2020-2021 Alabama @ Auburn

welcome to the saturday showcase presented by five hour energy and welcome to the sec on espn the bronze berkeley out in front of auburn arena here in auburn alabama and it is the 163rd meeting the crimson tide and the tigers beth bowens and dan dockage with you and how about the start for alabama dan three-and-oh in the sec the best they've been in 34 years well that guy right there neat oats has done a heck of a job instilling toughness real toughness and his culture is probably a year ahead from where he thought gotta see what kentucky's gonna do two close ones not a great start but 2-0 in the league we'll see what happens and for auburn ncaa eligibility issues hit sideline sharif cooper until today yeah this solves a lot of problems for bruce pearl and the auburn tigers what are the problems bad shots a problem he should solve that as a point guard turnovers a problem well a good point guard solves those kind of problems we'll see if he can do it in his first game this is pretty cool let's get a start home whites for war eagle and the crimson tide in crimson and the unofficial over under dan on three-point shots as well gonna be 59 or 60. that may just be in the first half there's an old adage aim high and let it fly and certainly out of auburn you're going to see that they both average about 30 attempts a game and there you go cooper with his first touch and the tip ends up with alabama herb jones to john petty around it out so for two to start from deep this is cooper mckechern georgia looking for the assist i'll tell you this right now if you leave guys this open there's gonna be about a hundred threes taken because these are pretty good looks that is not a contested three petty trying to clean it up down on the deck of both sides and possession will go to auburn second year for nate oates the former math teacher tons of success at buffalo before showing up here at alabama yeah you know it worked for work for bobby hurley took over the job and really extended on what bobby did he did a terrific job interesting hire right i mean you're coming from buffalo down to alabama but you know what good coaches can coach anywhere and an interesting approach right dan i mean they'll play some five out an awful lot they shoot the three and they beat you off the balance to the rim you know beth when you watch alabama you just said it and it just happened there you're gonna see five guys often times outside the three-point run and then what are you trying to do offensively well you're trying to play almost like you're playing against his own drive a gap draw a defender and kick it so how do you guard it well if you're auburn the key to this game guard your own man don't need help on the dribble like right there pretty good you guard your own good work by alan flanagan on the defensive end that's been an issue for the tigers and the foul there will send jordan bruner to the line the grand transfer from yale who's having an impact there you see bruce pearl in his seventh season the last three years the best run they've ever had at auburn you could say that everywhere with bruce going back to southern indiana best run they ever had probably best they'll ever have milwaukee best run that guy is a great basketball coach and i want to get this out of the way early his son stephen pearl i think is one of the real up-and-comers in college basketball beth i've had the opportunity to watch film sessions practices steven's going to be terrific but this guy is good as any in the country ncc regular season championship a tournament championship and uh most famously the trip to the final four the last time we had a final four in 2019 they will not be in the tournament this year self-imposed ban and it is a very young team they lost almost everybody from last year's squad williams will try the three that's off the mark rebounded by josh primo the freshman from toronto [Applause] and petty gonna be called for an offensive foul you've already seen cooper make two plays that play where he set up a three from the right side is a true point guard play he drove it threw it left handed across his body not too many point guards can do that and the first possession he came down and just got everybody into offense something like al excuse me auburn has really struggled with [Music] beth you mentioned it that the ole miss game was unwatchable in the first half yeah too many turnovers flanagan in particular and he should be able to clean that up now with cooper running the point and sharif looking for his first basket in fact both sides looking for a bucket and the swat in the lane from williams that triggers the break cooper bothered on the shot terrific hustle by jones to get back wow the hesitation the kick primo got see all the help that came when you don't guard your own and cooper fell down so it's five on four but when you have to help off alabama or same thing with alabama on auburn open threes will kill you in this game by not guarding your own man the pick and then the roll and the foul cardwell strong to the rim [Applause] let's look here watch this watch the defense you don't guard your own everybody has to come and look you have a half of the side of the court to shoot you've got to be very judicious with your help you just can't go sprinting and try to help because they will find the next and quite often with cardwell hitting on the first right dan it's a different subset of guys the three ball shooters and the drivers for alabama it's the same dudes that juke and jack if you will yes and you mentioned it like everybody's on the perimeter they're going to drive it and they are very very unselfish which is part of the culture of nate oates that i talked about to open the show tied 3-0 already with a blowout win over florida and a big road win at tennessee and then they have kentucky coming up on tuesday night shackleford finds primo that's his second triple boy that was just a great pass by shackleford to find primo but i'm to use a word that's probably not a word a discombobulation defensively it is now jesus that bad urban dictionary on line one for you then has it swatted by cambridge petty an open look and last touch by the tigers somebody better put a body on herb jones because herb jones is really active sprinting from the perimeter to the offensive glass what a block but you know what alabama reversing got a wide open three he blocked it and i would say naji harrison but i don't think you can say that about an auburn tiger after the cambridge hurdle that an a2 bama lead espn's exclusive presentation of college basketball is presented by five hour energy shots get it done and joshua primo a guy that's getting it done so far for alabama got a couple of triples that kind of came out of some chaos and an a2 bama lead yeah he's a kid that reclassified and as a rule i don't know why you want to do that senior year in high school is one of the greatest years of your life particularly if you're a basketball star but you know what he did and man he he fits in perfectly he just he looks like he belongs one of the great players in class of 2021. well there you go i think one of the issues dan maybe depending on where they are they may not have had any basketball in the fall so if they think they have a chance to go to the next level or play in the ncaa tournament this year may be the year yeah i don't disagree with there's a kid in indiana christian lander who was the number one point guard in the class next year he reclassified it has really struggled but primo look at this going for number four at the heat check can't get that one to drop and here comes sharif cooper