Alabama

Alabama Crimson Tide takes down Houston in Overtime Thriller

Published

1 year ago

November 27, 2024

Alabama Crimson Tide takes down Houston in Overtime Thriller

In a brutal physical matchup, the 9th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team defeated the 6th-ranked Houston Cougars by a score of 85-80 in an overtime thriller. The game was part of Players Era Festival, which will pay the teams out in NIL money at the end. The Tide will have a quick turnaround and play Rutgers tomorrow at 9 p.m. CT, also on TBS.

Coach Nate Oats sent out a starting five of Mark Sears, Labaron Philon, Grant Nelson, Clifford Omoruyi, and Latrell Wrightsell, Jr. After an early Cougar basket for a 2-0 lead, Wrightsell drilled a three pointer for an early lead. The next four possessions by the Tide were turnovers. With 15:56 left the score stood at 8-3 in Houston’s favor.

Mo Dioubate entered the game and got a quick hoop for the Tide, which was just a harbinger of what was to come from him. Aden Holloway hit a three pointer with 11:20 left in the half to finally give the Tide double digits in points and a 1-point lead. Both teams finally began to get some shots to fall, and the game went back and forth over the remainder of the half. After not scoring in Alabama’s last game, Sears finally dented the scoreboard by making 1-2 free throws, followed with a ice-breaking three pointer to tie the game at 27-27 with 4:23 left.

The Tide had a lead at 34-33 with 1:32 on the clock, but allowed Houston to score at the end to take a 36-34 lead into the locker room. Dioubate, Nelson, and Holloway particularly played well to keep Bama in the game.

At the break, the Tide had shot 11-34 for 32%, 4-16 for 25% from deep, and 8-13 for only 62% from the line. Bama had 25 rebounds, 14 on the offensive end, one block , three steals, five assists, and seven turnovers. Sears scored eight points while Holloway and Nelson added seven each. Dioubate added six with six rebounds to lead the team.

Houston shot better than the Tide at 12-29 for 41%, 3-9 from three, and 9-12 from the line. The Cougars had only 18 rebounds, five blocks, six steals, three assists, and five turnovers. LJ Cryer led the team with 11 points in the period.

The same five started the second half for Alabama, and again, Wrightsell started the scoring with a three point basket for a 37-36 lead. Nelson was soon hit where you don’t want to be hit, and had to leave the court momentarily. Omoruyi made a pair of free throws followed by a Holloway three to give the Tide the 43-42 margin with 16:45 left. Bama went on a run and looked to be taking control of the game after a Derrion Reid three, some Nelson free throws, and Wrightsell bomb from long range. Dioubate blocked a couple of shots, then made a pair of free throws for a 59-52 lead with 10:12 left in the game. Sears hit his second from long range with 8:44 left for a 62-54 lead. Wrightsell had a shot from behind the arc that was half way down, but ultimately bounced out.

Unfortunately the Tide went ice cold after that, and the Cougars went on a 10-0 run to take back control of the game. Two Sears free throws finally ended the drought for Bama to trail 69-67 with 4:08 left. Houston’s run was 15-4 with the Tide going 5:28 with out a field goal. Nelson had a nice finger roll basket to break the streak. With 1:02 left and the Cougars ahead 77-73, Sears hit his third three from long range to cut the lead to one . Wrightsell got fouled with 28 seconds left and made both clutch free throws to even the game at 78. Houston had the ball with 22 seconds left with a chance to win the game in regulation.

The Alabama defense held up, and Dioubate grabbed a contested rebound and launched it cross-court at the buzzer…. And very nearly made it as the ball bounced off the front of the rim. It would have been possibly the coolest thing ever, but, alas, Alabama had to settle for overtime.

To begin the overtime period, Oats sent out Diobuate, Sears, Wrightsell, Nelson, and Holloway. Sears drilled his fourth three pointer of the game with 3:50 left for a 81-78 lead that the Tide never relinquished. Nelson made 1-2 free throws, Dioubate had a hoop down low, and Reid added a free throw as the Tide toughed out the win. The defense was locked in during the extra period, and the final possession from Houston featured a mad scramble as nearly every player on both teams hit the floor at least once, with Alabama ultimately winning the hustle game and keeping the Cougars from getting a final score.

