No. 14 Alabama sinks Commadores

Posted 6:56AM on Thursday 10th January 2002 ( 23 years ago )

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings doesn't figure No. 14 Alabama needs this much help. The Crimson Tide's 31 second-half free throws - on 36 attempts - were enough to secure a 92-79 victory over the hot-shooting and heavy-fouling Commodores on Wednesday night. ``They're bigger, they're stronger, they more experienced, they're more athletic and more talented,'' Stallings said. ``We made a lot of dumb fouls. We're our own worst enemy.'' Erwin Dudley was a close second on the enemy list, racking up a season-high 24 points, 11 rebounds and making 12 of 15 free throws for Alabama (14-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference). ``He's our big horse,'' said point guard Antoine Pettway, who had all eight of his points in the second half. ``We've just got to feed it into him in the post.'' The Commodores (10-5, 0-2) made 11-of-13 free throws but have opened league play by handing Alabama and Georgia a combined 78 free throw tries while attempting only 24. The Tide, who came in hitting 68 percent from the line, were 11-of-12 over the final five minutes to overcome some hot 3-point shooting by the Commodores. ``I thought we were quicker than Vanderbilt,'' Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. ``I felt we could beat them off the dribble and get to the basket. ``We get to the foul line more than our opponents, but this time we got there a lot more.'' Rod Grizzard of Alabama had 15 of his 19 points in the second half, making all nine attempts from the line. Terrance Meade added 16 points and his first collegiate dunk while Dudley keyed a 34-23 edge on the boards. The Commodores were 8-of-17 from 3-point range in the second half. ``They made some good shots and played a tough game,'' Dudley said. ``I respect them for it.'' Reserve Sam Howard scored 22 points and was 4-of-6 from long range for Vanderbilt. Chuck Moore had 13 of his 18 points in the second half, including three 3-pointers. Matt Freije, the team's leading scorer, finished with 10 points but was scoreless for the first 35 minutes then fouled out. The Commodores committed 20 turnovers, 13 in the second half. They still pulled within seven points several times, the latest at 86-79 on Freije's 3-pointer with 39 seconds left. Vanderbilt had no timeouts left to set up any plays. Grizzard hit two free throws, Maurice Williams had a layin and then the two combined for a rub-it-in alley-oop with a second left. Both teams were 6-of-7 from the foul line at halftime, but Vanderbilt attempted only six free throws in the second half. The second-half theme was set early with Alabama scoring nine of its first 11 points at the foul line and drawing 32 fouls on the night to Vanderbilt's 15. Freije and Russell Lakey fouled out for Vanderbilt while three other players finished with four. ``Everyone was in foul trouble,'' Howard said. ``We were trying to make them be out of control and cause turnovers, but we caused fouls instead.'' The teams came out with different offensive strategies, with Vanderbilt pumping up 3-pointers even center David Przybyszewski was 1-of-4 and Alabama trying to dump it inside to Dudley and Kenny Walker. Neither tactic worked all that well early with the Tide missing a number of inside shots, and the Commodores making just one 3-pointer in the opening eight minutes. Vandy heated up, shooting 59 percent from the field in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome the fouls.

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