the five-star recruit making his debut and auburn fans waiting impatiently for this day to come you know when i look at him out there he's very comfortable he missed a shot badly and that's to be expected but in terms of handling the ball and more importantly running the team i think he looks very very comfortable he missed uh practice for much of the early part of the season was able to join the team for practice ran the scout team by mid-december and now [Applause] and you know it's one thing practice is one thing but when you come into an arena i've always said this the same arena you practice in looks totally different when it's set up for game day just just something different about it and so he's i think he's acquitting himself pretty well early one on five for shackleford and auburn comes out where they didn't win the foul one thing you see about both of these teams beth there's an absolute green light like there's no you know you're gonna see one on five then you're gonna see over the top that kind of thing but nobody's saying back it up the rest of the stoplight is missing right no no red and certainly no yellow yeah let's just go and figure it out later here is alan flanagan nice roll off of that by cardwell and the flush one of the things flanagan has struggled with is that but what he did there is he he penetrated a little and then backed it up and read it [Applause] primo gonna try again already his eighth shot of the first half and he's knocked down four threes i watch bruce pearl he is going nuts or was going nuts on his team he counters with the triple i mean everybody is yelling flying premiums well it's easy to find he's got the ball [Applause] one hander there by primo that won't fall so it will go to the tigers let me tell you what i'm what i'm talking let me show you what i'm talking about here playing again he dribbles it right here and then he backs it up and by backing it up he's able to see the play so many times playing again and the rest have just put their heads down particularly against ole miss and just gone into traffic it seems simple what flanagan did but it's not and that's real growth out of him he is having a tremendous breakthrough season the sophomore from little rock three points a game last year up to 13 this year that's one of the best in the sec as jamal johnson misses [Applause] for the tigers it's uh something unfortunate that has happened in their sec games dan a 14 point first half deficit arkansas down six texas a m down 11 at the half against ole miss sluggish starts have been a problem yeah and a lot of it is due to turnovers and defense i mean their defense gets wide open their defense gets twisted around guys are literally spinning around defensively when the ball moves and i think in the second half they get comfortable they go to a little zone and play much better back out to johnson five on the shot clock has it stripped away good take away for alabama they'll try and put it down the other end and an offensive foul juwon gary made the defensive play but then gets whistled for the charge yeah that was gary was trying not to charge gary was clutch he kind of steps around but really good position and what made that play sprinted back flanagan just sprinted and put his head in front of the rim and when you do that you can you can move a little bit and get a challenge flanagan looks much better to me than he has on film well i think for sure he's got to be bullied by the arrival of sharif cooper who started out the game taking a breather right now for the tigers on the sideline as he works back into game shape flannigan gets [Applause] [Music] he had one of his best showings against gonzaga they they lost to the zags they have baylor on the schedule a little bit later in the year they'll be facing the top two teams in the country and of course with no postseason this is kind of a super bowl for them against the crimson tide twice this year yeah it really is look all right i'll take gonzaga baylor michigan and iowa and get defeated and iowa who would you who would you put in there i need a i need a villain with a coach on the sideline yeah texas has a great win and they still need to earn my trust a little bit uh agreed for the rest of the year but they look pretty solid oh boy i mean your four are awfully awfully tough there's no room there for an underdog though is there or a major upset we will have one but i'll tell you this last undefeated team is 1976. last team you know kentucky went to the champion or the final four got beat by wisconsin and indianapolis few years ago but i don't see i really don't see anybody no i'm not sure i see anybody come within 10 of gonzaga based on the rest of the schedule yeah luca garza probably the front runner for player of the year but those three gonzaga kids are not very far behind you know one of the disappointing things for me is hunter dickinson is not on the mid-season list now he's at michigan they're undefeated he's averaging 18 and eight and frankly if you don't have luca guards or trace jackson davis that's as good a postman as there's been in the country two in a row right there beth two turnovers in a row that can't happen for uh auburn primo back into the lane he is having himself a first half 5 for 10 shooting 14 of the first 19 shots from threes for alabama wow good for them primo is terrific they'll be getting on the offensive glass as well a handful of second chance points and that's been the difference on the scoreboard 14 for primo eight for allen fleet again that's good basket [Applause] a lot of ways you can go that with a name like primo but he has been primo in this game just keeps shooting he's a freshman not afraid well tomorrow we'll have the ravens titans wild card game for you at 1 eastern 10 a.m pacific on espn and abc and then on monday it's the national championship game alabama and ohio state that's a look at our big lineup for the next couple of days and they took home all the awards did the crimson tide from the football special the other night including matt jones and davey o'brien najee harris won the dope walker best running back in the country and of course this guy first wide receiver heisman trophy winner of the century devante smith college football is my favorite sport i watch it literally if i'm home from noon until midnight one o'clock and i'm i'm so impressed with alabama's guys man we naji harris just a great dude devonte smith i watch them on the sidelines and they're always being coached and they're just the way they handle themselves and the defense tackles viciously like there's no skid marks when they come to hit you man there's no they're not hitting the brakes they but having said that i'm taking ohio state [Laughter] [Applause] where's your point guard i want to go with the tide i think on that one cardinal had it knocked loose by jones you're right though i mean on social media the last week or so a thank you letter to a professor from an alabama player a shout out to a reporter that a guy recognized from high school naji harris talking about megan repino and and people that make their dreams come true through hard work it's all i love watson i do i think those two kids you know mac jones is great buildings litera i mean the whole the whole crew but man i watch sidelines a lot and every time i see naji harris or davonte smith on the side like man are they paying attention are they engaged there's no there's nothing other than let's win this football game it's it's fantastic to watch and now having said that what do you do when the bright lights are on i don't know if we've seen a better performance than justin fields put in six