Above, Alabama coach Anthony Grant's postgame comments.
* Box Score
"I have a lot of respect for the Alabama team, and I really believe in what (Coach) Anthony (Grant) is trying to do here," said Cornell head coach Steve Donahue. " Honestly, I think we caught them at a good time, while Coach Grant is still trying to get his stuff in. Still, it's great to come in and get a win on the road against an SEC opponent like Alabama. I think they'll be pretty good come January. We have a bunch of veteran leadership on this team and it means a lot to them to beat a big school like Alabama on the road to start the year."
The Big Red were able to knock off an SEC team for the first time since tipping Arkansas 78-77 in the first round of the Razorback Invitational and evened its all-time record against Alabama at 1-1. The Cornell victory also spoiled the debut of new head coach Anthony Grant, who moved in after a successful three-year run at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Cornell led by as many as 15 points in the second half, only to see the Crimson Tide whittle it down to one with just over six minutes to play. But a poised and confident Big Red tema never lost the lead and connected on 6-of-7 free throws in the final 2:24 to seal the victory.
Wittman, who entered the game 13 3-pointers shy of the Ivy League record, hit on 5-of-8 shots from beyond the arc en route to his game-high 23 points. He added three rebounds and three assists. Foote chipped in three blocked shots for his monster night, while hometown hero Louis Dale had 13 points, five assists and four rebounds in front of nearly 200 fans. The native of nearby Birmingham had three of his four rebounds on the offensive glass despite standing just 5-11.
JaMychal Green had a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead the Crimson Tide, while Mikhail Torrance added 16 points and six rebounds off the bench. Also in double figures for Alabama was Anthony Brock with 15 points and Tony Mitchell with 12. The Crimson Tide shot 46 percent from the floor but surrendered 50 percent shooting in the season opener after limiting foes to 41 percent overall and 31 percent from beyond the arc. The Big Red connected on 10-of-18 shots from 3-point range (56 percent).
Cornell nearly led from buzzer to buzzer, with Alabama taking a 2-0 lead less than a minute in, only to be answered with a 6-footer from Foote. Wittman drained a 3-pointer on the next possession and Cornell built an early 10-2 lead after a three-point play by Coury. The early charge kept the pendulum in the big Red's favor, with only a quick surge by the Crimson Tide to get within two (20-18) with eight minutes to play the only blip. Wittman, as he has done his whole career, calmly hit a trey to push the lead back to five and the visitors went into the break leading 26-20.
The defensive struggle in the first half turned into a track meet after the break, as the teams combined to score 92 points in the second half after just 46 points total in the first. Dale, Chris Wroblewski and Wittman hit unanswered 3-pointers on the first three possessions of the second half to go up 35-20 just two minutes into the second, but the home team started slowly chipping away. A pair of free throws by Torrance brought the Crimson Tide back within three (50-47) with nine minutes left, but Wittman answered with a jumper. After two more free throws by Torrance cut the deficit to 54-53, Dale hit a shot form long distance. It got back to two (63-61) with 2:30 remaining, but Foote answered.
Each time, Cornell had the answer.
Alabama was able to get back three twice in the final minutes, but Wittman and Dale hit a pair of free throws to keep the home team at bay. After Dale put Cornell up 70-65 with 55 seconds left, Torrance hit a basket to cut it to three and was fouled, but missed the ensuing free throw. Wittman rebounded and the Big Red faced an Alabama defense looking to keep it a one possession game. The senior threw up a 3-pointer late in the shot clock that missed, but senior Alex Tyler grabbed the board and got it out to Wroblewski with five seconds left. He hit the first of two free throws to make it 71-67, and the Crimson Tide couldn't get the ball over half court as they ran out of time.
Tellingly, the Big Red didn't celebrate much on the court in anticipation of bigger things to come.
Cornell will be back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 18 when it travels to the University of Massachusetts for a 7:30 tip-off against the Minutemen in the first round of the Legends Classic.
Men's Basketball Falls to Cornell, 71-67 Sophomore JaMychal Green leads the Crimson Tide with 17 points and 10 rebounds in a game that was decided in the final seconds.
RollTide.com
Nov. 14, 2009
Box Score | Box Score 
| Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama basketball team scrapped back from a 15-point deficit in the second half, but was unable to overtake Cornell, falling 71-67 at Coleman Coliseum in head coach Anthony Grant's Crimson Tide debut.
The Big Red quickly extended a six-point halftime lead to 15 with three straight three-pointers to open the second period, but the Tide would not go away, clawing back into the game by forcing turnovers and attacking the basket on offense. Alabama answered Cornell's 9-0 run with a 7-0 spurt of their own capped by a steal and bucket by senior Anthony Brock to cut the lead to eight and get back in the game.
The Tide used full-court defensive pressure to pull closer, forcing nine second-half turnovers that led to 15 points. Alabama got within one point at 53-54 on a pair of free throws by senior Mikhail Torrance, but could not get over the hump thanks in large part to stellar shooting by Cornell, especially from beyond the arc.