In overtime, the Tide hit 2-6 from the field, 1-3 from deep, and 2-4 at the line. Overall Bama shot 22-60 for 37%, 11-30 for 37% from three, and 30-41 at the charity stripe. Alabama grabbed 48 huge rebounds —20 on the offensive end —had six blocks, five steals, 14 rebounds, and 15 turnovers. Sears was player of the game with 24 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Holloway had a huge 14 points on 5-8 shooting with three boards and three assists. Nelson had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Wrightsell added 12 points of his own. The clear hard hat winner was Dioubate with 10 points, 16 rebounds, three blocks, and an unheard of 40 blue collar points, all in a career high 28 minutes played.

Houston was 1-10 in overtime, going 0-4 from three-point range. For the game, the Cougars shot 24-65 for 37%, 6-19 from deep for 32%, and 25-33 for 79% at the stripe. UH grabbed 39 rebounds, had 10 blocks, 10 steals, eight assists, and 12 turnovers. Cryer was the leading scored in the game with 30 points on 9-26 shooting.

What a big win for the Tide. Not only did they take down Houston for the third straight time, they did it on a big stage with a lot on the line. The more games they win in this tournament, the more NIL money they will pocket. Money can be a big motivator. After the worst game of his Alabama career against Illinois, Sears bounced back in a big way. The pre-season Player of the Year pick, Sears was 4-8 from three point range and 12-14 at the free throw line. On the other hand, Philon, who has arguably been the best player for the Tide over the first five games, was held scoreless on 0-9 shooting tonight and only played 15 minutes. Omoruyi didn’t have a great night, but Dioubate had the game of his life. Nelson battled his skinny ass off down low and hit the floor multiple times. Holloway’s quickness and ball handling were on display all night, and Wrightsell’s sharp shooting came when it was needed most. After the game Oats said “I love to play Houston early in the year, they are so tough and physical they get us ready for teams like Tennesse and Auburn.”

The Tide will take on the rugged Rutgers Scarlett Knights at 9 p.m. C.T. Wednesday night and can be seen on TBS again. The Friday game is TBD, TBD and TBD (opponent, time, network). Enjoy this one for a few hours and get ready for tomorrow!

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Alabama

2026 Alabama Gymnastics Season Preview

Published

7 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Ashley Johnston is entering her “senior season” as the Alabama gymnastics head coach at her alma mater. Of course, there is no such thing in coaching, but Johnston feels like she’s gotten to grow up alongside the Crimson Tide’s current senior class as both have spent four years in Tuscaloosa.

“We do always talk about how our senior class, we’re all seniors together as this is my fourth year now,” Johnston said. “And our senior class, we’ve grown, we’ve tweaked the recipe. We’ve really had a variety of experiences over the last three years, now going into our fourth.”

Alabama’s 2025 season ended in the NCAA semifinals. The Crimson Tide is looking to make it back to the finals for the first time since 2017. The road to get back there starts Friday at Clemson.

“We have to treat every meet like we’re competing against our own standard as we want to be a final four team in the country,” Johnston said. “That journey started in August. So this is just one more opportunity to practice being what we want to do this year.”

Schedule

The Alabama schedule features 11 opponents ranked in the preseason top-25, including the top-three teams (Oklahoma, LSU and Florida.) Week in and week out, the Crimson Tide will be competing against the best teams in the nation, which will prepare it for what it will face in postseason play.

Alabama will face the eight other SEC gymnastics teams at least once each in a dual meet format starting at Florida on Jan. 16 and wrapping up at home against Georgia on March 13. The Tide will travel to Norman to face defending national champion Oklahoma on Feb. 6. The first home meet is Jan. 23 against Missouri.

Clemson, Oregon State, North Carolina and Illinois make up the non-conference slate. Alabama will face North Carolina as part of a tri-meet with LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on March 1. Two days prior, the Tide will face LSU in a regular season dual meet.

There are two times this regular season where Alabama will compete on both Friday and Sunday of the same weekend. Johnston likes to do this to get the team prepared for the quick turnaround that happens between competitions during the NCAA postseason. The Tide will be well prepared for the gauntlet it could face in the postseason with the type of schedule it has in the regular season.

