No. 9 Alabama men’s basketball outlasted No. 14 Houston in a Saturday night thriller, 83–82. The game was not without controversy on and off the court.
With 25 seconds left in the game, freshman guard JD Davison put the Crimson Tide up by one with a putback dunk. On the Cougars’ ensuing possession, he either made a game-sealing defensive play or an uncalled goaltend that should have swung things the other way, depending on one’s perspective. On Sunday night, Tide athletic director Greg Byrne confirmed that Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson called to apologize for an ugly post-game scene.
After a missed three-pointer by Houston’s Kyler Edwards, Fabian White Jr. attempted a putback. Davison knocked the shot away, and it looked very close to being over the cylinder, which would be a goaltend. It was not called, though, and the officials did not review the play, sealing a win for Alabama.
Houston’s Marcus Sasser had to be restrained from following officials back into their locker room. Sampson snubbed Alabama’s Nate Oats on a post-game handshake, and Kellen Sampson, the head coach’s son and a Houston assistant, kicked a chair on his way off the court, while forward Reggie Chaney knocked over a trash can. In a nice gesture, Houston guard Jamal Shead picked up the trash spilled by his teammate.
Byrne said that he and Oats both received calls from Sampson, who apologized for what went down at the end of the game.
Kellen Sampson took to Twitter to apologize for his role in the situation:
”At the conclusion of yesterday’s game, I allowed my emotions to bubble over,” the younger Sampson said. “I sincerely apologize to Alabama men’s basketball and their fan base for my actions. I understand my role as a coach and my reaction was not indicative of a leader of men. I will be better moving forward.”
For his part, Oats empathized over how the Cougars felt after the game.
“If I was in their shoes, I’d be looking for a goal-tending call, too,” he said postgame, via 247Sports. “I think they wanted a review. I looked at it from a lot of different angles. It was nowhere close to being in the cylinder, from what I saw. I didn’t talk to the refs, but just kind of waiting there to see – I think they were trying to talk to the refs to see if they could get a review, and the refs didn’t review it.
“Been on the wrong side of that, I think my first year here when [John] Petty had one. It’s nice to be on the right side of that for one time.”
Alabama (8–1) hits the road to face Memphis on Tuesday night. Houston (8–2) hosts Louisiana-Lafayette that same night.
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