Live with the Tide: Alabama Basketball Hosts South Carolina

Alabama (15-13, 7-8 SEC) looks to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive when it plays host to the South Carolina Gamecocks (17-11, 9-6 SEC) on Saturday night in Coleman Coliseum

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama men's basketball team returns to Coleman Coliseum, after a two-game stint in in the state of Mississippi, to face the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday night. 

Last time out, the Crimson Tide (15-13, 7-8 SEC) was defeated by the Bulldogs of Mississippi State, 80-73, on Tuesday night. In the process, the team lost junior wing John Petty to an elbow injury. He is considered "highly unlikely" to play against the Gamecocks (17-11, 9-6 SEC) per coach Nate Oats. 

On the other hand, South Carolina is coming off of 94-90 overtime victory over Georgia. 

Alabama is a 5.5 point favorite according to BetOnline.Ag and the over/under is set for 160. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m, CT, on SEC Network. 

Pregame

• Starting lineup for Alabama: freshman forward Javian Davis, junior wing Herbert Jones, sophomore guard Kira Lewis, Jr., junior forward Alex Reese and freshman guard Jaden Shackelford.
• Starting lineup for South Carolina: sophomore guard A.J. Lawson, redshirt-freshman Jermaine Couisnard, sophomore forward Alanzo Frink, senior forward Maik Kotsar and sophomore forward Keyshawn Bryant.
• Junior guard John Petty, Jr. is on the sidelines in a sling and is not dressed to play. 

First Half

• South Carolina has won the tip and on its first possession its turns the ball over. 
• Shackelford can not finish at the rim, resulting in a basket from Kotsar on the other end. 
• Lawson buries a three-pointer to put the Gamecocks up five. 
• Davis is at the line for the Crimson Tide. He scores one of two. 
• Beetle Bolden has checked in replacing Shackelford. 
• At the first media timeout, South Carolina has jumped to a 11-1 lead. Crimson Tide is 0-of-6 from the field to start. 15:56 left. 
• Kotsar is fouled by Jones on his dunk attempt. He makes one from the charity stripe/ 
• Galin Smith has replaced Javian Davis. 
• Shackelford drives and scores a tough layup. That is one of the few positives this crowd in Coleman Coliseum can cheer about so far. 
• Couisnard silences the crowd with a long three. 
• Davis gets the offensive rebound and the put back. He completes the and-one. 15-6 Gamecocks with 13:40 to go. 
• Jones just sinked two more one-handed free throws. 
• Oats is called for a technical foul and Lawson makes both shots. Not sure what was said, but Oats was very agitated about the blocking call on the previous Gamecock possession. 
• Shackelford buries a three from the corner. 
• Lewis gets a steal, leading to a transition layup. 
• Another steal from Lewis. He just picked Moss' pocket. He is fouled on the layup attempt and will shoot two shots when play resumes. It is 20-13 Gamecocks with 11:45 remaining. 
• Lewis scores one of two. Six-point deficit for the Crimson Tide. 
• Jaylen Forbes checks in for Jones. Forbes drives to the lane is fouled on his shot attempt. He will shoot two. The first one rattles in and out, but he nails the second.
• Lewis sinks two to cut the Gamecocks' lead to four, 21-17.  
• South Carolina has not scored from the field in almost four minutes. Crimson Tide defense is buckling down. 
• Davis scores two from the line and it is 21-19, South Carolina. 
• Bryant is left open and he slams it home. 
• Davis is back at the free-throw line. He is not backing down from the Gamecocks' post players at all. He scores two more. 
• A Shackelford trey from the wing ties it at 28.
• We are tied at 30 at the under eight-minute media timeout. 6:45 left. 
• Couisnard makes the front end of the one-and-one, but misses the second. 
• Alabama is now in the double-bonus. Davis returns to the charity stripe and only makes one. Crimson Tide trail 32-31 with 5:20 to go. 
• Back-to-back three-pointers from Lewis make it 38-37 at the under four-minute media timeout. 3:13 remaining. Lewis has 15 points and two steals. 
• Shackelford gets a friendly roll and Alabama has its first lead at 39-38. 
• The Gamecocks get it back after a three from Bolden. 
• Reese is fouled and he will head to the line. He scores two and the game is tied at 41. 
• Hanibal scores a layup and the Gamecocks will take a 43-41 lead into intermission. Alabama has three players in double-figures — Lewis (15), Davis (11), and Shackelford (10). The Crimson Tide is winning the rebounding battle, 26-17. 