Roster

Alabama’s available roster is comprised of one graduate (Jordyn Paradise), three seniors (Gabby Gladieux, Natalia Pawlak and Rachel Rybicki) three juniors (Chloe LaCoursiere, Gabby Ladanyi and Jamison Sears), four sophomores (Love Birt, Ryan Fuller, Kylee Kvamme and Paityn Walker) and five “trailblazer” freshmen (Jasmine Cawley, Noella Marshall, McKenzie Matters, Azaraya Ra-Akbar and Derin Tanriyasukur.) Corinne Bunagan and Karis German will miss the entire season with injuries.

“These freshmen are trailblazers,” Walker said. “They’re like veterans, and I’m so proud of them and how they have come out of their shell.”

Paradise is returning from an injury that kept her out all of last season and will bring a veteran presence to the vault and uneven bars lineup. Birt also returns from injury and will make her Crimson Tide debut this season. The other sophomores are all coming off strong freshmen seasons and will look to continue making an impact for the Crimson Tide in 2026.

LaCoursiere, Cawley and Ra-Akbar are all names to watch for the all-around competition alongside Gladieux of course. Gladieux has been a steady contributor on all four events since her freshmen campaign. The senior has stepped into an even bigger leadership role heading into her final year.

“I think what I’m most excited about for Gabby is not just how she’s leading herself, but how she is leading others,” Johnston said. “I’ve been really excited to see how she has really broken through her own struggles and things that she has been trying to break down the walls of trying to be perfect all the time. I think learning how to be authentically herself, and by being authentically herself, she has really been an incredible role model for the rest of our team. So how that plays out on competition night is not just her worried about her own performances but her really looking around, leaning in and helping to bring in others— learning what it’s like to compete in a really fierce way. She is a fierce competitor, but I think she’s really grown to be able to look around and meet the needs of her teammates, and that’s what being a great team leader is all about.”

Outlook

Over and over this offseason, Johnston has emphasized that there will a lot of new routines in Alabama’s lineups from both new faces and returners. The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 8 in the preseason coaches poll and has a great mix of fresh talent and experienced depth.

It isn’t finals or bust for Alabama this season. Johnston has been building the program in a steady direction, but a Final Four appearance would go a long way. The SEC is always a challenge, now more than ever with parity from top to bottom. Johnston doesn’t want her team to be average, but she wants them to compete their average week after week to have ultimate success.

“I think this team has worked relentlessly to make sure they’re capitalizing on every half tenth, every possible way that they can increase their scoring potential,” she said. “This team’s talented. They’re excited. They’ve worked so incredibly hard, and I’m just excited for each of their stories to break through in their own unique and special way.”

Friday night

Alabama will open the season at Clemson on Friday at 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra. The Tigers are relatively new on the college gymnastics scene, only having a program since 2024. Clemson did not score higher than a 196.575 all of last season, but the Tigers are under new direction with first-year co-head coaches Justin Howell and Elisabeth Crandall-Howell.

This will be the first meeting between the two programs. Clemson traveled to Tuscaloosa last year for NCAA regionals, but the Tigers were not in the same session as Alabama and finished fourth in their session. The Tide should be the higher-scoring team on Friday night, but Johnston is more focused on learning how ready her team is.

“Clemson is going to be a great kind of litmus test for that,” Johnston said. “While they’re not an SEC competitor, their environment certainly is similar to what an SEC environment is going to look like. It’s going to be a sold-out crowd. I know they sold out tickets early when this meet was announced, so I think it’s going to be a really energetic, exciting environment.

“We’re going to be able to see how quickly our athletes are going to be able to adapt to the different feelings that they’re going to have. They’re going to be a little nervous, they’re gonna be a little stressed, they’re gonna want to be perfect…I’m most interested in seeing how they’re going to handle it, but at the same time, I trust that they’re going to handle it well. This team has worked really hard on handling hard moments where I think that’s our superpower. I think our strength as a team is that we’re able to step into the hardest moments and trust and know that we can get it done.”

Alabama defensive back officially declares for 2026 NFL draft

Published

20 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Alabama defensive back officially declares for 2026 NFL draft

Jones transferred to Alabama from Wake Forrest prior to the 2024 campaign.

Alabama defensive back DaShawn Jones has officially declared for the 2026 NFL draft.

