For the second time in 14 days, the Tide knocked off the No. 1-ranked team in the Associated Press men’s basketball poll.
Alabama recovered from a 15-point, second-half deficit to storm back Saturday afternoon and defeat Houston, 71-65.
Houston, as part of a mid-game 18-2 run, ballooned their lead to 15 points by the 17-minute mark of the second half. But that became the high water mark for the Cougars, whose lead fell into the single digits by the 13-minute mark and was lost entirely with three minutes remaining. “That’s the No. 1 team in the country, too,” Oats said. “If we can do that against them ... you can get stops against anybody we’re playing on the schedule the rest of the year, if we really lock in, pay attention to the scouting report and do what we have to do.”
Miller had five rebounds, two steals along with two turnovers in 30 minutes. He sat on the bench for a seven-minute stretch in the second half when Alabama began its comeback with junior college transfer Nick Pringle on the floor, instead. “I don’t know that we made too many adjustments,” Oats said. “We tried to re-emphasize to our guys what we’ve been telling them all week in practice. We tried to simplify it for them. I think [Houston] started backing off their trapping of the ball screens when we started handling it a little better. If we handled it better in the first half, the pressure may have come off. They trap you hard.
Alabama shot 40 percent from the floor but had eight of its shots blocked by Houston, including four against Quinerly. The Tide was shooting 14-of-26 on free throws until Miller’s six makes in the final minute.
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