SEC Tournament Diary….. Day Two

By Chris Stewart

Nashville – It’s 10:55 p.m. Friday night and I’ve just gotten back to my hotel room. I would have written this earlier, but Brian Passink just now talked me back in off the ledge of my 18th floor room.

Okay, it’s not quite that bad. But like every other Alabama fan, I was really disappointed with the way things ended for the Crimson Tide in the 68-61 loss to Kentucky. An 11-point lead with 6:17 to play was erased by a 21-3 run by the Cats down the stretch. Instead of sweeping the season series with Kentucky, advancing to the semifinals against a beatable South Carolina team, and waltzing into the NCAA Tournament with a minimum of 18 wins, we now have that agonizing wait until Sunday afternoon when the field of 65 is announced.

Based on the criteria setup by the NCAA, Alabama should have an impressive enough resume to get into the tournament for a fifth consecutive year. That is no guarantee, however, and it will make the wait excruciating.

While most people point to the Tide’s inability to score or get a stop over the last 4 minutes of the game, I think it was really the last six minutes of the first half the cost Alabama the most. Trailing 20-10 with 6:37 to go before intermission, Kentucky outscored the Tide 13-2 to take a 23-22 lead into the break. The most disturbing element was the fact that 10 of the 13 points came from Shagari Alleyne and Rekalin Sims – two little-used reserves who became major difference makers. If Alabama had been able to stretch that 10 point lead to 15 or so (or just maintained it at 10), the outcome likely would have been different.

Now it’s the waiting game for the Tide and its fans. Selection Sunday can’t get here soon enough. Look for Alabama to wind up as a No. 10 seed. At this point I’ll take any of the eight regional sites. But if you will allow me to be just a little bit greedy… I hear San Diego is LOVELY this time of year.

More from Day Two
South Carolina’s 79-71 win over Tennessee should not have come as a major surprise, at least not historically. Amazingly, the Volunteers have failed to reach the SEC Tournament semifinals for the 15th consecutive year. Their last appearance was 1991 when they lost in the championship game to Wimp Sanderson’s Crimson Tide.

Speaking of Wimp, it’s been great to see him around the Alabama program again this season. Enough time seems to have passed for healing on both sides since his unfortunate departure as head coach. He deserves enormous credit for his success with the Crimson Tide program, and it’s nice to see him “back in the family” again, so to speak.

It’s great to have him around just to hear his one-liners. Among his courtside gems Friday in Nashville was a reference to Lee Humphrey’s performance in Florida’s win over Arkansas, as well as Humphrey’s bike mishap that caused him to miss action with a shoulder injury: “That boy’s so good I’d buy him a car just so he’d never have to ride a bicycle again!”

Most people feel the Gators will now win the tournament because they are stronger and healthier than league champ LSU, whom they will face in one semifinal Saturday. The Tigers looked very strong against Vanderbilt, but Darrell Mitchell is hobbling, and it’s still doubtful Tyrus Thomas will play.

In the other semifinal, I won’t be surprised if South Carolina beats Kentucky. However, we need to pull for the ‘Cats because we really don’t need many upsets by teams who would otherwise have no shot of making the NCAA field without their league’s automatic berth. It’s the same reason I’ll be pulling against Nebraska in the Big 12.

Well, time to pack and head home. We’ll recap the semis tomorrow… but unfortunately I will be doing it from Birmingham. I don’t stick around for parties I’m no longer invited to.

Roll Tide!
 

Chris Stewart is the pre and post game host for the Crimson Tide Sports Network's coverage of Alabama Football. In addition, he hosts a talk show each weekday morning from 7 until 9 on Tuscaloosa's Sports Radio 1420, The Tusk. Stewart is also the radio play-by-play announcer for University of Alabama men's basketball.   Bama Fever is a company devoted to providing University of Alabama Crimson Tide merchandise. We have stores in Birmingham, Tuscaloosa  and Huntsville and have now created an online catalog for Crimson Tide fans all over the world searching for that hard to find merchandise. We carry over 7,000 items in our stores and have posted many of these items right here in our online catalog.

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Read all of Chris's 2005 Game Recaps