"I thought we were able to get the tempo the way we wanted (in the second half)," Grant said. "I thought it allowed us to get ourselves back in the game and gave us a chance to win at the end. And give Cornell credit. They made some plays against the press that were momentum stoppers."
Cornell made 7-of-10 three point attempts after halftime, and each time Alabama would draw within one possession it seemed they had an answer. Cornell shot 62.5 percent from the field in the second half and 50.0 percent for the game. The visitors made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 1:21 to put the game away.
"The three-point line is the great equalizer in college basketball," Grant said. "It's a game changer. They came out tonight, and they made some timely threes. They made some where we didn't do a very good job of getting matched up with their shooters and identifying where we needed to be, and other ones were contested and they actually made some very tough shots."
Alabama kept the game tight by making shots and getting to the free throw line in the second half. The Tide bounced back from a tough shooting performance in the first half to shoot 55.6 percent from the field in the second, and after not attempting a foul shot before the break, Alabama got to the line 22 times after halftime, converting 15.
Four Alabama players scored in double-figures led by sophomore JaMychal Green who posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Eleven of Green's points came in the second half when the Tide fed him the ball regularly in the post.
"I felt like it was a good game, even though we lost," Green said. "We became better as a team. We fought hard and competed out there. We showed a lot of fight in our hearts. Right now, even though we lost, we showed progress."
Torrance poured in 16 points off the bench on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. After only playing four minutes and scoring two points before the break due to foul trouble, the senior made his presence felt in the second half, slashing to the basket for layups time and again.
Brock scored 15 points and made 3-of-4 shots from beyond the arc. He also led the Tide's defensive effort, coming away with three steals. Freshman Tony Mitchell rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Tide with 12 points off the bench on 4-of-7 shooting.
"I thought our guys did a good job today of trying to play to our identity," Grant said. "I thought we fought hard; we put ourselves in position to have a chance. But unfortunately it came down to what we want to pride ourselves on and that's our ability to defend and rebound, and to be honest with you, I think we didn't do a good enough job here in the second half here today to get the victory."
Alabama trailed 26-20 at the break in a half in which both teams struggled to find a rhythm offensively. Neither team shot better than 40 percent from the field before intermission. The six-point deficit the Tide faced could be mostly attributed to the charity stripe where Cornell went 5-for-9 while Alabama did not attempt a free throw.
The Big Red jumped out to a 10-2 lead early, but the Crimson Tide battled back behind a pair of three-pointers from Brock and closed the deficit to two at 20-18 on a Hillman jumper with 7:58 left. Alabama held Cornell without a field goal for the final 6:51 of the first half but were unable to close the gap because of its own offensive difficulties.
Mitchell slammed home a tip-dunk with 2:50 remaining for the Tide's final bucket before the break. Brock and Green had six points each to lead Alabama in the first.
Cornell's Ryan Wittman led all scorers with 23 points, doing most of his damage from three-point range where he made 5-of-8 attempts. Seven-foot center Jeff Foote added 17 points on 7-14 shooting.
Alabama returns to action against Jackson State on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at Coleman Coliseum. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT.
Alabama Head Coach Anthony Grant
Thoughts on today’s game:
“I have to give Cornell a lot of credit. They are a very good basketball team. We talked about it before the game and we understood coming into the game that with the experience they had, they would come in here and play very confident and they did that. I thought they opened up the game from the three-point line and really stretched us a bit and in the second half and I think it was the difference in the game. When you allow a team to make seven three’s in the second half and the game comes down to our defending and rebounds, we weren’t up to the task, and I thought that was the difference in the game.”
“The three-point line is the great equalizer in college basketball, it’s a game changer. They came out tonight and they made some timely threes. They made some where we didn’t do a very good job of getting matched up with their shooters and identifying where we needed to be, and other ones were contested and they actually made some very tough shots. They’re a good basketball team. We knew coming into the game and you watch it on film, they didn’t do anything today that we didn’t expect and unfortunately we weren’t able to come away with the win.”
On Cornell’s experience:
“They’re a very good basketball team. I was very proud of our guys. When you get down 15 points, especially a new group that’s new to me, new to what we’re trying to do, our guys kept fighting; they didn’t let adversity knock them back on their heels. They kept belief in each other, they kept playing together, and they gave us a chance to win. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get some stops that we needed; we weren’t able to get some rebounds that we needed; we weren’t able to make some conversions that we needed, and against a good team it’s hard to win when you don’t do those things.”
On what the team can take from the loss:
“I want to go back and I want to look at the film. I want to see exactly where we broke down and why we broke down. I thought our guys did a good job today of trying to play to our identity. I thought we fought hard; we put ourselves in position to have a chance. But unfortunately it came down to what we want to pride ourselves on and that’s our ability to defend and rebound, and to be honest with you, I think we didn’t do a good enough job in the second half here today to get the victory. We’ll go back and we’ll look at the game. Our goals don’t change. Our goal is every single day to get better as a basketball team so we have an opportunity to learn from this and get prepared for the next one.”
