Alabama pulls away for 65-44 SEC victory over Texas A&M

Published Jan. 6, 2015 11:24 p.m. ET

foxsports

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) Ricky Tarrant scored 15 points and Retin Obasohan sparked a decisive second-half run to lead Alabama to a 65-44 victory over Texas A&M on Tuesday night.

The Crimson Tide (11-3, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) won its fifth consecutive game in the league opener for both teams.

The Aggies (9-4, 0-1) kept trying to chip away at double-digit deficits but wound up with a season-low in points.

Obasohan scored all 12 of his points in the final 10 minutes to help the Tide secure its fifth straight win in SEC home openers. He only played 13 minutes off the bench.

Levi Randolph and Michael Kessens each had 10 points and nine rebounds for Alabama.

Freshman Peyton Allen led Texas A&M with 13 points while leading scorer Jalen Jones sat out with a sprained ankle. Allen made 3 of 7 3-pointers for Texas A&M. Alex Caruso had six assists.

The Aggies tied the game early in the second half but were dominated from that point.

Texas A&M cut a 13-point deficit to 27-24 by halftime with a pair of big plays by Alex Robinson in the closing 37 seconds. He appeared trapped as the shot-clock wound down before finding Dylan Johns cutting to the basket for a dunk.

Then Robinson drove for a shot that just barely beat the buzzer, with officials reviewing the play before determining he got the shot off on time.

The baskets were the only ones of the half for both players.

Then Danuel House got his only basket of the game with a tying 3-pointer to start the second half. It was mostly Alabama from there, with the Tide scoring the next nine points.

Texas A&M later went 5:25 without a field goal as the game turned into a rout. Obasohan scored eight points during that decisive 17-3 spurt.

TIP-INS

Texas A&M: Jalen Jones, who has a sprained ankle, was replaced by Antwan Space in his first start of the season. Space had five points and five rebounds. Caruso moved into fifth on Texas A&M's career assists chart with 164, passing Reggie Roberts (1980-83).

Alabama: Committed just eight turnovers. Shot 52 percent (13 of 25) in the second half.

NEXT UP

Texas A&M: Hosts No. 1 Kentucky on Saturday.

Alabama: visits Tennessee on Saturday.