National Basketball Association
Alabama 76, North Florida 61
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, January 2, 2015
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Officials:
# Patrick Adams, # Tony Henderson, # Doug Sirmons
Attendance:
8821
By SportsDirect Inc.
Alabama 76, North Florida 61: Michael Kessens recorded season highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Crimson Tide closed out non-conference play by easing past the visiting Ospreys.
Levi Randolph scored 13 points and Rodney Cooper added 11 for Alabama (10-3), which has won four straight. Riley Norris scored 10 points off the bench and Ricky Tarrant handed out six assists for the Crimson Tide.
Demarcus Daniels scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting for North Florida (7-9), which closed out a stretch of six straight road games with four consecutive losses. Chris Davenport contributed 11 points and six rebounds for the Ospreys.
North Florida led 35-32 after Daniels’ 3-pointer with less than four minutes left in the first half before Kessens scored six straight points during a 13-2 burst to close the half and send Alabama into the break up 45-37. Randolph’s jumper pushed the advantage to 55-42 with just under 16 minutes to play.
Daniels connected again from beyond the arc to chop the deficit to 10 points with less than 14 minutes left before the Crimson Tide took off on another run and pushed the advantage to 67-47. Norris’ basket with just over 5 1/2 minutes remaining made it a 22-point gap as Alabama cruised.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Crimson Tide had a string of five straight games holding opponents to less than 60 points come to an end. … All five Alabama starters shot 50 percent or better from the field and the team finished at 52.8 percent. … North Florida dropped to 0-11 all-time against SEC teams.
Top Game Performances
North Florida |
|
Alabama |
Demarcus Daniels 14 |
Scoring |
Michael Kessens 18 |
Dallas Moore 4 |
Assists |
Ricky Tarrant 6 |
Romelo Banks 6 |
Rebounds |
Michael Kessens 12 |
Jalen Nesbitt 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Michael Kessens 6 |
Dallas Moore 2 |
Steals |
Justin Coleman 2 |
Chris Davenport 1 |
Blocks |
Michael Kessens 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
North Florida
|
61 |
40.0 |
7-15 |
14-19 |
11 |
24 |
2 |
7 |
15 |
Alabama
|
76 |
52.8 |
7-23 |
13-18 |
18 |
35 |
2 |
9 |
14 |