Alabama Basketball Comes Back to Win Overtime Thriller over Arkansas

The Crimson Tide overcame a sloppy start to beat the Razorbacks in overtime on Senior Day at Coleman Coliseum.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Up until the final minute, it looked liked Alabama basketball’s March blues were going to continue, but thanks to a key 3-pointer and strong overtime performance, the Crimson Tide finished the regular season at Coleman Coliseum with a win

No. 16 Alabama came back to beat Arkansas 92-88 in overtime, securing a top-four seed and double-bye in the SEC Tournament.

Sam Walters was huge for Alabama in overtime, hitting a big 3-pointer that put Alabama up two. He then had the final breakaway dunk to secure the win for the Crimson Tide. He had seven of his 10 points in the overtime period alone. As a team, the Crimson Tide made its last six shots from the floor in overtime. 

Multiple times in the second half, Alabama cut the deficit to one or two points, but each time, the team couldn’t get over the hump to tie or take the lead. Until Alabama absolutely had to have it.

Trailing by three points with 22 seconds left, Latrell Wrightsell Jr. nailed a 3-pointer to tie it at 74-74. Alabama got a stop on defense to send the game to overtime.

"There was a lot of things they did better, but we figured out a way to get a win," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game. "We made some tough shots. Wrightsell hit it late to tie it was huge. Sam Walters in overtime was huge when Trelly was hurt."

Alabama couldn’t have looked much worse in the opening minutes of the game with sloppy passes on offense, poor rotations on defenses and bad shooting. Arkansas led by as many as 15 in the first half. However, the Crimson Tide closed the half on a 15-6 run to take a six-point deficit into the break.

In potentially his final game in Coleman Coliseum, Mark Sears led Alabama with 22 points, while Wrightsell added 20 of his own. Nick Pringle and Grant Nelson both had double-doubles on their senior days as well. Pringle had 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Nelson had 14 points and 13 rebounds, a season high. 

"They really helped us win this game today with their tough plays," Sears said about Pringle and Nelson. "Blue collar plays they made, especially getting rebounds, deflections, blocking shots and affecting shots around the rim. They did a really great job today."

Alabama finishes the regular season 21-10 (13-5 SEC) and will either be the 2-seed or 3-seed in the conference tournament next week in Nashville.

How it happened...

(latest updates at the top)

FINAL: Alabama 92, Arkansas 88 (OT)

Overtime

• 0:03- Sears beats the break, and Walters dunks to put Alabama up 92-88

• 0:08- Marks hits a deep jumper for Arkansas. Play is being reviewed to determine whether it was a two or 3. After review, it is a 3. Arkansas cuts it to 90-88

• 0:12- Estrada to shoot two free throws for Alabama with Tide leading 88-85. He hits both, 90-85 Alabama

• 0:13- Wrightsell is called for an offensive foul as he dribbled down the court. Arkansas will get to shoot two free throws. Ellis makes one of the two free throws to cut it to 88-85. That was just the third free throw Arkansas has missed all day in 27 attempts

• 0:28- Floater from Wrightsell makes it 88-84 Alabama

• 0:50- Battle lays it in for Arkansas to cut it to 86-84

• 1:02- Alley-oop to Pringle pushes the Alabama lead back to 86-82. Wrightsell is back in the game for Alabama

• 1:26- Battle hits two free throws for Arkansas to cut the Alabama lead to 84-82

• Latrell Wrightsell Jr. has headed the locker room for Alabama. 

• 1:38- Alabama gets the stop, and Sears lays it in to give Alabama its largest lead at 84-80. Timeout Arkansas

• 2:02- Estrada reclaims the lead with a layup for Alabama 82-80. Can Alabama get a stop?

• 2:21- Arkansas ties it back up, 80-80

• 2:46- Offensive rebound and putback for Walters puts Alabama up 80-78

• 3:07- Mark ties it up at 78-78 with two free throws

• 3:26- Walters hits a deep 3-pointer to put Alabama up 78-76

• 3:54- Arkansas reclaims the lead on a dunk from Mitchell, 76-75 Arkansas

• 4:23- Mitchell picks up his fourth foul for Arkansas. Pringle hits one free throw for Alabama's first lead of the game at 75-74

• Arkansas wins the opening tip, and Alabama gets a defensive stop. 

End of Regulation: Alabama 74, Arkansas 74

• Wrightsell's 3-pointer to tie it at 74 all is the first time the game has been tied since the opening tip. 