On second-half defense:
“I thought we were able to get the tempo the way we wanted. I thought it allowed us to get ourselves back in the game and gave us a chance to win at the end. And give Cornell credit, they made some plays against the press that were momentum stoppers. (Jeff) Foote inside really hurt us; he made some lay-up conversions against the press as well. They’re a good team. I thought our guys fought hard and we’ll go back, and we’ll look at this, and we’ll get prepared for the next one.”
On JaMychal Green:
“It was good to have him on the floor. Obviously we’re a better team when JaMychal is on the floor. I think that JaMychal will tell you at the end of the day, the whole focus was to get a win. We weren’t able to get that win so when you look at the individual numbers they pail in compairison to the final score.”
On other standout players:
“It’s a team game. It’s a team game and obviously we have to play as a team and continue to get better as a team.”
On next opponent, Jackson State:
“We’ll get prepared for them. With this game just ending right now I don’t know a whole lot about them. Obviously we’ll get prepared for them going forward and we’ll try to learn from this one and get prepared for the next one.”
ALABAMA PLAYERS
No. 1 Anthony Brock
On what can be learned from the loss:
“It was a learning experience. They were a very good shooting team; you can’t take that from them. They came to compete just like we did. We’ll just learn from it and take the next step.”
On Cornell’s offense:
“They ran their offense to perfection. They were getting open looks. We guarded them the best we could, but they were just a great offense and got open looks.”
On his production in the game:
“My teammates did a good job of finding me. We were playing with intensity and playing to win.”
On fighting back in the second half:
“It’s just the style of ball Coach (Anthony) Grant wants us playing. We were just trying to play hard and get back in the game.”
On the crowd in the second half:
“The intensity picked up so we were feeling very good and trying to make plays.”
No. 32 JaMychal Green
On what can be taken from the game:
“I felt that we got better. I felt that we finally came together as a team and competed hard. We made crucial mistakes in the game that led to the loss. Myself, I missed a couple of layups and we were missing layups. We missed a couple of free throws. We didn’t get the two last rebounds and that’s what won the game.”
On Cornell’s inside presence:
“No. 1 (Jeff Foote), he was huge – 7-foot-1 I believe. No. 33 (Alex Tyler) was strong. They had a good interior inside. I felt that our post fought hard even though we were undersized.”
On his strong play early in the season:
“I felt like it was a good game, even though we lost. We became better as a team. We fought hard and competed out there. We showed a lot of fight in our hearts. Right now, even though we lost, we still showed progress.”
Cornell Head Steve Donahue
“I have a lot of respect for the Alabama team, and I really believe in what (Coach) Anthony (Grant) is trying to do here. Honestly, I think we caught them at a good time, while Coach Grant is still trying to get his stuff in. Still, it’s great to come in and get a win on the road against an SEC opponent like Alabama. I think they’ll be pretty good come January. We have a bunch of veteran leadership on this team and it means a lot to them to beat a big school like Alabama on the road to start the year.”
“Alabama had some pretty good runs in the second half getting the lead down to one or two and I think we showed a lot of resolve stopping the bleeding. It’s a characteristic we really lacked last year. We blew a double digit lead against Minnesota and against Syracuse we were up fifteen, and failed to close it out. Today we did a much better job against the pressure and didn’t fold and thankfully came out on top.”
TUSCALOOSA | A barrage of second-half 3-pointers and Cornell’s 7-foot big man were too much for Alabama to overcome as the Big Red spoiled Anthony Grant’s coaching debut for the Crimson Tide.
Cornell started the second half draining six 3-pointers and mixed the ball inside to its 7-foot center Jeff Foote to effectively keep the Alabama defense off balance and earn the season-opening victory with a 71-67 win Saturday afternoon at Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama pulled to within striking distance several times late in the second half, but Cornell worked the ball inside for easy shots by Foote, who finished with 17 points, to keep the Tide at bay.
When Foote wasn’t hitting shots under the basket, Ryan Wittman was draining 3-point shoots. The 6-foot-6 senior forward knocked down 5-of-8 3-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points.
With Wittman as a 3-point threat, the Big Red forced Alabama to play straight-up man defense while not allowing Tide defenders to double down on Foote in the paint.
“You can’t double-team him. He’s a great passer,” Grant said. “The reason why he got those one-on-one opportunities is because he’s such a good passer that if you go get him…if you remember the first three (3-pointers) they got in the first half we actually went down and tried to dig and double on him and he threw it right back out and they knocked down their first three in a row.
“With the 3-pointer shooters they have and a 7-foot presence like that and as skilled as he is inside, offensively as a coach you’d love to have that. You’d like to have guys on the perimeter that can stretch the defense like that and a guy on the inside that can get you buckets and make plays for you.”
The Tide trailed 26-20 at the end of the first half that saw both teams shoot less than 40 percent from the field.
The Big Red got it going to start the second half, hitting six 3-pointers, including three by Wittman.
Alabama’s Anthony Brock, who scored 15 points, said Cornell used the screen effectively.
