden Sherrell, who did just enough to protect the paint. Ewin going completely scoreless was just killer. Arkansas really needed a good game from him.
No assists here, just driving guards, as we expected from the preview. Arkansas avoided turnovers and did fine on the offensive glass, but the Hogs didn’t finish well enough in the paint. But to be clear: the free throw attempt margin is what delivered this win for Alabama.
John Calipari knew it, hence this cheeky answer where he lists off a ton of stats from the game except fouls and free throws and then sarcastically wonders how Alabama won:
Again, play this game again somewhere else and see what happens. Fayetteville, Atlanta, Dubai, an aircraft carrier, anywhere.
For Alabama, you can see Sherrell’s impact at +17. For Arkansas, you can see Thomas’s impact at +14. Again, if he’s not in foul trouble, Arkansas doesn’t lose the halftime lead and wins in regulation.
Also, you needed Knox for this game. Richmond offers so much, but as we’ve discussed before, he is not a good defender (his defense alone was worth minus-8 for the Hogs), and Amari Allen got 19 and 11 in this game, undoing a lot of Richmond’s offensive contributions.
And as a final note, despite going scoreless, Ewin was +5 compared to Pringle’s minus-10. He’s a better player and he should have played more than 20 minutes. Pringle got 23 and grabbed one rebound. That’s the problem with him. He may have slightly better defensive technique but he doesn’t visibly contribute much, and at some point, that’s too much of a problem to justify continuing to play him.
Final point: the Hogs have to take 10 players next year, as Ben Brandon has been demanding. This is two years in a row that the Hogs have lost in a game because they essentially ran out of players. Injuries happen, so you can’t be taking seven players into a key road game, especially one officiated by Doug Shows.
Up next
Arkansas is at home Saturday for a must-win game against Missouri. The Tigers are deep in the bubble so the Hogs should expect a good game from them. A letdown after the Alabama loss would be devastating. The Hogs also really need Knox back for this one, as Missouri’s post productive player is their wing, Mark Mitchell.
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