Steve Victory JOURNAL – ACT Tournament 2016
The Alabama-Duke match-up is a marquee game for ACT organizers. ‘Bama will take a #4 seed from the South into the contest, while Dook is #5. Victory jumps out of his pity party long enough to put together a good game plan, and the Tide wins easily at home 81-63! Win number 20 for the season.
Mark Bell comes off the DL in time to play, though Victory doesn’t start him (even though Bell didn’t play a single SEC game he was voted to the all-SEC frosh team – go figure). Alex Henry, the PF/SF who should have been an all-SEC freshman selection, leads ‘Bama with 22 points. Traves Williams adds 21, and Cliff McWilliams scores 17. The disappointment of not going to the NCT is put away for a time with Victory’s first-ever win over one of the ACC’s most storied programs.
Round two in the ACT brings a much-less heralded opponent – Kent State. The Golden Flashes are the #8 seed but play like the #1, knocking off ‘Bama by 6… Again, Victory’s team lapses into a funk. This time, there isn’t a chance to right the wrong as the Tide’s season ends at 20-12.
On the one hand, a 20-win season is quite an accomplishment with this young (injury-prone) group, which started the season 7-9. But on the other hand Victory is trying to build a national title contender, and second-round exits from the “Almost Championship Tournament” don’t exactly fit the bill. In Victory’s seven seasons in Tuscaloosa, he’s only been to the NCT once. The natives are restless (especially “The Sheriff”)...
Victory takes off right after the loss on an extended vacation, pondering just how to take Alabama’s program up a few more notches – and in a hurry since he’s only got two seasons to go before the 15-year bell tolls...
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