touchdowns with how many uh we don't even know what the rib situation was in game but that was phenomenal in their semi-final win over clemson as you're ever going to see i asked urban meyer can you stay hot as a quarterback like you can as a basketball player you know you make a bunch of threes on saturday you got another game tuesday you know you're probably still a little hot look at primo oh missed he was too close on that one but he told me yes absolutely that you can offensive foul and i'm anxious to see because this is a different defense with alabama these guys are some bad men do you like do you like cooper so far i i do um sometimes i i think especially for a guy that hasn't played in a while maybe on that possession he tried to do a little too much could have pulled up there yeah instead of the deep drive of course this is also other than practice his first look at collegiate competition as well and it's so different the gym is different the smell of the gym is different because now you've got concession stands going the team you're playing against is faster even though you're playing a pretty good team that one bounces up and over the top so the update on the three-point shooting only primo has hit one for alabama four for six the rest of the team owed for uh seven and just two of five so far from auburn cooper and pass picked off that's six turnovers in the last three minutes to the breakout for ellis i'm sorry but that kills you turn over for touchdown is what tom izzo calls him and that's exactly what that was turn over throw it ahead dunk that kills you six points off of those eight turnovers i think we'll get a much better feel for cooper in the second half after he breaks out of the swing has a nice fine there back out to johnson that was terrific i mean cooper made the right play at the right time and threw it to the right guy [Music] jones offensive stick back [Applause] the ball got in the post and two guys tried to block a shot that they were not going to block and it opened up the weak side board for jones who's going to the board every possession cooper good look to find the open man and jones closes out in a hurry we were talking before the game and you were telling him you were talking about herb jones and i don't care what he scores that kid brings it he blocks shots he goes to the board he rebounds and he makes the defense it puts the defense under pressure because he goes to the backboard that's pretty good recovery right there [Applause] cooper barely touched iron under eight minutes to go primo slices into the lane tipped out of there by cardwell oh last touch by joshua [Applause] 23-15 tied on the road trying to stay perfect to the sec [Applause] thank you guys turnover is an issue in this one as well for auburn of them already leading to six points the other way for the tide in a 23-15 alabama lead heard them talking about uh the acc the big ten of course the big ten seven teams in the top 25. and those michigan wolverines you reference still undefeated a tumultuous pole this week half the field dan either moved up or down four spots or more including michigan state and florida state tumbling towards the bottom michigan state just had a tough one last night my goodness i mean they were up 13-15 against purdue second half at home people say home court doesn't matter it does to does it to players i just don't see gonzaga moving all year now undefeated is probably that where they will be heading into the postseason the strip another turnover and jones missed the gimme not the second time but jones is just doing what you want a guy to do primo's got it going shooting but jones has got it going doing everything else keon ellis leading the break numbers again cardwell got a piece of that one just before it hit the window and it will go to auburn that was a great play by cardwell primo kind of waltzed in there thought he was in high school winton was just gonna lay it in oh man i'll tell you what watch this here he's just going up no no this is college man this is the scc it just means more let's go you gotta go dunk that put two hands on the glass [Music] the canadian had that one swatted good dish inside the wrap-around for cooper and jt thor earns a couple of freebies first on ellis now into the bonus when god made a basketball player's body jt thor is it six foot whatever he wants to be uh 10. an arm span of i don't know across the entire lane more than enough jeez i mean what a what a perfect basketball body and i think he's going to be an nba player i think he has terrific potential room to grow just a freshman 610 out of anchorage the training table the weight room should be kind to him and it's been quite a journey from nebraska to alaska to west virginia to georgia and now starting out in college with bruce pearl here at auburn we talk about cooper i've only talked about him offensively but right there he got after it defensively he's struggling to score as he should but if he can get himself going defensively offense will come off the window you know we forget whenever a great high school player comes into college we always talk about the offense well he caused a strip and i think that got him a little comfortable and now you see he goes and gets himself an old-fashioned three-point play his first bucket at auburn he's played nine minutes in his debut today the third mcdonald's all-american they've ever had here [Music] and i think you remember frank ford was the first guy here back in your day people think that chuck person or charles barkley oh frankie in the mid-80s i remember him he was a good player a really good player you know alabama and you know this better you know pat murphy great job we talked about sabin you know nate oates is going to do a great job that athletic department of both of these places is terrific their gymnastics yeah for years under sarah patterson of course murph with the softball team 2012 maddie champs good drop off defense has been good around the rim but the kickout is there for petty for three well you're so right the defense around the rim has been terrific but you haven't been able to finish the possession if you're auburn by getting the rebound [Applause] cooper set it up by kicking it to plan again the recovery came didn't guard plan again help had to come dump shackleford three four weak side and here comes cooper with the push to the left [Applause] shackleford lazy with the pass with the takeaway cooper's starting to feel it oh man we got a couple hundred people would have lost their mind had that one going in oh you can see what strong in the house with us today at auburn arena [Applause] look at the recovery you got to recover short [Applause] alabama doesn't and if you can't guard your own in this game you're either giving up a wide open three or a dump [Applause] romanos walked he's going off his best game 15.7 boards against florida in the win midweek beth you mentioned interior defense been pretty good he has been really good in this game dylan cardwell dylan cardwell has impacted he he caused a travel there he's been really good around the basket defensively [Applause] thor people will reset cargill has been good rolling off these screens too [Applause] it's where you get killed you play on the baseline you drive in the traffic a turnover waiting to happen john petty floater tough angle lojas with the steal again cardwell hey cardwell's been terrific he's laughing he's smiling you got to play with enthusiasm this is terrific he influences that shot all right loose ball what's going to happen he comes back in and he swats it this is terrific it's hitting the face rolls over gets back up and