“They ran their offense to perfection. They just were screening and getting open looks,” Brock said. “We were guarding the best way we could.”
The Big Red hit the first three 3-pointers, pushing a six-point lead to 15. Alabama clawed its way back thanks to an aggressive, pressing defense that forced 17 points off turnovers.
Alabama eventually cut the deficit to one point after a pair of Tony Mitchell free throws, a Brock layup and two Torrance free throws, but it was as close as the Tide got.
JaMychal Green led Alabama with 17 points and recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds. Mitchell scored 12 points, seventh best all-time for an Alabama freshman in a season-opener, and Torrance added 16 points.
Alabama (0-1) hosts Jackson State on Tuesday night at 7:30.
Notes: Alabama freshmen Tony Mitchell and Ben Eblen made their Tide debuts, with Mitchell, a 6-foot-6 forward, scoring 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting. He had five rebounds, two steals and one assist in 24 minutes of action. Eblen, a 6-foot-1 guard, played five minutes and recorded no statistics. Alabama newcomer Charvez Davis, a 6-foot-3 junior guard, played 10 minutes and went 0-for-4 with a rebound and as assist. Chris Hines, a 6-foot-8 junior forward, had two rebounds and one steal in 13 minutes.
Wittman’s 23 lifts Cornell past Alabama, 71-67
Associated Press
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)—Ryan Wittman and Cornell had the edge in experience, savvy and poise while Anthony Grant’s first Alabama team is still working out the kinks.
Wittman scored 23 points and was 5-for-8 from 3-point range to help the Big Red beat the Crimson Tide 71-67 on Saturday to earn a rare win over a Southeastern Conference team—spoiling Grant’s ‘Bama debut in the process.
“Honestly, I think we caught them at a good time, while coach Grant is still trying to get his stuff in,” Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. “Still, it’s great to come in and get a win on the road against an SEC opponent like Alabama. I think they’ll be pretty good come January.
“We have a bunch of veteran leadership on this team and it means a lot to them to beat a big school like Alabama on the road to start the year.”
Cornell (1-0) opened the second half with nine straight points, building a 35-20 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers by Chris Wroblewski and Wittman.
Grant turned up his full-court press to help the Tide whittle the margin down to 53-52 on Torrance’s two free throws with 6:16 left.
But two-time defending Ivy League Conference champion Cornell, which returns all five starters and has four senior starters, answered with a 3-pointer by Birmingham native Louis Dale and never gave up the lead.
Grant, meanwhile, is trying to import his fast-paced tempo to a team that could never become a strong pressing team under predecessor Mark Gottfried. He wasn’t particularly pleased with the beginning.
“If we defend and rebound like we’re capable of, I think we win the game,” Grant said. “They’re a very, very talented offensive team and they cause problems in terms of extending your defense. The press hurt them late but it hurt us early with them being able to get some conversions. You make a mistake, they make you pay for it every single time.”
The Big Red went 6 of 7 from the free throw line over the final 2:24 to put the game away. Wroblewski made one of his two foul shots with 4.4 seconds left to make it a four-point game.
The Tide had stayed in it with Mitchell’s layup with 46 seconds to play. He was fouled on the play but missed the free throw. Wittman then grabbed the long rebound from his own miss on the other end to keep possession.
It was the Big Red’s first win over a team currently playing in the SEC since beating Arkansas in the 1972-73 season.
“It feels tremendous. This is a big win for us,” said Cornell 7-footer Jeff Foote, who had 17 points and seven rebounds. “This is a great way to start the season off. Last season we would have folded. Syracuse and Minnesota, we had leads at halftime and they made a run at us and we lost. This year we were able to keep our poise and come out with a tough win.
“We’ve come a long ways since last year.”
Foote made the Tide pay for its aggressive defense at times with easy baskets after the guards beat the press. Dale had 13 points in front of a couple of busloads of fans from his alma mater Altamont High School.
JaMychal Green led the Tide with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Mikhail Torrance got 14 of his 16 points in the second half, while Anthony Brock added 15 points and Tony Mitchell had 12.
Brock made three of Alabama’s four 3-pointers. Cornell made 10 of its 18 attempts from beyond the arc.
“The 3-point line is critical,” Grant said. “We’ve got to be able to guard the 3-point line better. They got some open looks. They made some contested shots. We weren’t able to defend the way we need to defend. We want to pride ourselves on being a very good defensive team.”
Alabama has won 19 of its last 22 home season openers but has dropped the last two. That’s a problem Grant hadn’t had, going 15-1 as a head and assistant coach in openers.
Grant replaced Gottfried after leading Virginia Commonwealth to regular-season conference championships in each of his three seasons. The longtime Billy Donovan assistant helped Florida win the 2005-06 national title.
His debut drew a relatively sparse crowd listed at 10,135 fans though the 15,000-seat arena appeared barely half full. The Tide’s third-ranked football team was playing 90 minutes away Saturday night at Mississippi State.
Grant got all four members of his first signing class into the game early, but only Mitchell scored against Cornell.