Second Half

• 0:22- Wrightsell ties it for Alabama with a 3-pointer, 74-74

• 0:59- Nelson hits a 3 to cut it 74-71. Timeout Alabama

• 1:12: Shot clock violation for Arkansas, but time is running out for Alabama, trailing by six with just over a minute to go

• 2:05- Brazile hits a jumper on the other end to put Arkansa back up 74-68

• 2:32- Wrightsell 3 for Alabama cuts it to 72-68

• 2:40- Arkansas leads 72-65

• 3:27- Nelson hits a long two to pull Alabama within three, 68-65

• 3:46- Mitchell hits both free throws. Arkansas has been money from the line today. Hogs lead 68-63

• 3:46- Arkansas 66, Alabama 63
• Arkansas will be at the line shooting two free throws out of the TV timeout. 
• Each time Alabama has cut it down to one point or one possession, the Hogs have been able to maintain their lead.

• 5:22- Back-to-back buckets from Estrada have cut the Arkansas lead down to 64-63. Coleman is getting loud again

• 6:51- Razorbacks expand their lead to 64-57 after back-to-back buckets

• 7:37- Arkansas' Eli Ellis picks up his fourth foul. Sears only hits one of the free throws. Arkansas hangs on to a 60-57 lead

• 7:47- Arkansas 60, Alabama 56
• It will be Alabama's ball out of the TV timeout. 

• 8:39- Sears FT cuts it to 58-56, 8-0 run for Alabama

• 9:18- Walters takes it to the rack for a lay-in. Arkansas lead down to three points at 58-55

• 9:51- Sears hits a long jumper to cut it to 58-53

• 10:21- Right after Arkansas had gotten its lead back to double-digits, Sears converts an and-1 to make it 58-51

• 10:50- Arkansas' leading scorer, Tramon Mark, picks up his fourth foul. Walters hits one of the free throws to cut it to 56-48 Arkansas

• 11:01- Jarin Stevenson is called for a foul. Fouls this half: Alabama 9, Arkansas 3. Mark hits both free throws, and Arkansas' lead is back up to nine.

• *After review during the timeout, one of Wrightsell's 3s was changed to a two-pointer. Score is now Arkansas 54, Alabama 47

• 11:22- Arkansas 54, Alabama 48
• Alabama had cut the deficit all the way down to one point after back-to-back 3s from Wrightsell, and had some open shots to take the lead, but haven't been able to convert in those opportunities. 

• 12:00- Davenport hits a big 3 for Arkansas to put the Hogs back up 54-48

• 13:02- Alabama has picked up six teams fouls in the last 2:43 of game time. Arkansas leads 51-48

• 13:50- Wrightsell hits another 3, and Arkansas' lead is down to one points at 47-46. This is definitely the loudest it's been in here today. 

• 14:52- Wrightsell hits a 3 to cut it to 47-43, and this is the loudest I've heard Coleman since pregame

• 15:45- Grant Nelson picks up his fourth foul. 

• 15:59: Arkansas 47, Alabama 40
• Alabama has done some good things on defense out of the break, but the team has also continued to make some head-scratching plays. 

• 17:36- Nelson lays it in to cut the Arkansas lead to 45-40

• 18:14- Pringle hits two free throws for Alabama's first points of the second half. Arkansas still leads, 45-38

• Arkansas gets the ball to open the second half, and Nelson fouls a 3-point shooter on the opening possession. Battle hits all three free throws to put Arkansas up 45-36

HALFTIME: Arkansas 42, Alabama 36

• After how most of that first half went, Alabama has to feel fortunate to only be down six. 

• Mark Sears leads all scorers with 13 points. Grant Nelson has 8 rebounds. 

• Alabama never led in the first half. Arkansas led by as much as 15. 

• The Alabama defense locked in over the final six minutes, and the Tide went on a 15-6 run to close out the half with 10 of those 15 points coming from Sears. 

First Half

• 1:11- Sears hits two FTs for Alabama to cut it to 40-34

• 3:02- Arkansas 38, Alabama 32
• Timeout Arkansas after a 7-0 run for Alabama. Crimson Tide is finally able to string together some stops while finding a little bit of a groove on offense.

The Kid from Muscle Shoals 👌🏼

📺: ESPN#RollTide | #BlueCollarBasketball pic.twitter.com/4ob9PsewpK

— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) March 9, 2024

• 3:39- Sears hits a 3 to finally cut the deficit below double-digits. Arkansas leads 38-30

• 5:21- Timeout Arkansas. 

• 5:40- Sears hits a 3 to cut it to 36-25. First time in this game that Alabama has scored on consecutive trips without an Arkansas basket in between. 