shows great enthusiasm [Music] stat sheet says four blocks but i bet they've bothered twice that i agree at least twice that well coming up later on espn full day at college hoops for you how about this lineup kentucky florida the cats have won a couple in a row 96th meeting the queues in georgetown and then pac-12 after dark ucla and arizona with the bruins off to the 4-0 start out west [Applause] cooper directing traffic trying to wrap it second [Applause] auburn chance your season may change because of one guy getting eligible number two cooper not just a playmaker but i think he's going to make a world of difference in their shot selection and a block on the drive and suddenly it's a two-point game with an 8-0 auburn run the cooper debut making a difference [Applause] back to beth and dan thank you dallin well this auburn defense they've been keeping a clean sheet here in the last couple of minutes and 8-0 running how about a block party dan dockage this has been fun just when you think you're there [Applause] [Applause] skinny division there's divisions right right charles barkley was the greatest body in college basketball heavy division back in the round of rebounds charles hurt muscular division hey i'll tell you this though when you look at auburn now with cooper um i don't know they big long wings point guard that knows what he's doing active bigs pretty good looking team this is the line of demarcation of course the arrival of cooper they're 0-3 at the bottom of the sec so let's see in the coming weeks how he might be able to help out this very young team they lost 84 percent of their scoring a bunch of guys graduating isaac aguero the top five draft pick headed to the nba and they are all even with first place alabama overcoming a 10-point deficit herb jones drops it off for reese able to put it up and end i thought that was a double loss that was bruner the kid who transferred from yale everybody wanted that kid but thing i like about bruner he just kind of is calm you know you can tell he's an older guy [Applause] they are losing the big fella on the ball screens i hate to say this you're not supposed to do this but i'm rooting for that kid that kid plays hard right let's see what he does here look at that poked it loose got the trap petty got it inside well the freshman cooper relaxed on defense he did not get to the ball side of the rim and petty just cut right in front of him for a layup [Applause] cambridge the sophomore from nashville and he's got auburn out in front with under two minutes to go in the half other than primo the threes have not been falling for alabama they're trying to get to the bucket a little bit more and now bruner spots up and hits hey bruner's come in this game in the last couple minutes he saw a great finish inside and now he just took his time made himself available drilled a three he's got seven here in the first half bama back on top [Applause] flanagan to the point here cooper to the off guard allen penetrating blocked beth i swear i was getting ready to say this is a turnover waiting to happen not that flanagan can't play it but he looks so determined to drive it left into whatever was going to be there [Applause] that is his second he's really struggled with the giveaways the last couple of weeks we got a two-point game here late in the first over on espn and the app later today at three o'clock we'll head to fort worth it's number two baylor and tcu the undefeated bears up to 91 points per game led by jared butler macey otieg davian mitchell there's jared's numbers player of the year candidate i mean i know the numbers aren't exactly where you know like luka garza's are but when you look at overall play that kid's as valuable and as good as anybody in the country i'm not sure anybody's going to beat them hard to say in that league you know you got to go to kansas that kind of thing but ellis franklin with the rebound and flanagan the blacking foul called on keon franklin got lucky there the bump happened and then he pushed off and you see ellis telling the official that that could have gone either way but the bump was clearly before the push petty and rojas with two fouls thor a couple fouls in the first half but no real jeopardy and flanagan this is on the free throw free throws drive me crazy he needs to slow down there you go he'll make this one if they do want to contend and they will definitely have to clean that area up just 62 as a group from the strike this year flanagan just got the ball walked into the first one and shot it like he was you know in his front yard that time he took his time so much that's about routine isn't it every one should be exactly the same as the one before that's exactly right no different than a golf swing just get a routine [Applause] back door alley-oop for alabama and herb jones on the receiving end yeah they abused the freshman there in the back middle of the zone they sent a couple screens and cooper didn't see it and jones dunked it with his forehead that was some serious elevation cooper able to split the double cooper split the defenders and tossed it towards the rim but it's alabama a one point advantage dunk for dunk to finish let's join darling cup and john crispin in the studio for the e-trade time back to the saturday showcase presented by five hour energy and welcome back to the sec on espn the 2019 final four banner hanging outside of auburn arena inside it's alabama by a point as we get set to start the second half the tied 3-0 in first place in the league auburn down at the bottom looking for the big upset with the return of sherry cooper oh he's a season changer i mean look slow starts scoring but this kid has it man everybody reacts well to him he's an he can unselfish he can score it and on the other end joshua primo reclassified and here is a freshman who's supposed to be a senior in high school dropping 14 points in the biggest rivalry that alabama has in basketball football or any sport but my goodness what a pair of freshman first half so far that kid looks like he's 10 years old and he's an assassin primo leading all scorers with 14 points he's got the bulk of the threes for alabama they were just 29 as a team in the first half and auburn so often reliant on the threes they they made four they only got 12 up the turnovers were costly but they were able to rally from a 10-point deficit when they cut those turnovers down yeah the turnovers started early then they went away then they came back towards the end the key for alabama is going to be making open shots i mean it's literally as simple as that they've had terrific looks out of those 21 attempts they just haven't knocked very many down [Applause] nobody in real foul trouble in that first half same starting units to open up this second half and the three look for flanagan he was their leading scorer with 13 in the first half primo goes to the right side and gets to the free-throw line well just what we talked about at halftime cooper got a great look for flying again on one end and then primo the other freshman goes to the rim smart avoids contact draws a foul these are two terrific young fresh young guards in a tough league first 3-0 start in the conference for alabama since 1987. all alone at the top just up on kentucky the cats after that dismal start their worst in over a century if now won a couple of close ones to go to 2-0 in the league kentucky fans in an absolute panic even when they beat vanderbilt the other day man that was some celebration wasn't it it was you don't see that very often out of the cats dandy's got a fun one to watch scottie pippen jr one of the top scorers in the league the other big