“They’re a very good basketball team,” Grant said. “We knew that coming in. I thought they played like a veteran team, they were poised all the way through.”
Big Red smoking
By Mike DeCourySporting News
If you noticed the score rolling across the bottom of your TV screen — Cornell 71, Alabama 67 — and reflexively thought of this as some sort of cataclysmic event for the Crimson Tide, you might want to give that a second thought.
What this really was: A warning to the other big-time teams that'll be playing the Big Red over the next couple month. Seton Hall, Syracuse, Saint Joseph's — they cannot be looking forward to their games against Cornell.
Cornell has the top five scorers from last season's NCAA Tournament team. Ryan Wittman, like his father Randy, is an absurdly accurate shooter who opened his senior season with a 5-of-8 performance from 3-point range. The team shot 50 percent from the field and 56 percent from 3-point range.
Tide coach Anthony Grant called the 3-point line "the great equalizer in college basketball." It could make Cornell the equal of some high-level teams before Ivy League play begins
The Birmingham News
The Anthony Grant era at Alabama has started with a loss.The Crimson Tide fell to Cornell 71-67 this afternoon at Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama trailed 26-20 at halftime, but Cornell scored the first nine points of the second half, and the Tide went on to fall to the two-time defending Ivy League champion, which has made two consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament. Alabama cut a 15-point deficit to one point with a little more than six minutes left, but its comeback bid failed from there.
JaMychal Green had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Mikhail Torrance scored 16 points and Anthony Brock added 15 to lead the Tide, which only had 13 turnovers. Torrance came off the bench while Andrew Steele started.
The difference was three-point shooting. Cornell made 10 of 18 shots from beyond the arc. Alabama sank only four of 11.
Ryan Wittman sank five three-point shots, and his game-high 23 points led the Big Red, which also got 13 points from senior guard Louis Dale of The Altamont School.
Alabama returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when it plays host to Jackson State.
BamaMag.com
Tuesday night, Anthony Grant told all who would listen that his first Alabama basketball team was “under-sized and under-skilled.” Saturday afternoon, against a Cornell team that is neither, it showed, despite a gallant Tide comeback in the second half.
“They played like a veteran team. They were poised all the way through,” said Alabama Coach Anthony Grant after a 71-67 loss in his first regular game at the helm. “Unfortunately, we not able to survive some of the runs they went on.
“For us all year, it’s going to be a learning process. I thought we did some good things in the press, and I thought we were able to create the tempo we wanted.”
Seven-foot center Jeff Foote (17 points) scored at will in the paint, and blocked multiple JaMychal Green shots on the other end. Several Big Red players hurt UA behind the arc, including the son of a former NBA player. That would by Ryan Wittman (23 points), whose dad Randy played at Indiana and for the Atlanta Hawks.
“With the 3-point shooters they have, and a seven-foot presence inside, it makes it tough to double-team,” said Grant.
Knowing he was facing a perimeter-oriented team, Grant started Andrew Steele as a third guard along with Anthony Brock and Senario Hillman. Green and Knox started in the post. Mikhail Torrance entered as the sixth man less than three minutes in, along with Charvez Davis
Green led the Tide with 17 points and 10 boards. Torrance added 16,and Brock chipped in 15. True freshman Tony Mitchell scored a dozen off the bench and sparked the Tide at times.
Bama won the battle of the boards, 33-27. The Tide shot 46.2 percent from the field, but allowed Cornell to hit half of its 48 shots, many of them open treys. The Big Red knocked down 10-18 behind the arc, while Bama managed but a 4-11 effort. Seven missed free throws hurt Bama’s chances, but both teams shot 68 per cent at the line.
Green scored the first bucket of the Grant regime with a jump-hook in the lane, the veteran Cornell team jumped out 10-2 before a Torrance runner, but the Big Red lead swelled to as much as eight at the 16:37 mark of the half, but Brock drained a pair of 3’s to draw UA to within three before the teams traded turnovers for several minutes. The Big Red led 26-20 at the break. Bama had yet to shoot a free throw.
“No. 1 (Foote), he was huge,” Green said. “I felt that our post men fought hard.” Foote had three blocks.
Green posted his eighth career double-double, and second straight in a season opener.
Torrance started the second half, but to little avail. Cornell kept banging the boards and knocking down open looks behind the arc. Three treys and a 35-20 lead led to a Grant time out. It seemed to work, as the Tide went on a 7-0 run and missed another layup during that stretch. However, Wittman nailed a three and Bama turned it over.
“We’ve come a long way since last year,” said Big Red coach Steve Donahue. “This year, we keep our poise.”
Bama was able to narrow the gap to a single point at one point and two points on two other occasions in the second half, but couldn’t get over the hump. When Cornell had to answer it did, repeatedly.
“When you’ve got 3-point shooters like Wittman, I felt like we needed to get matched up (man-to-man), said Grant when asked if he thought about going to a zone. “They were able to get some looks. It was the difference in the game in the second half.