Second Half

• Both teams start with the same lineup. Alabama starts with the ball and Davis drains a three-pointer. 
• Bryant scores an and-one for the Gamecocks. 
• Kotsar makes a jumper to give South Carolina a four-point lead, 48-44. 
• Jones misses two one-handed shots from the line. 
• A three-pointer by Shackelford and nice reverse layup from Lewis cut the Gamecocks lead to one, 50-49. 
• McCreary scores the lay in, and Davis is now at the line shooting two. He hits one of two from the charity stripe. 
• Bolden is the Crimson Tide's first sub of this half, checking in for Shackelford.
• South Carolina goes on a 4-0 run, getting baskets from Lawson and Bryant. 
• Lewis is now shooting two and being fouled in the lane. He clanks the first, but scores the second. 56-51 Gamecocks with 15 minutes left. 
• Lewis drives in the lane again and is fouled by Kotsar, that is his third. Lewis makes both shots this time. 
• Davis shoots another three, it misses but he gets the long board and passes to Reese under the basket who lays it up for the easy two. 
• Reese buries a wide-open three-pointer to give Alabama a 58-56 lead.
• Couisnard misses the front end of a one-and-one. 
• On the other end, Smith scores a layup as he is fouled. He misses the foul shot, though. Alabama has its biggest lead of the game at four, 60-56.
• Lawson responds with a jumper. 
• Smith is called for a questionable shooting foul and we have reached the under 12-minute media timeout. Alabama leads 60-58 with 11:32 to go.
• Frink misses the first foul shot, but drains the second. 
• Shackelford is now at the line after McCreary's foul put Alabama in the bonus. He misses the front end. 
• Frink scores an easy layup and the Gamecocks have the lead again, 61-60. 10:43 remaining. 
• Davis gets the offensive board after Forbes' miss and he is fouled on the put back attempt. He scores both. Alabama back in front by one, 62-61. 
• Lewis answer McCreary's basket with a three-pointer of his own. 
• Cousinard ties it at 65 with a floater in the lane. 
• Shackelford crashes the boards and gets fouled on his put back attempt. He sinks one of two. Alabama in front by one, 66-65. 
• Jones scores a layup after a receiving a nice pass from Shackelford. 
• Frink makes the tough basket and will head to the line for one more. He misses the and-one opportunity. 
• Back-to-back layups from Shackelford extend Alabama's lead to five. Frank Martin will call a timeout. The Crimson Tide leads 72-67 with 7:27 to go.
• Jones hammers the put back dunk with his off hand, giving Alabama a seven-point lead. Frink answers on the other end with an and-one. 
• The Crimson Tide is now in the double-bonus after that foul by Cousinard. Shackelford scores one-of-two from the charity stripe. 
• Bolden drains a three-pointer from the corner and the crowd at Coleman is on its feet. Alabama leads 78-70. 
• Bolden fouls Lawson on the other end. Lawson makes the first, but misses the second. 
• Gamecocks get the offensive board and Bryant dunks it home. 
• Davis came up limping on the last dead ball and he heads to the locker room. 
• Lewis is at the foul line and he scores two. Alabama in front by seven, 80-73. 3:49 to go in the game. 
• Out of the timeout, Cousinard scores a layup. 
• Bolden is at the free-throw line. He sinks both shots. 
• Kotsar scores a hook shot and Alabama turns it over on its offensive end. 
• Bryant makes a put back layup and is fouled by Jones. He completes the and-one. Alabama's lead is down to two, 82-80. 
• Jones is shaken up after the foul by Cousinard. He got hit in the head. The officials have ruled it a flagrant one. Jones is shooting two. He nets both of them and Alabama leads by four, 84-80, with 2:06 to go. 
• Lewis finds Jones in the paint and he scores the easy two. 
• Bolden fouls Lawson and he will shoot two. He makes both. 
• Alabama turns it over on the inbounds pass.
• Bryant scores the layup and it is a two-point Alabama lead with 1:04 to go. 
• Bolden misses a jumper, but so does Bryant on the Gamecocks' end. Lawson has to foul Bolden. He scores two from the line to put Alabama up by four with 25 seconds remaining. 
• Jones is called for a foul and that is his fourth. Hanibal is shooting two. He scores both and it back to a two-point game with 17 seconds left. 
• Couisnard fouls Shackelford and he scores one of two. 
• Lawson misses the contested three and Davis secures the rebound. Davis is headed to the line. He bricks the first and Martin will call a timeout. Four seconds remain. 
• Davis makes the crucial second shot. 
• Alabama defeats South Carolina 90-86. Lewis finished with 25 points and and six assists. The difference maker was Davis, who notched a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.