Yardbarker
x

A decent night of shooting from the floor didn't make up for costly turnovers by No. 25 Alabama basketball on Wednesday night, as the Crimson Tide fell to the Texas A&M Aggies 87-71 inside Coleman Coliseum.

19 Crimson Tide turnovers led to 29 points for the Aggies, resulting in Alabama's 11th loss of the season.

The first half half was a back-and-forth affair, with neither the Crimson Tide nor the Aggies being able to gain much of a lead in either direction. Both teams turned over the ball nine times in the first 20 minutes, resulting in multiple missed scoring opportunities. Alabama and Texas A&M also each capitalized with 14 points off of turnovers.

At the 12:15 mark, the Aggies held their largest lead of the opening half, 17-12. At the 1:35 mark, the Crimson Tide had fought back to its largest lead, 38-32.

Junior guard Jaden Shackelford was the lone standout for Alabama in the first half, totaling 12 points thanks to three made 3-pointers. The Crimson Tide was also a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, with Shackelford leading the way with three free throws.

Texas A&M opened the second half by scoring eight unanswered points, pulling out to a five-point lead. A jumper by senior guard Keon Ellis, followed by a fastbreak layup pulled Alabama within three at the 15:49 mark. An and-1 opportunity by Ellis put the Crimson Tide down by just two.

While Shackelford carried the workload for the offense in the first half, Ellis was the workhorse for the Crimson Tide in the second. At the under-12 media timeout, Ellis 11 points, keeping Alabama within a four-point striking distance of Texas A&M.

Time was running out for the Crimson Tide, though. While Alabama's offense began to show improvement, its defense began to display less effort. The Crimson Tide was scoring at a solid pace, but it was giving up just as many points at the opposite end of the court.

With just over nine minutes left to play, Texas A&M was shooting 54% from the floor and 36% from beyond the arc. Alabama was at 49% from the floor and 32% from 3-point territory.

At the under-eight media timeout, the Aggies had built up a nine-point lead powered by four points from forward Henry Coleman III. Alabama's 15 turnovers had gifted Texas A&M 25 points, while the Crimson Tide had failed to gain a single point from the Aggies' four second-half turnovers.

With 5:25 left in the game, Texas A&M had built up a 74-61 lead. Any energy that Alabama had left was drained by back-to-back 3s by Aggies guard Tyrece Radford. A responding 3-pointer by Shackelford evoked a small response from the crowd inside Coleman, but it was too little, too late for Alabama.

The Crimson Tide was upset by the Aggies by a final score of 87-71.

With the loss, Alabama drops to 19-11 on the season and is 9-8 in SEC play. Texas A&M rises to 19-11 with the win and is 8-9 in the conference.

This story will be updated with stats, quote and video from Wednesday's game.

Gallery: Alabama Basketball Falls to Texas A&M

This article first appeared on FanNation Bama Central and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.