• 6:23- After another turnover leads to another easy basket for Arkansas, Nate Oats has seen enough and takes a timeout. Arkansas 36, Alabama 21
• Absolutely pathetic performance from Alabama so far. It's hard to find any positives. Alabama can't make any type of run to get back into the game because any time they score, they allow Arkansas to answer on the other end. 

• 8:01- Dunk from Dioubate tries to get the crowd back into it, but then Alabama immediately gives up a basket on the other end. (Are you sensing a theme today?) Arkansas leads 32-19

• 9:58- About the only positive thing for Alabama after these first 10 minutes is that the Crimson Tide is already in the bonus. Pringle hits one of two to cut the Arkansas lead to 24-14

• 11:16- Then the defense immediately gives up a 3 on the other end as Arkansas pushes its lead back to 10

• 11:38- Alabama draws up a play for a Sears 3 out of the timeout, and he nails it. Arkansas leads 19-12

• 11:40- Arkansas 19, Alabama 9
• There's really no other way to put it, this has been some UGLY basketball from Alabama so far. Poor shooting, poor defense, poor passes and poor energy. 
• Alabama is just 3-of-12 from the field with five turnovers that have led to nine of Arkansas' 19 points. 

• 12:09- Wrightsell hits a 3 to finally provide something positive on offense and cuts it to 17-9. Then Arkansas has a a quick basket on the other ends to push the lead back to 19-9

• 13:11- Immediately after getting a steal, Estrada turns it right back over, and it leads to a 3-pointer for the Hogs. Arkansas leads 15-6

• 13:58- Putback dunk from Nelson brings a little life to the crowd, cuts the Arkansas lead to 12-6

• 14:08- Arkansas goes up 12-4

• Brazile leaves the game for Arkansas and heads to the locker room. It looked like it was his eye, possibly an issue with his contacts.

• Sam Walters and Jarin Stevenson check in for Alabama out of the timeout. Arkansas hits both free throws to go up 10-2 

• 15:54 Arkansas 8, Alabama 2
• Not an ideal start at all for the Crimson Tide. The Alabama offense looks lifeless and out of sorts, starting 1-of-5 from the floor. 

• Sloppy play and a turnover on the inbound leads to an easy breakaway basket for the Hogs to go up 8-2.

• 17:19- Alabama finally gets on the board with a lay-in from Nick Pringle. Offense has looked pretty discombobulated so far. Arkansas leads 4-2

• 18:29- Arkansas scores the first basket of the game to go up 2-0. Solid defense by both teams early on. 

• Alabama wins the opening tip, and this game is underway. 

Starting lineups:

• An all senior starting lineup for Alabama in the home finale. 

Pre-game

• With the students on spring break and an early tip time, there's a bigger crowd in Coleman than I expected. 

• Alabama will be doing its senior day festivities after the game. 

• It is a "Crimson Out" in Coleman Coliseum, and Alabama will be wearing its crimson jerseys for the home finale. 

• Rylan Griffen is out for today's game with his calf injury per Jon Rothstein. He was in a walking boot at the gymnastics meet last night. He is not dressed out or going through warmups. 

How to Watch: No. 16 Alabama vs Arkansas

Who: No. 16 Alabama (20-10, 12-5 SEC) vs Arkansas (15-15, 6-11 SEC)

When: Saturday, March 9, 11 a.m. CT

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

TV: ESPN

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Series: Arkansas leads, 36-32

Last Meeting: On Feb. 25, 2023, Alabama and Arkansas met in Coleman Coliseum for a white-out in the second-to-last home game of the Crimson Tide's 2023 season. Alabama won a tight game 86-83, with Brandon Miller scoring 24.

Last Time Out, Alabama: The Crimson Tide went on the road to Gainesville and got blown out by Florida, 105-87. Mark Sears again led Alabama in scoring, posting 33 points, his second-highest scoring game of the season.

Last Time Out, Arkansas: The Razorbacks got a bounce-back win at home over LSU, bringing its overall season win percentage back to .500. Arkansas guard Khalif Battle scored 29 in the 93-84 win.

Alabama Leaders:

• Scoring: Mark Sears (21.1 PPG)
• Rebounding: Grant Nelson (5.5 RPG)
• Assists: Aaron Estrada (4.4 APG)

Arkansas Leaders:

• Scoring: G Tramon Mark (17.1 PPG)
• Rebounding: F Trevon Brazile (6.0 RPG)
• Assists: G Davonte Davis (2.2 APG)

Alabama Basketball's Senior Class Embodies Modern College Basketball