Men’s basketball wins at Vanderbilt despite turnovers

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CW / Hannah Saad

Jack Kennedy | @jwkennedy24, Staff Reporter

Alabama men’s basketball saw flashes of its past self in a 77-62 win over Vanderbilt in Nashville on Wednesday night.

Despite averaging 13.4 turnovers per game since its 2-4 start, Alabama finished the game with a season-high 25 turnovers against the Commodores. Despite the sloppiness, it marked the first time Alabama (11-7 overall, 4-2 SEC) has won back-to-back games in Memorial Gymnasium since 1987.

“It was nice to get a road win. I didn’t think we played that well, especially on offense with all the turnovers,” coach Nate Oats said. “… They forced us into 25 turnovers, so give them credit. We played hard enough to get the win, but I don’t think we played that smart.”

After turning the ball over 15 times in the first half, Alabama held a six-point advantage at halftime. Coming out of the break, the Commodores narrowed the deficit to four, but the Crimson Tide answered with a 14-0 run and led by as many as 21 during the second half. Sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr. finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and seven turnovers, tying a season high.

Junior guard John Petty Jr. began the game strong by making his first four shots from beyond the arc and ended the first half 5 of 7 from 3-point range. He ended with 23 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.

Even though Alabama won the rebounding battle by 19, there was little production from the Crimson Tide forwards, who had only 15 of its 51 rebounds.

Alabama will be back in action against Kansas State (8-10, 1-5) for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in Coleman Coliseum on Saturday at 5 p.m.