“They got some open looks, and they made some contested shots. Down the stretch, when the game was on the line, they converted on six of eight possessions. Give Cornell credit. They’re an extremely talented offensive team.”
One positive for Bama was that it handled the ball better than when it combined for 45 turnovers in two exhibitions. Saturday, UA gave it up but 13 times, and only four in the final 20 minutes.
“We cut our turnovers, but we had some very untimely turnovers when we had some opportunities,” said Grant. “That’s part of the game. Some of them were unforced, but I don’t think that was the difference in the game.”
Bama outscored the visitors 47-45 after intermission, but to no avail. The Tide is now 77-20 all-time in season openers.
Grant and his team will be part of a doubleheader against Jackson State Tuesday with the women’s team of Wendell Hudson. The ladies, who beat Tennessee Tech 73-68 to open their season Friday, will tip at 5:00 p.m., and the men will follow at 7:30. A men’s ticket will get fans into both games.
“We’ll try to grow and get better as a basketball team,” said Grant.
CBS42.com
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- The University of Alabama men’s basketball team battled back from a 15-point deficit in the second half, but could not overtake Cornell, falling 71-67 at Coleman Coliseum in a game that went down to the wire in UA head coach Anthony Grant’s regular-season debut. The Crimson Tide got as close as one point, but the Big Red closed the game out by converting 5-of-6 free throws in the final 1:21.
Huntsville Times
Boxscore
TUSCALOOSA, AL - The Anthony Grant Era at Alabama didn't intimidate Cornell, as the two-time defending Ivy League champions spoiled the Crimson Tide's season opener 71-67 on Saturday.
Ryan Wittman, whose dad starred at Indiana before playing and coaching in the NBA, scored 23 for Cornell, which returned five starters - including four seniors. Wittman was 5-of-8 from 3-point range, part of the Big Red's 10-of-18 team shooting from long range.
Cornell also got 17 points and seven rebounds from 7-foot center Jeff Foote.
Alabama, picked third in the SEC West preseason poll, trailed by 35-20 after Cornell opened the second half on a 9-0 run.
The Tide was led by JaMychal Green's 17 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman small forward Tony Mitchell debuted with 12 points. Mikhail Torrance scored 16 and Anthony Brock added 15. Senario Hillman committed six of the Tide's 13 turnovers.
The Tide fueled a comeback with fullcourt pressure, cutting the lead to one in the final five minutes. But Alabama never led.
"Alabama had some pretty good runs in the second half getting the lead down to one or two and I think we showed a lot of resolve stopping the bleeding," Donahue said. "It's a characteristic we really lacked last year. We blew a double-digit lead against Minnesota and against Syracuse we were up 15, and failed to close it out. Today we did a much better job against the pressure and didn't fold and thankfully came out on top."
WSFA News 12
TUSCALOOSA, AL - The University of Alabama basketball team couldn't overcome a 15-point second half deficit as they fell 71-67 to Cornell at Coleman Coliseum in head coach Anthony Grant's Crimson Tide debut.
The Big Red quickly extended a six-point halftime lead to 15 with three straight three-pointers to open the second period, but the Tide would not go away, clawing back into the game by forcing turnovers and attacking the basket on offense. Alabama answered Cornell's 9-0 run with a 7-0 spurt of their own capped by a steal and bucket by senior Anthony Brock to cut the lead to eight and get back in the game.
The Tide used full-court defensive pressure to pull closer, forcing nine second-half turnovers that led to 15 points. Alabama got within one point at 53-54 on a pair of free throws by senior Mikhail Torrance, but could not get over the hump thanks in large part to stellar shooting by Cornell, especially from beyond the arc.
“I thought we were able to get the tempo the way we wanted (in the second half),” Grant said. “I thought it allowed us to get ourselves back in the game and gave us a chance to win at the end. And give Cornell credit. They made some plays against the press that were momentum stoppers.”
Cornell made 7-of-10 three point attempts after halftime, and each time Alabama would draw within one possession it seemed they had an answer. Cornell shot 62.5 percent from the field in the second half and 50.0 percent for the game. The visitors made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 1:21 to put the game away.
“The three-point line is the great equalizer in college basketball,” Grant said. “It’s a game changer. They came out tonight, and they made some timely threes. They made some where we didn't do a very good job of getting matched up with their shooters and identifying where we needed to be, and other ones were contested and they actually made some very tough shots.”
Alabama kept the game tight by making shots and getting to the free throw line in the second half. The Tide bounced back from a tough shooting performance in the first half to shoot 55.6 percent from the field in the second, and after not attempting a foul shot before the break, Alabama got to the line 22 times after halftime, converting 15.
Four Alabama players scored in double-figures led by sophomore JaMychal Green who posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Eleven of Green’s points came in the second half when the Tide fed him the ball regularly in the post.
“I felt like it was a good game, even though we lost,” Green said. “We became better as a team. We fought hard and competed out there. We showed a lot of fight in our hearts. Right now, even though we lost, we showed progress.”