freshman around the sec is cam thomas at lsu one of the top scorers in the country that hit the backboard and then got blocked a break for auburn [Applause] thor switched it in midair and now shackleford looking for a lane that's why i like nate oates bruner number two starting the second half he only played limited minutes in the first half but he was terrific so he gets a start [Applause] [Music] stripped out of there heading the other way with it herb jones gets the lay-in all right now you're a freshman and you're cooper you just can't run out of the way there i mean it's supposed to be a rivalry game there's two tough teams cooper just cleared the way for jones you gotta foul him knock him down do something he's got fouls to give we'll try the 15-footer [Music] we are in the defense optional portion of this game we had a lunge through the passing lane right there leaving cooper wide open cooper ran through a pass look at this jump all right they got to travel we're defense optional right now beth well the defense had been better for nate oates you know he talked about their athleticism their length and and really for the first time depth so he's you know the the message in practice is you better be ready to guard if you want to play well there's been slippage [Applause] you can throw the records off [Applause] flanagan's deep three in and out primo when cooper doesn't handle it auburn really struggles in half court you saw a bad shot there by flanagan ball's got to get in primo's hand every time they're in half court here we go here is cooper to the left all right a lot of guys say keep your eyes on the rim when you go to the basket that's fine but this kid great players keep their chins on the rim watch cooper's chin as he plays through contact here see how he keeps his chin up here's the difference look at you can see the back of his head go up when you put your chin on the rim it lifts your whole body and he's not the strongest guy but he's able to play through contact because he really does a good job of lifting his chin which lift his shoulders which lift him up and he's much stronger doing it that way petty been quiet so far today and the breakout here for auburn and another trip to the line coming remember first half we talked about an alabama player had sprinted back set himself in front of the basket and took a charge both teams on that possession neither guy sprint back number one and number 23. neither of them did petty and jones and when you don't sprint back you foul like people see effort in basketball guy diving on the floor yes that's effort but real effort comes how you get from one end to the other sprinting getting in position alleviates a lot of foul trouble [Applause] jones had it jared loose primo through traffic but a blocking foul will be called on the shot as well nothing but smiles for cardwell as he continues to make plays like that he's having fun out there i got the twitter world saying i'm rooting for auburn because i like that kid hey look if you think that tough but i think beth and i would both agree of any game we've done we don't care who wins we just like to see people play hard and cardwell is playing hard and twitter's so dependable to begin with do you know how hard it is beth to come in you're supposed to be a senior in high school you read classifieds you gotta get all your academics right now you come into a major college program and now you're playing in the biggest rivalry and primo looks like he's 28 years old playing he has been solid so far [Applause] cooper with the one-handed flush thor's hammer i believe nice there's no reason to shoot that shot i'll tell you why no one's guarding so just drive look where do you want the ball it's going to get there [Applause] petty's got it shackleford working on thor the blow by and had to try and get it up high because of the shot blockers and missed it cardwell look at the big fellow [Applause] devin cambridge with the hustle let's go back and forth a little bit a little one-handed lob and he dumped it with his wrist if i slowed that down and then cambridge playing through contact hey look don't turn away this is going up and down that is the only red light you will see today by the way we've got a good one up and down the floor auburn and alabama and of course crimson tide fans are getting ready for monday night's national championship game against the ohio state university we've got it covered on all of our networks and this is what justin fields it after the big hit only bounced back for six touchdowns [Applause] urban meyer told me that kid right there's best tight end prospect he's ever seen in high school i think that was the kid rickard he was fantastic it's gonna be a great night can't wait who do you like you like bama i i like bam all now and especially if jalen waddles coming back which it looks like he's been back in practice i mean you add another threat to that offense let's make twitter even more crazy by talking to football for a minute i think ohio state's going to win the game not sure why i love their offensive line and justin feels wow well sec fans will be quick to tell you dan that they are much better rested after only playing the six regular season game i know indiana fans will tell you they got jobs [Music] in the big ten title game boy were they fun to watch this year just over four minutes gone second half first of two meetings in the regular season for these old rivals auburn has won five straight at home over the tide and overall six of the last nine alabama has the upper hand in the previous 162 meetings before today the reason i said earlier possession bad shot take a force one is what you just saw reece hits the shot look at this game cooper to thor for the cleanup [Music] oh nice reposition by ellis to find a seam but then missed it inside and here comes cooper the other way [Applause] cambridge four [Applause] [Music] he's a star now nobody's getting back on defense but thor no thor is a pro i don't know if he's going to end up in the nba but that dude is big big big time [Applause] and then he goes up doesn't get the black but that kid bruce pearl may want to reconsider the one year back oh here we go i'm telling you here we go that rebound this is a top ten recruiting class including the likes of cooper and thor the best that they've ever brought in here of course they have the one uh year the postseason self-imposed ban the ncaa is still looking into assistant coach chuck person ongoing investigation cooper stayed in the play to get the steal behind the back for cambridge and then reece was there to make the play defensively and that's what i'm saying reece did a great job now there he sprinted back and when you sprint back you can square your shoulders against the driver and that kid made a terrific play forcing a tie up because that looked like it was going to be a bucket or an and one watch this he's back he's running he gets to a spot squares his shoulders gets his hands up and the ball found his hands terrific defense by rhys we'll keep an eye dan this could be a big uh advantage for alabama jones goes down the left side of the lane seniors then making plays they've got the experience on their side wow means a little bit more for the guys that are homegrown this in-state rivalry herbs from greensboro alabama [Applause] a patient whistle boy is that a good way to put it look at this cardwell had been blocking everything influencing everything and herb jones you know what that's pretty smart knew if he came in anywhere soft he was going to get sent back yeah he must have heard you talking about nba with other dudes and he said dan i got something