Field Level Media
Nov 28, 2021
Reserve freshman point guard JD Davison provided a spark with 13 points and a game-high 10 assists as the 10th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide caught fire and rolled past the Miami Hurricanes, 96-64, in the last game of the ESPN Events Invitational on Sunday night at Kissimmee, Fla.
Keon Ellis scored a career-high 22 points as Alabama (6-1), which trailed by nine points with about seven minutes left in the first half and missed 10 of its first 11 3-pointers, finished 2-1 in this tournament.
Miami (4-3) was led by Kameron McGusty, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Hurricanes also got 14 points from Isaiah Wong and 12 from Charlie Moore. They went 1-2 in the tournament.
Alabama's offense featured two other double-figure scorers: Jaden Shackelford (15 points) and Juwan Gary (13).
The Crimson Tide shot 53.6 percent from the field, including 16-for-30 on 3-pointers (53.3 percent). They made 15 of their final 19 shots from distance.
Miami shot 46 percent from the floor but just 4-for-17 on 3-pointers (23.5 percent).
Alabama also outrebounded Miami, 42-23.
Miami was up early, taking a 27-18 lead on a McGusty jumper with 6:22 left in the first half. The shot capped an 8-0 Hurricanes run.
But Alabama then closed the half on a 15-3 run, converting its final two 3-point attempts of the half, including one by Jahvon Quinerly at the buzzer. That gave Alabama a 33-30 advantage, and it produced the seventh lead change of a very evenly played opening 20 minutes.
Miami shot 40.7 percent in the first half, and Alabama shot 42.4 percent. Miami shot 12.5 percent on 3-pointers (1-for-8), and Alabama shot 23.1 percent (3-for-13).
McGusty led all first-half scorers with 10 points, and Davison kept Alabama in the game early by going 4-for-5 from the floor with two assists.
Alabama started the second half on a 7-0 run. Wong finally hit a drive off glass, ending a five-minute Miami points drought.
Another Wong layup cut Alabama's lead to 40-34, but that was as close as the Hurricanes got the rest of the night.
--Field Level Media