National Basketball Association
Alabama 70, South Dakota State 67
When: 9:00 PM ET, Friday, November 9, 2012
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Officials:
# Dan Anderson, # Douglas Grant, # Douglas Hopper
Attendance:
11669
By SportsDirect Inc.
Alabama 70, South Dakota State 67: Trevor Lacey finished with 15 points and drained a 3-pointer as time expired as the host Crimson Tide held off the Jackrabbits on the opening night of the 2K Sports Classic.
Trevor Releford scored 18 points off the bench and Rodney Cooper added 17 for Alabama, which won its third straight season opener and survived a 30-point performance by South Dakota State's Nate Wolters.
In a closely contested game in which the Tide did not hold more than a seven-point lead, Cooper appeared to hit a pivotal 3-pointer to put Alabama 67-63 with 1:21 remaining.
But Wolters drained two free throws and Tony Fiegen nailed a jumper with 34 seconds left to knot the game at 67. The Tide called timeout to set up the final play and Lacey worked his way open on the right wing, hitting a high-arcing 3-pointer to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
Wolters was the ninth-leading scorer in Division I last season at 21.2 points per game.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Alabama surrendered 67 or more points in a game only six times last season. … Wolters, only the fifth player in NCAA history to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, added three rebounds, three assists and three steals to go along with his game-high five 3-pointers. … The Tide finished 14-for-14 from the foul line.
Top Game Performances
| South Dakota State |
|
Alabama |
|
Nate Wolters 30 |
Scoring |
Trevor Releford 18 |
|
Brayden Carlson 3 |
Assists |
Andrew Steele 4 |
|
Jordan Dykstra 9 |
Rebounds |
Levi Randolph 6 |
|
Nate Wolters 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Trevor Releford 6 |
|
Nate Wolters 3 |
Steals |
Trevor Releford 3 |
|
Jordan Dykstra 1 |
Blocks |
Devonta Pollard 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| South Dakota State
|
67 |
50.0 |
8-21 |
9-12 |
8 |
21 |
2 |
3 |
13 |
| Alabama
|
70 |
48.1 |
6-21 |
14-14 |
14 |
27 |
4 |
8 |
12 |