BIRMINGHAM, Ala.–– The first half of Saturday night’s matchup between No. 12 Alabama and No. 1 Arizona was everything a college basketball fan could ask for in a top-15 matchup. The atmosphere inside Legacy Arena in Birmingham felt like an NCAA tournament game as the Crimson Tide took a two-point lead into the break.
That energy and momentum in Alabama’s favor quickly evaporated. The Tide came out a little slow in the second half, but only trailed the Wildcats by seven with 14 minutes to go after an Amari Allen free throw. Less than three minutes later, Arizona’s lead ballooned to 18 points on the way to a 96-75 blowout victory for the nation’s top team.
What was once a close, competitive, exciting game, flipped completely in what felt like the blink of an eye. From 13:47 to 11:22 in the second half, the Wildcats scored 11 unanswered points with no timeouts to be found from Alabama head coach Nate Oats to try and stop the run…