for you right here well you mentioned it before the game we were sitting here talking about the game and you mentioned that kid you know he was good early haven't talked about herb jones much but wow yeah jones and petty i think are going to need to be big here in the final 10 plus minutes for alabama use that experience you know a couple of guys that have seen some teammates leave early to the nba they they actually tested the waters decided to come back for one more go round and here they are sitting atop the league and trying to fend off last place auburn well they went look they knew it was a foul people at home they were not looking at whether it was a foul or not they were looking at whether or not it was a three-point shot i know there's other things on tv but it's a fun game right here nfl still early super wild car triple header of course uh abc espn get in on the fun tomorrow with the titans and ravens and uh i think that's the most interesting game do you i do i think derek henry has been terrific um maybe the player of the year i mean rogers and mahomes but i also think last five games lamar jackson and the ravens have basically been in the playoffs they've been the best running team and yeah i mean if they lose they're not in yeah and they didn't lose but that kid is from loudoun what a play back-to-back rushing titles for uh and i'm going to say it again a former heisman winner a great guy a friend of my daughters went to alabama when he was there he kind of bumped in here at the line at starbucks he was so apologetic he bought her her starbucks [Applause] got a three ball here from jamal johnson [Applause] [Music] [Applause] auburn do it once and now petty do it that is his fourth foul he has stayed in the game they're trying to hustle somebody over to the scorers table to check in so john will stay out there here he is with the ball bounces off his knee a collision tigers come out with it cardwell not demonstrating the point guard skills you would hope in that situation every big wants to be oh i thought he made it every big wants me a point guard every guard wants to be a center in and out four with the rebound that's his sixth today to go along with his five points flanagan the three had to come across his body to shoot it shackleford on the move uses that elbow to create some space and hits same thing flanagan jogged back after a bad shot and didn't get in position cambridge quick auburn's a bit of a mess without cooper in the game offensively that's why he's getting ready to check back in reece [Applause] they just don't trust throwing the ball in [Applause] it's good for johnson [Applause] same thing same thing nobody got back on defense after a make they jogged they reached it's costing auburn three espn's exclusive presentation of college basketball is presented by five hour energy shots get it done [Music] 59 58 alabama with the slight edge and a defensive lapse here dan well you got to get back on defense i mean you're going to watch look johnson doesn't get back and then he reaches in for a foul now his dad was buck johnson who played for the great whimps anderson and i gotta tell you his dad would not have approved of that his dad was tough buck johnson was a tough dude and wimp sanderson was a tough coach that was not a tough play petty looking to make it three and is able to knock that down and then john will have to depart with the four fouls with 11 52 to go a 10 point first half lead for the tide auburn came back and it's been seesaw since the three-pointer count is up to 47. i think both coaches will take the fact that they're getting just as many old-fashioned threes it seems today well that was really good on the timeout what he bruce pearl he inverted now he make flanagan get on the block against a guy and ellis who is not used to playing on the block flanagan really comfortable down there ellis the defender is not comfortable down there advantage auburn three-point play terrific by the auburn staff foul against the tigers that's the second on cooper [Applause] you see the middle of the court free-throw line somebody's got to get into there and drive it either man-to-man or zone doesn't matter tip loose and now the tigers can push with flanagan [Applause] and cambridge had a heel on the sideline if you're alabama all you've got to do is be patient and move the ball from side to side and you're going to be able to drive it and get to the basket i mean this looks like a zone it kind of morphs there's the middle layup terrific ball fake by jones can't get the finish but he'll get the free throws this is a spread out kind of a 3-2 zone and jones just flashed to the scc portion of the floor and he's very very comfortable in there a lot of guys aren't he is he should have finished it this should be an and one his point production has been up he's been shooting it better we've seen dan the versatility the ability to score to rebound to run it's alabama the one-point edge cooper [Applause] williams [Applause] again that's primo he just snapped it across the shackleford and shackleford set his feet [Applause] third assist for primo to go along with his 18 points and five boards [Applause] cooper looking to create he's got the mismatch on the big guy rojas got a body into him and primo sees it ahead and just snaps it right into the shooting pocket of shackleford ball doesn't touch the ground two nice passes you get a wide open three [Applause] looking for the consistency now from primo day in and day out cooper fouled on the drive josh had 11 against tennessee but then was shut out against florida and now coming back today with a huge performance for the tide number one thing alabama can do in this game to win the game is to simply keep cooper in front that time at 30 feet out they lunge through the passing lane which opened the entire floor and cooper this kid is really good there was help guy ready to take a charge but he just jumped sideways and drew contact you don't have to you don't have to pressure cooper you just have to keep him in front of you and alabama will solidify their defense could be that he's still working in the game shave shape a bit damn but it seems to be much more effective when he's been at the point with the ball in his hands as opposed to keeping him off to the side with flanagan on top they're a mess when he doesn't have the ball in half court offense haven't had a chance to say it much this year but the crowd now getting into it for auburn 1800 strong with us but not enough to deny the tide in the baseline drive cooper nice move and fouled from behind by ellis just watch in every half court situation i know it's easy to say but it's really not that hard to do if you understand staying off of him a little bit you know if he's gonna beat you with a three beat you with a three but look at this this is just a straight line drive where he just whips ellis if he's if there's a ball screen on top you force him to the ball screen that way two guys have a chance to guard him that has to happen or alabama is going to lose this game that's the fourth foul now on ellis so he joins petty and rojas with four personals the depth has dwindled a bit for the tide they didn't get back again and keon has fouled on the shot cardwell was kind of talking to his teammates around the top of the key instead of just being the big guy and directing traffic from the lane and alabama just threw it down the side went to the rim watch this look at cardwell see him talking he doesn't get back and he fouled all you gotta do you can do the same thing but be where the sec be in the lane [Applause] ellis only had seven trips to the line prior to today