Torrance poured in 16 points off the bench on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. After only playing four minutes and scoring two points before the break due to foul trouble, the senior made his presence felt in the second half, slashing to the basket for layups time and again.
Brock scored 15 points and made 3-of-4 shots from beyond the arc. He also led the Tide’s defensive effort, coming away with three steals. Freshman Tony Mitchell rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Tide with 12 points off the bench on 4-of-7 shooting.
“I thought our guys did a good job today of trying to play to our identity,” Grant said. “I thought we fought hard; we put ourselves in position to have a chance. But unfortunately it came down to what we want to pride ourselves on and that’s our ability to defend and rebound, and to be honest with you, I think we didn’t do a good enough job here in the second half here today to get the victory.”
Alabama trailed 26-20 at the break in a half in which both teams struggled to find a rhythm offensively. Neither team shot better than 40 percent from the field before intermission. The six-point deficit the Tide faced could be mostly attributed to the charity stripe where Cornell went 5-for-9 while Alabama did not attempt a free throw.
The Big Red jumped out to a 10-2 lead early, but the Crimson Tide battled back behind a pair of three-pointers from Brock and closed the deficit to two at 20-18 on a Hillman jumper with 7:58 left. Alabama held Cornell without a field goal for the final 6:51 of the first half but were unable to close the gap because of its own offensive difficulties.
Mitchell slammed home a tip-dunk with 2:50 remaining for the Tide’s final bucket before the break. Brock and Green had six points each to lead Alabama in the first.
Cornell’s Ryan Wittman led all scorers with 23 points, doing most of his damage from three-point range where he made 5-of-8 attempts. Seven-foot center Jeff Foote added 17 points on 7-14 shooting.
Alabama returns to action against Jackson State on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at Coleman Coliseum. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT.
Big Red Open Season With Victory Over Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama -- Anthony Grant's coaching debut at Alabama didn't quite go as planned. Against defending Ivy league champions Cornell, Alabama led for a total of 19 seconds, as Cornell held on for a 71-67 win in both teams' regular season opener.
Grant's first game at Alabama after leaving VCU was a tough test in the season opener, as Cornell was tough to defend from three-point range, combined with a good inside presence. For the visiting Big Red, Ryan Wittman led the scoring, hitting 5-8 from beyond the arc en route to a game-high 23 points. Center Jeff Foote contributed 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks for Cornell as well.
For the Crimson Tide, standout sophomore JaMychal Green had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the losing effort. While four Alabama players finished with double figures in points, spreading the wealth seemed to be a problem for the Tide as finished with only 9 assists and five players scoring at all.
Cornell went down 2-0 early, but tied the game up shortly after on a Foote hook shot, and the Big Red never looked back, leading the rest of the way. Although the lead was as high as 15 early in the second half, the Tide made it close drawing to within three points before sophomore Chris Wroblewski put it away with a late free throw, as part of a 6-7 stretch from the line over the last couple minutes of the game. The difference in the game came from beyond the arc as Cornell made 10-18 (55.6%) three pointers compared to 4-11 (36.4%) for Alabama.
The victory for Cornell marks the first victory over an SEC opponent since 1972-1973, when they defeated Arkansas 78-77.
Next up for the Big Red is a game at UMass on Wednesday, November 18th, while the Tide will play host to Jackson St. on Tuesday, November 17th.
Ex-Cat Mark Coury Terrorizes SEC Again
Bluegrass State Basketball
Cornell Daily Sun
November 16, 2009
Cornell basketball opened up the 2009-10 campaign with a win in Tuscaloosa, Ala., against Alabama, 71-67, on Saturday. The Red (1-0, 0-0 Ivy) showed its dominance in the heart of the SEC, and picked up its third-straight season-opening victory. Senior Ryan Wittman led the Red, picking up 23 points, three rebounds and five from beyond the arc. The pentagonal efforts of Wittman, senior Jeff Foote, senior Louis Dale, sophomore Chris Wroblewski and senior Alex Tyler combined for 59 of the Red’s 71 points on Saturday afternoon.
The Red’s season-opener was a matchup of Ivy League vs. SEC, brains vs. brawn and scholarship dollars vs. Ancient Eight recruiting. Alabama, led by JaMychal Green, the No. 21 prospect in 2005, came into this weekend’s game with a new coach, and a lot of talent.
“It definitely felt good to go down to a solid SEC school and pick up a win,” Wittman said. “I think we have a lot of places to grow, but it’s always great to start the season with a win.”The Red’s visit to Alabama was its first since bell-bottoms, pet rocks and Led Zeppelin. The choice to open up this season on the road, against a tough squad from Alabama, fell on head coach Steve Donahue, who has designed one of the most difficult out-of-conference schedules in the NCAA. The Red outperformed expectations, showering shots from the field, to lead the Crimson Tide for almost the entire game. The Red proved that its shooting would be something to look out for this season.
“The three-point line is the great equalizer in college basketball; it’s a game changer,” said Alabama head coach Anthony Grant. “They came out tonight and they made some timely threes. They made some where we didn’t do a very good job of getting matched up with their shooters and identifying where we needed to be.”
