Bama's grabs an 81-78 win over South Carolina...

     The Alabama win over South Carolina wasn't a thing of beauty.  The two teams combined for a total of 41 turnovers. It's hard to win a game when you have 22 turnovers. It's not as bad when the other team has 19.  At least not as bad this game. Sooner or later, that will catch up with you.  The Tide only shot 38.2% from the floor.  The three-point shooting was better in terms of the numbers they put up. Bama got off 34 and hit 12.  That's not a significant number, but at least the  Tide found a way to shoot that many. The problem is that Alabama isn't making a lot of layups. I primarily think the problem is taking poor shots.  Shackleford is forcing shots to make the outside game viable. The more attempts made inside, the better the perimeter shots are going to be. Petty was only 3-10. For Alabama to close out the regular-season championship, they need up the ante from the outside. 

     I predicted a war in Columbia, S.C., and we got one. Juwan Gary got hurt in his first Bama start. He's from Columbia. His family was there. Bruner is still on the bench. Rojas played an outstanding game. He battled inside. He made the two big free throws to lock down the win. Here is the stat of the game. Alabama won the rebounding war 41-38.  Petty lead Alabama with 8 boards. He was also the leading scorer with 20.  Rojas had 4 rebounds, but 3 of those were big boards. The Tide was17-20 from the line,  and that was the margin of victory, in my view. 

     I had two kidney stones and have been pretty much waylaid. I wish this pain on no one.  Georgia next.

      

sa