Petty hits program-record 10 3s; Alabama beats Alabama A&M (Nov 17, 2017)
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) John Petty knocked down 10 of 13 beyond the arc to finish with 30 points and Alabama beat Alabama A&M 104-67 on Friday night.
In addition to the win, Petty also left the game with sole possession of the Alabama single-game record for made 3-pointers. The previous record of eight was originally set by Mark Gottfried in 1987 and was last matched by Riley Norris in January 2016.
Petty's 10 3-pointers also matched the fourth best single-game showing in SEC history.
''I never make my first shot,'' Petty said. ''So then when the second and third one fall. I knew it was all in.''
Until Petty destroyed the record, it appeared that fellow freshman Collin Sexton would finish the night with the home crowd's favorite shot of the night when he knocked down a half-court buzzer beater at the end of the first half.
''A lot of guys on different levels of basketball, they don't want to shoot that because it affects their stats, but we don't have a team that's worried about stats,'' Alabama coach Avery Johnson said.
After scoring a team-high 22 points in his debut on Tuesday night against Lipscomb, Sexton picked right back up where he left off. He finished the night making 11 of 16 shots to score 25.
Easily lost in Alabama's first 100-point game since a 105-93 victory over Louisiana Lafayette on Nov. 20, 2015, was the Crimson Tide's success on the boards. Alex Reese and Herb Jones each grabbed a game-high eight rebounds as Alabama (3-0) outrebounded the Bulldogs 47-23.
Amari Goulbourne finished with 17 points for Alabama A&M (0-3).
BIG PICTURE
Alabama A&M: Despite the lopsided result, the Bulldogs are only being outscored by 21.33 points per game this season, a significant improvement from this time last year when the program lost its first six games by an average of 33 points.
Alabama: The Crimson Tide has scored at least 80 points in all three games this season, and seems almost guaranteed to top last season's mark of only four such games.
HE SAID IT
''We'll see if we can get the same carry over (from Petty) in our next two practices before we play against a really good UT Arlington team that has three starters back and all of those guys are high Division-I players,'' Johnson said. ''They could play at any Power Five school.''
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Alabama's dominant win could vault the Crimson Tide into the Top 25 for the first time since December 2011. They are already receiving the most votes among the teams not ranked in the AP Poll.
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M's season-opening road trip will continue when the Bulldogs face No. 14 Minnesota on Tuesday.
Alabama will seek to remain unbeaten when hosting UT Arlington on Tuesday.