four for four now this afternoon [Applause] knocks them both down and a four point advantage for alabama trying to continue what has been their best fcc start in 34 years 3-0 alone atop the standings a little ball screen the big tried and cooper just too crafty i mean this is a you're seeing a star in cooper absolute star 15.7 assists four boards [Applause] all he does is do right he just does right in a basketball game he's got a couple of triples [Music] [Applause] cooper now leading scorer for the tigers he's got 20 in his debut same thing here beth the same thing except it happened in half court offense alabama not set up defensively how about this you get a big honey bruner's trying too much now look if cooper's gonna beat you with this then so be it i mean that's good defense nothing you can do all right you made it i would make him if i'd make him shoot five more of these before i let him get to one time get to the rim [Applause] [Music] [Applause] see if alabama can adjust to that in the final nine minutes as primo hits the first but auburn on the other side they just got to get back on defense beth you you call football games you know a lot of playing defense is getting set up right lining up right on the defensive side auburn's not getting set up defensively they have no deep safety today cooper dazzling and the kickout flanagan mid-range kept it alive cooper had it knocked away uh they're gonna call a kick yep it wasn't just a hand it was a foot see everybody went oh right when cooper okay and it was great but he didn't get to the rim and flanagan or whoever shot it from the right side i think it was flanagan missed i'll live with that right now in this game maybe next week it's different but in this game you've got to keep cooper in front of you period he's only one of five from outside the ark jones is trying to muscle him and he gets whistled for the foul but looks like the tide defender is getting a little frustrated that cooper's been beating him yeah and you got to stop that like this is personal now with jones right which is cool but you can't put him on a line for two but but having somebody that says i'm taking you and i'm keeping you in front like jones would be good but you got to give him space and make him shoot over you they've been waiting all year here at auburn for that young man to arrive only been able to practice with the team for a couple of weeks getting the start today and he's got 22 points and seven assists and he's got last place auburn two behind first place alabama and then the three at the other end jordan bruner the grand transfer from yale you know he just makes play runs back on defense and there he is with the swat they're not playing in the ivy league this year jordan said i'm gonna head down to alabama and suit up with the tide and he's making plays at both ends in a five-point game thank you very much dallin we've got we've got some fast cars running around on the court tonight and we've got a couple of freshmen primo with a career high and cooper with a career well you know you see there you can't lunge through the passing lane you can't let him beat you away from ball screens you keep him in front he's gonna do that though this kid is terrific he is going to be as good a point guard as we're going to see in college basketball i hope he stays you know another year because this program auburn's going to be in the top 5 or 10 next year 16 second half points 22 on the day for cooper and around and down for flanagan one of the things cooper does allows flanagan to play where he's comfortable which is in the lane he is playing again really comfortable playing in traffic he's got 16 four tigers in double figures primo's 20 leading the way for alabama jones with 15 bruner with 13. petty in foul trouble has been on the bench and now he checks back in after the time out for the tide well there alabama excuse me auburn got set defensively and got a charge now auburn you got to keep the ball in front of you and jones is the guy he's taking it personally give him give cooper room and you can keep him in front johnson well you can hear shackleford get a hand on the ball officials will converge and i think there's going to be a foul is it going to be on auburn from bruce pearl's reaction it looks like it is [Applause] [Music] oops johnson for no matter who that's on that is an awful call at some point you just got to let a bunch of guys play basketball and they will touch each other and they will fall down no need for a foul there take it out let's go [Applause] that is the fourth foul on jamal with primo adding to his career high 21 now seven of seven from the stripe [Applause] what a performance after he was shut out against florida midweek hit the early threes and that really got him got him going defensive play that's two in a row by shackleford caught from behind by thor i know you know he may be tired of this but cardwell got back jumped up and thor blocked it from behind uh bruce cam is as good as fran mccaffrey cam because when fran mccaffrey goes francon it's fantastic and when bruce puts his hands behind his back it's terrific the only guy in america where you can actually still read his lips through the mask and envision exactly what he's saying the other day he said i'm not really a swear but i do swear occasionally translated that means i swear a lot and i'm trying to hide it [Applause] the one thing they they have figured out too we talked about the slow starts dan but in each well in a couple of the occasions they have liked the fight to get back in games we've seen it again tonight or today rather the fight to get back in a game and now can they win a squeaker they've turned it over three straight trips alabama with numbers jones [Applause] boy was that good it was good defense i mean and bruner being a veteran was so patient beth look the defense came back you're gonna see hustle i took a charge moved his feet reacted but look at bruner takes his time gets the defender cambridge off of his feet and gets himself an and-one that is terrific by bruner gotta make the free throw but it was terrific amazing how the ball faking the head fake still works after all these years huh show the ball that's the second time that herb is whistled for getting too much body on cooper again you have to give space and then when you give space you got to keep giving space and and jones is long enough he can go up and block a shot by cooper [Applause] 23 for sharif well the sec network has alabama covered monday before the college football championship game marty and mcgee feinbaum you can watch the game and listen to the alabama radio broadcast and then of course sec football final to wrap things up as the tide go for uh let's see what's at a sixth national championship for saban at alabama seventh overall that'd be six and 12 years for the tide that's not slowing down into the lane tim won't go another opportunity bruno and finally auburn clears here comes cooper on the break and with his fingertips cambridge got him down offensive foul called on [Applause] to cambridge you said it with his fingertips oh man i think it's not fun playing with cooper i mean run he'll get you the ball [Applause] another in the vicinity assist for cooper his eighth got away with one there you're right about the end of the vicinity used to be you had to throw it in a very specific spot but guys are such great athletes now just throw it up there they'll figure it out i wouldn't mind seeing flanagan get the ball on the post here in the middle of the [Applause] it's a two-point floor yeah great imbalance play williams screamed for flannigan to help too much oh here's