|
Steve Victory JOURNAL – NCT Round of 32, 2015
Coach Steve Victory jokingly shows up to the pre-game press conference for Alabama’s next NCT game wearing a white Crimson Tide jersey and a Nike headband.
“They might need me,” the coach says, trying to laugh about all the injuries that have befallen his squad. “I’ve lost a little speed but I’ve still got a mean jump shot.”
Victory’s team seriously could use some good jump-shooters. Alabama’s opponent in the NCT second round is none other than #6 seed Kansas, still coached by Bill Self.
Cliff McWilliams, an on-again, off-again, shooting guard will fill in for the injured Travis Williams. Victory gambles by putting freshman center Jordie Barnes into the starting lineup instead of 7-1 space-waste Craig King. The pundits give Alabama the edge at the 3, 4 and 5 spots, but the Crimson Tide just plain plays out of sync for 40 minutes.
Kansas wins going away 80-64. Rats!!!
McWilliams manages 13 points. Jordie Barnes steps up and asserts himself as a player of the future by scoring 12 and grabbing 8 rebounds. But the sting of this loss just overwhelms Victory, who a few weeks before had been confident that his team could beat anybody.
The final tally for ‘Bama: 29-7 overall and a final ranking of 9th in both polls. The final CRI tally: 10th… All are career bests for Steve Victory. He’ll appreciate them later, for sure, but for now he’s pretty down…
‘Bama’s tumble in the second round reflects a trend for the SEC as a whole. Seven SEC teams made the field of 64 – Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Tennessee. All seven were gone by the end of the first weekend. Even the SEC’s entries in the ACT failed to last beyond two rounds. Yikes!
Syracuse and Arizona go on to meet in the NCT championship game, with ‘Zona winning 66-60. Creighton and Illinois were the other Final Four teams. North Carolina tops Ohio State 83-61 in the ACT final. Southern Miss and American also made the ACT Final Four.
Alabama team leaders in 2014-15:
Scoring: Michael Bliss 16.7 ppg
Rebounds: Michael Bliss 10.5 rpg (stay Michael stay!)
Assists: Erazem Lekivicius 6.5
|