By JOHN ZENOR
Avery Johnson’s already brought big wins to Alabama’s program even during an up and down season.
Retin Obasohan scored 16 points and the Crimson Tide pulled off another upset by surviving a big rally from No. 15 Texas A&M for a 63-62 victory Wednesday night, the Aggies’ third straight loss.
The Crimson Tide (14-9, 5-6 Southeastern Conference) beat its fourth ranked opponent in Johnson’s debut season despite missing its final three shots.
It’s the first time Alabama has beaten four Top 25 teams in a regular season since 2001-02.
“It’s huge,” Obasohan said. “It’s huge for this program, this team. It just shows everybody that we’re going in the right direction but at the same time the things that our coaching staff preach every day actually work. More than anything, it just shows we’ve got to stick with it.”
Anthony Collins was fouled on a drive with 2.3 seconds left but missed both free throws for the Aggies (18-6, 7-4). They’ve dropped four consecutive SEC games since a 7-0 league start, tumbling from a program-best No. 5 ranking.
Texas A&M had its chances after wiping out most of an 11-point deficit over the final 6:34.
“Our guys fought back,” Aggies coach Billy Kennedy said. “We came out in the second half and were much more aggressive offensively but we’ve got some guys playing down instead of playing up, meaning they’re not playing with the confidence and ability that they have right now.”
Riley Norris had 11 points for Alabama and Shannon Hale scored 10. Obasohan had five assists and three steals.
Jalen Jones had 21 points and seven rebounds for Texas A&M. Danuel House overcame a slow start to score 12 points, and Collins finished with 11 points and five assists.
“We knew Jalen Jones and Danuel House were problems whenever they touched the ball,” said Johnson, whose son Avery Jr. played for the Aggies last season. “I thought we did a good job overall.”
The Tide’s third straight win didn’t come without some anxious moments for Johnson and the fans at Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama twice had to settle for 3-point attempts after working most of the shot clock down in the final minutes. House responded with two free throws after the first miss and Collins pulled up for a quick 3-pointer with 53 seconds left after the second, cutting it to 63-62.
Then Obasohan missed an off-balance shot against Collins from just inside the line.
Collins got the ball back after a couple of passes and drove toward the basket, drawing the foul. He had made 28 of 30 free throws coming into the game, a 93.3 percent success rate, with his only misses coming three games ago against Iowa State.
“It just wasn’t meant to be, because he’s a great free throw shooter,” Kennedy said. “I mean, he’s a really, really good free throw shooter and he missed them.”
After the misses, Obasohan took the ball down the court and ran the clock out before the Aggies could foul him. His take on those missed foul shots: “What was going through my mind was the student section was getting loud.”
Alabama had gone ahead 58-47 with 6:34 left on a pair of free throws by both Jimmie Taylor and Justin Coleman before the Aggies’ comeback started.
BEATING RANKED TEAMS
Alabama had already beaten then-No. 20 Wichita State, then-No. 17 Notre Dame and then-No. 19 South Carolina.
HO– USE-WARMING
House, who came in averaging 15.7 points, didn’t score until making two free throws early in the second half after Alabama went ahead by seven. He hit a 3-pointer a minute later and finished with eight rebounds.
HALE RETURNS
Alabama’s Hale returned after missing two games after aggravating a previous foot injury. He had a couple of 3-pointers off the bench in 18 minutes.
TIP INS
Texas A&M: Kennedy is 1-6 against Alabama. … The Aggies made 14 of 19 free throws in the second half. They were 8 of 17 from 3-point range for the game.
Alabama: Has won the past three meetings. Outrebounded the Aggies 36-29 and made 12 steals