For Alabama Basketball to Keep Dancing, It Needs Its Best Three-Point Shooter to Deliver

Despite not-so-great shooting numbers against Iona, John Petty Jr. is set to bounce back for the Crimson Tide in the second round of the 2021 NCAA tournament against Maryland on Monday night

INDIANAPOLIS — Early in the second half of the University of Alabama's 68-55 win over Iona, senior guard John Petty Jr. watched one of his free throws rim in and out. 

Visibly frustrated, Petty stood there in disbelief in front of a socially-distanced and limited-capacity Hinkle Fieldhouse. 

The next foul shot received the same fate and hit the back iron. 

Despite the 13-point win for Alabama, it was just that kind of afternoon for the program's best three-point shooter of all time.

Petty finished the afternoon scoring 10 points, going 3-of-13 from the floor, 1-of-5 from three-point range and 3-of-8 from the charity stripe. He also finished with four turnovers in 30 minutes of action. 

"He's just got to settle down and quit putting pressure on himself," Alabama coach Nate Oats said following the win of what his message to Petty was. "....He's a really talented, skilled offensive player. Just let the offense come. I don't know what the deal was at the free-throw line. He's a lot better shooter than that, even from threes, one for five. I thought he shied away from maybe — he wasn't — did he take a three in the second half? Was he one for five at the half maybe? He was aggressive, got downhill, got some easy ones, got out in transition off some stops. Probably one of his worst shooting games when you take threes and free throws together."

Afterwards, Oats graded the Crimson Tide's offense with a D performance. As a whole, Alabama shot a season-low 16 three-pointers and only converted on five, which was second-fewest this year. 

Outside of the offensive struggles, Petty showcased his defensive prowess and rebounding ability with one steal, two blocks and seven rebounds. He won the team's Hard-Hat Award for the most blue-collar points as well. 

Still, Alabama was 12 points better than Iona when Petty was on the floor. Even if shots weren't falling, Petty displayed the blue-collar toughness that Oats so often preaches about.

The hustle, attention to detail and heart were there.

"I mean, I thought he played really hard," Oats added. "He won the hard hat award. He had more blue-collar points than anybody. He was all over the glass. He led us in rebounding with seven. He wants to win at a high level. He did a great job on [Asante] Gist, when we needed him to come in and guard Gist."

Even in the SEC tournament last week, Petty was a combined 8-of-34 (23.5 percent) in three games versus Mississippi State, Tennessee and LSU.

Oats has called Petty "maybe one of the best shooters" he's ever coached before. The Huntsville, Ala. product has nailed 305 triples in his Crimson Tide career and the next closest is Brian Williams with 265. 

Shooter shoot. That's all there is to do to get out of a slump and Alabama will need him to do that against Maryland in the second round of the 2021 NCAA tournament on Monday night inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse (7:45 p.m, TNT).

As a freshman, Petty burst onto the scene with 20 points, making six three-pointers in an 86-83 victory over Virginia Tech in the first round of the 2018 NCAA tournament. 

The All-SEC First Team honoree's been on this stage before. This is why he ultimately decided to return to school and forgo last year's NBA draft. He and wing Herbert Jones are the team's two most pivotal senior leaders. They understand the moment. 

Maybe it was just first-game jitters on Saturday. Maybe it was too much pressure put on by himself. Regardless, fans shouldn't be surprised if Petty gets hot from deep and torches the Terrapins to advance to the school's first Sweet 16 appearance since 2004.

Ain’t NO pressure when u having fun!!! On to the next 💪🏾💪🏾 #ROLLTIDE

— John Petty (@jpetty2324) March 20, 2021

Oats is a former high school stats teacher and, if he plays the numbers right, Petty won't have similar shooting percentages against a Maryland defense that is 197th in the country at defending the three-point shot.

"He still ended up with double-digit points," Oats said. "Played really hard, did what we needed to to win. Let's move on to the next game. He'll play a lot better in the next game."