UT men’s basketball rallies past Alabama, 77-68

By Steve Lansdale

AUSTIN, Texas — When the University of Texas men’s basketball team headed to the locker room for halftime Friday, the Longhorns found themselves on the short end of a 12-point deficit against the University of Alabama. But while some teams might have buckled against the odds of mounting a comeback, UT head coach Shaka Smart said the composure his team showed was instrumental in mounting a rally.

“The difference was the guys just weren’t as bummed out,” Smart said. “I know that sounds simple, but when you go back to the locker room at halftime, there are still 20 minutes left to play. If, prior to the game, you had planned out a perfect game, you’re probably not going to be pleased. You’re probably not going to be happy. Certainly if you’re down by 12, you’re not going to be pleased. Our guys [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]did a good job starting the second half. We got three straight stops at the beginning of the half which we really needed, and we were able to cut into the lead and play from there.”

The first few possessions after the intermission started a comeback that never stopped, as the Longhorns stormed all the way back to beat Alabama, 77-68, at the Frank Erwin Center. Sophomore guard Kerwin Roach, Jr., scored a team-leading 16 points to lead five Longhorns who scored in double figures. The others — guard/forward Tevin Mack, center Shaquille Cleare, forward Jarrett Allen and guard Jacob Young — each scored 11 points.

While pleased with the Longhorns’ offense, it was on the defensive end where Smart said he saw the most improvement between the first half and the second.

“We definitely played harder on the defensive end,” Smart said. “I think it’s just guys understanding this is what we have to do. Alabama made some really good plays. They made a lot of threes. They made some tough shots. They banked in a tough shot, but our guys didn’t get down. It’s hard to play with a level of fight when you’re feeling sorry for yourself or you get down. I thought we made some progress in that area tonight. Now it’s a matter of if we are willing to look at what went into winning this game and try to keep doing those things better and better, or are we just happy that we won without really understanding what created the win. “We wanted to get some tempo going by using the press. Guys did a nice job, and that helped us. I thought it at least made it a little different in terms of not being a half-court game on every possession. Alabama was tough to guard in the first half. They were getting us in some isolation situations. They were getting us in rotation, so I think that helped us change the game a little bit.”

The Longhorns enjoyed a 35-27 advantage in rebounds. Mack and guard Andrew Jones led UT with seven boards apiece.

Roach said that coming back always is difficult, but it’s not a challenge with which the Longhorns have no familiarity.

“We’ve definitely been in that position before,” Roach said. “We just needed to respond. That’s one thing that (Smart) preaches. We did that in the second half. We came out aggressive and wanted to fight and wanted to win and it paid off.”
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