a steal four in the passing lane jt himself and then look when you're playing against thor who is long on long on long you can't lob a pass across court you just can't no talking more playing see what the officials are discussing here with 501 on the clock they may be considering a time change [Applause] 82-80 end-to-end action all afternoon the freshman joshua primo 22 for alabama and the newcomer sharif cooper 24 for auburn in 28 minutes most games settle in right like college basketball most games settle in i think we're going to go first to 100 here you know like most games you start out hot right and the next thing you know the defense figures it out and your defense figures it out i'm not sure there's no ace pitcher out here to quiet these bats is there i don't think rivera is coming in man if you're going to beat auburn assuming cooper's smart enough to stay you better do it this year because thor cooper that's enough and then the terrific recruiting class coming in we haven't even seen justin powell oh by the way the freshman who's out for the second game in a row who has scored 26 points on two separate occasions this year seven unanswered for auburn and thor can tie it up they did put three seconds back on the clock they're on their feet at albert arena great possession cooper with the take away that was set up by flanagan flannigan gotten the stash two straight possessions and absolutely hounded primo shackleford got tripped up and a foul on cooper will be his third very smart by nate oaks he got the ball out of primo's hands and eliminated eliminated flanagan as a defender they took advantage of the freshman by driving it to the middle by shackleford but i'll tell you this flanagan is in a stance and guarding hard 10 unanswered points for auburn to storm back and grab the lead shackleford ends it with one of two cooper will stay up top with flanagan offset and an offensive foul on williams that's how auburn played in previous games to this get the ball put your head down [Music] and now when when cooper gives it up in this game it has to be for a guy to be able to just take one dribble no more and do something shackleford a lot of dribbling petty comes free offensive rebound bruner and it goes well cooper got lucky there because he got completely lost defensively the three was missed and bruner has been dynamite this half on the offensive glass 16.6 rebounds for bruner cooper the hesitation when you guard a guy like cooper and he raises up and hesitates you have to stay in a stance you're going to see a hesitation [Applause] well that's pretty good by cooper he hesitated and he got everybody up and delivered it for the potential three-point play and then coming up espn u if this game is still going on beth dan back to you we got a one point game here at auburn arena the tigers leading alabama and it's been a couple of freshmen coming up huge dan watch how he has it see how he hesitated right there and when the defense raises up he explodes [Applause] right there oh man cooper has terrific eyes obviously very quick and he is unselfish on top of it but i will say this the one thing i've learned over the course of 40 with whatever it's been in college basketball is your first game eligible for whatever the reason is your best one for a while and he's been terrific 26 points nine assists thor's got 15 points and eight rebounds primo top scorer today for the tide four with another block and oh what a play by petty who arrives just in time we hadn't said his name in a long time boy turn your head and patty just sprinted to the to the backboard and got a tip [Applause] not his strength he did make one earlier sometimes you're glad a guy like thor makes one earlier then he falls in love with it jones handling out top under three to go trying to back in on cooper herb jones patient wraps it underneath it ends back-to-back plays by the seniors i'm sorry great no call on the flop by cooper alabama back on top cooper tried to find cardwell through traffic [Applause] cambridge opposite for three cardwell another possession [Applause] 19 for allen jones petty back to her ball fake and a foul mentioned seniors herb jones made the right pass on the drive then when he got it back he took his time he again shot faked and drew the foul he's in no hurry why because he's been in these situations a number of times in a number of years [Applause] jones hits on the first the tide now 22 of 26 at the free throw line watch this take your time show the ball two guys jump go to the line simple auburn is 24 of 28 they've been doing the work from 15 feet away on both sides and a one-point game under two to go petty on cooper senior on the rook cooper baseline pass picked off great defense by alabama on cooper and off the ball jones had it blocked by four tell you what patty's doing a nice job on cooper got to give him a little room don't put your hands in cooper get back in it and it was set up because bruner is there every time bruner for three got the rebound and the putback i'm telling you brother's a player of the game those last two possessions high ball screen cooper had room [Applause] defensively in red he's got 20. [Applause] cooper uses the screen [Applause] that's what i'm saying you keep cooper in front you give him room make him shoot that oh and then they lost it cooper makes a play deep three [Applause] and a couple of injured players a quick trigger there from sharif with a lot of hardwood in front of them and still 25 seconds to go it's a three-point alabama lead that was a god-awful shot i mean are you trying to win the game if you are and i know he's a freshman i know he's in his first game but he's played a lot of basketball you got to go get a bucket there darling for the studio update just want to let you know tennessee and texas a m is underway down in college station that's on espnu right now if you want to check that out that'll move over to espn2 when alabama and auburn are concluded back to the finish here with beth and dan 25 seconds to go first place alabama trying to get to 4-0 in the scc for a showdown with kentucky on tuesday night the tigers looking for their first sec win with the arrival of sharif cooper and they will show the full court press here [Applause] not a bad move to trap once and then foul because this is not the greatest ball handling team now you got to foul but they were they were not auburn was not set up to switch everything and to make it difficult to get it in just they weren't aligned you got to get in front have a guy playing center field and switch reese got it all right it's a two possession game excuse me shackleford there at the line sorry you have to just get points here no crazy three take it to the rim get a bucket you don't have to have a three unless it's wide open but you gotta go you gotta go williams back to cooper and it's taken away john petty with the steal and primo flanagan with five seconds left that was a terrible possession by auburn you had to bruce is saying and he's waving you've got to go to the rim immediately if you're cooper draw a foul drive and kick terrible standing outside loose ball on the deck fourth at the buzzer and alabama improves to 4-0 and they hang on to beat auburn 94-90 the switch of petty on to cooper late was a huge decision they're not kidding cooper could not get past petty the graduate transfer was sensational in this game defensively and offensively always a pleasure dan doc let's get you to tennessee texas a m with ravi and jimmy

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Id: l18Zk7awMng

Length: 88min 27sec (5307 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 10 2021