Clemson Ends Tide Streak

No. 20/23 Alabama basketball came into Tuesday's game vs. Clemson with a 19-game home win sreak.

That's over. Donezo. The Tigers got hot in the second half and beat Bama 85-77  in front of an announced crowd of 10,725.

Said Tide coach Nate Oats, "Disappointing home loss. I thought their physicality bothered us on both ends. They just didn't let you get to the rim.

"We've got to do a lot better job. We don't have enough defensive pride to get stops."

Added Clemson coach Brad Brownell, "Fortunately our players are good enough to make some good plays.

"Our ability to get defensive rebounds late was a big key."

Mark Sears led Alabama with 23 points.  Clemson's PJ Hall scored 21 despite battling foul trouble.

Sears said, "The lack of [attention to] details wasn't there in the second half.

'"Our lack of defense: no matter how long it takes, we're going to get that fixed."

Clemson shot 60 per cent in the second half to nail down the win.

Early on, the three's were not falling for the Tide but the defense seemed improved from the Destin trip.

Clemson led most of the half but a Tide run capped bky a Mark Sears trey tied it at 25 with 5:10 to go.

The first half featured a competitive five ties and four lead changes, and at intermission Clemson hled a 33-32 lead.

In the final 20 minutes, Clemson responded to an 8-0 Tide run with a 13-0 run of its own behind hot 3-point shooting.

Next up for the Crimson Tide [5-2] is a Monday home game against Arkansas State, coached by former UA assistant Bryan Hodgson.