In the first half, the Red was able to play its game without much intervention from Alabama. ’Bama struggled to contain the Red’s offensive weapons, which have truly started to pay dividends. Whether it be Wittman, draining shot after shot from the field, many for three, or Foote picking up points in the paint, the Red was able to create opportunity in Coleman Coliseum.
“We really focused on our offense in this game,” said senior Mark Coury. “You never know how the stats are going to fall, and how your first game is going to be. But, we won this game because of the preparation we put in.”
The Red was able to contain Alabama’s offense, showing off its new defensive unit led by Coury, a Kentucky import who has brought a new angle to the squad. Coury picked up five rebounds in the half, while the Red forced nine turnovers out of the Tide that converted to seven easy points. Though Coury only played 18 minutes against Alabama, he produced the second-highest number of rebounds for the Red. Foote picked up seven rebounds in 35 minutes of play.
“Having another big body on the court is really great for us,” Wittman said. “Coury has been working a lot on rebounds in practice, and that really showed in this game.”
In his head coaching debut, Grant went into the locker room at half time six points down, 26-20. Grant’s defensive change at the half began to cut away at the Red’s lead as the second half wore on.
In the opening minutes, Wittman would pick up six points from three-point territory, and the Red’s lead would balloon to 15 point without answer from the Crimson Tide. ’Bama then turned up the physicality of the game, putting on an aggressive full court press that began to change the tides.
The Red had difficulty handling Bama’s press, having some trouble finding the open man in what seemed like a constant double team. The Red made nine turnovers in the second half, which converted to 15 points for the Crimson Tide. Alabama was quick to convert on opportunities, picking up 10 fast break points in the second period, allowing ’Bama to outscore the Red 47-45 in the half.
Despite mounting pressure from Alabama’s defense, the Red was able to shoot 62.5 percent from the field, and 70 percent from beyond the arc.
“Alabama had some pretty good runs in the second half, getting the lead down to one or two and I think we showed a lot of resolve stopping the bleeding,” Donahue said. “It’s a characteristic we really lacked last year.”
The Crimson Tide was able to come within three twice in the final minutes of the battle, but the Red was able to expand its lead quickly at key moments to keep the victory in sight. In the last 2:24 of regulation, the Red was able to sink six-of-seven high-pressure shots from the free throw line to hold the lead. Wroblewski made one of two free throws with only seconds left to seal the win, 71-67.
“I think [Alabama] will be pretty good come January,” Donahue said. “We have a bunch of veteran leadership on this team and it means a lot to them to beat a big school like Alabama on the road to start the year.”
With one game in the win column, the Red will continue its road stand on Wednesday in Amherst to take on UMass in the opener for the Legends Classic. The Red will make its Newman Arena debut on Friday against a capable squad from Seton Hall at 7 p.m.
Cornell spoils Grant official debut
The Crimson WhiteThe Alabama men’s basketball team kicked off its season Saturday under new head coach Anthony Grant in a 71-67 loss to Cornell. The Crimson Tide kept the pressure on The Big Red, but Alabama was unable to overcome Cornell’s 3-point shooting.
“You got to give a lot of credit to Cornell,” Grant said. “They’re a good basketball team, we knew coming in, very well coached. Obviously two-time Ivy League champs, they played like a veteran team. They were poised all the way through, and obviously, we knew they were a good shooting team.”
Cornell’s Ryan Wittman proved to be too much for Alabama with a team-high 23 points as he made five three-pointers. Point guard Louis Dale also added 13 points, including a pair of three-point shots that pushed Cornell’s percentage beyond the arc to 55.6 for the game.
Grant emphasized the importance of perimeter defense if the Tide hopes to have a successful season.
“The three-point line is critical,” Grant said. “We really have to be able to guard the three-point line better. They got some open looks, they made some contested shots. We wanted to defend the way we need to defend, the way we needed to defend. We want to pride ourselves on being a very good defensive team.”
While Wittman’s shots hurt the Tide, they didn’t give as much trouble as Cornell’s seven-footer, Jeff Foote, did in the post. Foote had 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting and led the team in rebounds with seven.
Grant said Foote had an impact on Cornell’s outside shooting.
“You can’t double-team him,” Grant said. “He’s a great passer. The reason why he got those one-on-one opportunities is because he’s such a good passer. If you remember the first three [3-pointers] they got in the first half, we actually went down and tried to dig and double on him, and he threw it right back out and they knocked down their first three in a row.”
Alabama showed some positive signs in the second half as the team came back from a 15-point deficit. The Tide also turned up the defensive intensity as they forced 14 turnovers and scored 17 resulting points.
The effort by the players is something that Grant said leaves him optimistic about the season moving forward.
“For us all year I think it’s going to be a learning process,” Grant said. “What I stress to our guys is that we need to get better as a team. I think there were things today, even though we didn’t win the game, that we can learn from and get better…We’ll try to grow from this and get prepared for the next one and hopefully continue to figure out who we are as a basketball team.”
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