A senior out of Baltimore, Maryland, Jones was an excellent rotational piece in the Alabama secondary throughout the 2025 campaign. Jones joined the Crimson Tide in 2024 after transferring in from Wake Forrest, and the defensive back took full advantage of the opportunities he was given and thrived in Tuscaloosa as a result. The former three-star prospect recorded 11 solo tackles and one interception this season, as the playmaker will now turn his attention towards the NFL draft in April.

Jones was ranked as the No. 137 cornerback and the No. 1551 overall player from the class of 2021, per the 247Sports Composite rankings, prior to attending Wake Forest to begin his collegiate career. The talented defensive back played far above his expectations over the course of his college career, as the former Demon Deacon was a solid contributor during his time at both Wake Forrest and Alabama.

Jones could quickly prove to be an excellent pick up for any team that choses to draft him, as the promising playmaker’s time in Tuscaloosa officially comes to an end.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.

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Alabama

May they see your driver license?: Down in Alabama

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

May they see your driver license?: Down in Alabama

Driver license, please

A case we followed here in 2022 has found its way to the Alabama Supreme Court.

AL.com’s Sarah Whites-Koditschek reports that the question is whether Alabama Police officers can demand to see people’s driver licenses or other IDs if they have probable cause.

In 2022, Childersburg Police answered a call about somebody on the property of people who were not home. The man, Michael Jennings, said he was watering flowers for his neighbors. The officers told him to provide an ID. He would only give his name as “Pastor Jennings” and refused to provide identification. Eventually the officers arrested him on a charge of obstructing government operations.

Attorney Ed Haden is representing the city and a group of police officers. He argued before the justices that state law gives officers with probable cause the authority to identify people, and that means a full name verified by identification.

Jennings attorney Henry Daniels argued the opposite, telling the justices that “Entitlement to live one’s life free from unwarranted interference by law enforcement or other governmental entities is fundamental to liberty.”

How low can you go?

Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December came in at a low 2.7% and was accompanied by record-breaking employment totals, reports AL.com’s Heather Gann.

Alabama Department of Workforce Secretary Greg Reed announced the figures on Wednesday.

Records fell for the number of people counted as employed and wage and salary employment. The difference between those two stats is that “wage and salary employment” doesn’t include a few types of workers such as the self-employed.

Alabama’s 2.7% rate was down from 3.3% in November ’24. And it was tracking well below the national rate.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. unemployment rate was 4.6%. That’s low, historically speaking, but the highest it’s been since September 2021.

RIP, songwriter Jim McBride

Huntsville native, country-music songwriter and Alabama Music Hall of Famer Jim McBride has passed away, reports AL.com’s Patrick Darrington.

McBride, who was from Huntsville, wrote or co-wrote No. 1s such as Johnny Lee’s “Bet Your Heart on Me” and Waylon Jennings’ very last chart-topper, “Rose in Paradise.”

With legends such as Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and George Jones cutting his songs, he became a Nashville mainstay himself during the 1980s. In the country-music business, a lot of figures like McBride aren’t the household names of the recording artists, but the smart recording artists are going to gravitate to somebody who can take a song or a hook or an idea and turn it into something that might hit. So the songwriters become famous inside the industry and many of them are like family to the Opry stars and in high demand for late-night guitar pulls. We had another one — Bobby Tomberlin — on the podcast on Sept. 12, and he told some great stories about that life.

Well, one of those smart recording artists who wound up in McBride’s orbit in the late ’80s was a fresh-faced Alan Jackson. Their songwriter partnership produced the No. 1 songs “Someday” and CMA Single and Song of the year “Chattahoochee” as well as many others, including the Top 5s “Chasing That Neon Rainbow” and “(Who Says) You Can’t Have it All.”

That alone is a career.

Jim McBride was 78 years old.

Quoting

“To all our ICE agents in Minnesota and across the country: if you are violently attacked, SHOOT BACK.”

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, in a response to a woman’s being shot and killed in Minnesota on Wednesday after she allegedly tried to drive her SUV into an immigration officer.

By the Numbers

60%

That’s the percentage of Alabamians in an AL.com survey that said they expect to spend more on housing or rental costs this year compared to 2025.

Born on This Date

In 1977, actress Amber Benson of Birmingham.

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