On Saturday, Alabama (No. 25) and Minnesota (No. 14) went head-to-head at the Barclay's Classic. While the Golden Gophers won 89-84 against the Crimson Tide, it was the series of events before their victory that has people talking.
In the second half, there was a scuffle that resulted in the entire Alabama bench being ejected.
Alabama basketball is really upset about the Iron Bowl pic.twitter.com/YlfoJhHVI8
This isn't the the Iron Bowl but Alabama and Minnesota had to be separated just now after Nate Mason was ejected for talking smack. Avery Johnson, Collin Sexton also T'ed up. pic.twitter.com/r04ERhScGA
AND THE BENCHES JUST CLEARED IN THE ALABAMA BASKETBALL GAME.
Everything is happening. pic.twitter.com/GbjOuq4fPn
From there, it was just five players available. The Crimson Tide played their whole squad until one of them fouled out. That made it a 5-on-4 with a clear advantage for the Gophers.
I don't believe what I'm watching the Minnesota-Alabama MBB game.
Apparently the entire Alabama bench was ejected with ~12 minutes to go in the 2nd half, so they are left with 5 players for the game.
One of those players just fouled out.
Bama has 4 players left for 11:37.
Alabama's bench pic.twitter.com/ymgc7AN94d
But then, John Petty got injured, which now made this game a 5-on-3.
They just carried John Petty off the court and he can't put weight on his right leg. Alabama has 3 guys on the court against 5. https://t.co/HCTpiGR0Rs
John Petty just got helped off the court after coming down awkwardly. It’s now 3 vs. 5. Have you ever seen this before? pic.twitter.com/nibPCVc8u1
Even with those odds, the Tide continued to play. At one point, they cut the deficit from 12 points to three, with guard Collin Sexton tried to tie it with a three-point attempt. The Tide lost tonight, but you have to give them props for their effort.
So just to recap: Alabama was reduced to three players (entire bench ejected + foul-out + injury) with 7:44 left and trailed 74-60. The Tide outscored Minnesota 24-15 in that time span. That really is once-in-a-lifetime stuff.
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