TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It’s a good thing Fox Sports Net didn’t try to use an overhead camera for Saturday night’s Alabama-Arkansas game because Crimson Tide forward Tony Mitchell might have knocked it down.
“It’s pretty nice,” Mitchell said with a laugh when asked about the view from the Coleman Coliseum ceiling. “There are a lot of lights up there.”
Mitchell lit up the Razorbacks with a career high 27 points - including three highlight-worthy dunks - to lead the Crimson Tide to a 69-56 victory before an announced sellout crowd of 15,383.
Alabama (18-8, 10-2 SEC) clinched a share of its first SEC West title since 2005 and has a half-game lead in the overall conference race ahead of Florida, which plays at LSU today.
Mitchell, a 6-6 sophomore, hit 11 of 15 shots and also had 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in 37 minutes. He had six offensive rebounds.
“He’s a high-energy guy,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. “He’s constantly flying to the basket for those offensive rebounds. He impacts the game with the transition baskets.”
Alabama outscored Arkansas 25-7 over the final 10:56, including 10 points by Mitchell, to overcome a 49-44 lead by the Razorbacks. Mitchell punctuated the Tide’s victory with a dunk with 20 seconds left.
“You could tell he’s worked a lot on his game from last year to this year,” Razorbacks sophomore forward Glenn Bryant said. “He dribbles better. He shoots a lot better. ... He’s an all-out athlete and just plays hard every possession.”
Alabama Coach Anthony Grant said that earlier in the season the Tide might have gotten frustrated trailing by five points in the second half, but not Saturday night.
“I think there was a level of maturity in our guys,” Grant said. “[Knowing] even though we were down, if we just stayed the course and got stops and took care of the basketball, we’d be able to make a run.”
Freshman point guard Trevor Releford, who finished with 17 points and four assists, helped key the Tide’s decisive run along with Mitchell.
“We stayed focused, moved on and made plays,” Releford said.
After Arkansas forward Michael Sanchez scored on a layup to make it 51-51 with 8:16 left, the Razorbacks were1 of 8 from the field the rest of the way with three turnovers. Their only basket during the final eight minutes was on an offensive rebound by Marshawn Powell. They also got three throws during the stretch.
“We were up five and weren’t able to do anything else with the lead,” Pelphrey said. “They obviously closed it back down and were able to get the lead.
“Exactly what was going on, I don’t know. I’ll have to go back and look [at the film.].”
The Razorbacks (16-10, 5-7) dropped to 1-4 in their past five SEC games and were mathematically eliminated from the West title race.
Junior guard Rotnei Clarke, who led Arkansas with 21 points, said the Razorbacks “probably have to go back and figure out everything that went on” when Alabama took control.
“Just the matter that they made plays and we didn’t, whether it was turnovers or second-chance points, whatever it was,” Clarke said.
Clarke was the only Razorback to score more than eight points. Starting big men Powell and Delvon Johnson, who came into the game averaging a combined 20.9 points per game, combined for eight.
Powell was 2 of 5 from the field and had 3 turnovers in 20 minutes. Johnson, who suffered a hip injury in the first half but played in the second half, made his only shot and had 2 turnovers in 20 minutes.
Pelphrey said Alabama defended well inside.
“It was difficult to catch it down there and to really get in a spot where we could do damage with it,” he said.
Junior forward JaMychal Green added 16 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals for the Tide, who outscored the Razorbacks 25-5 in points off turnovers.
Alabama improved to 14-0 at Coleman Coliseum this season, while Arkansas fell to 1-6 on the road.
“Arkansas’ game plan coming in was very good,” Grant said. “They frustrated us a little early. We didn’t get the ball in places where we wanted to have an opportunity to score, so we had to create some opportunities on the defensive end.
“I thought our guys did a great job of locking in and trying to take some things away. It seemed there for a while, Arkansas was making play after play after play to tie it up or keep it within striking distance. But we just stayed the course from a defensive standpoint.”
Mitchell said Alabama is “all about” winning with defense.
“We want to stop our opponent.” Mitchell said, “so we can get out in transition and give everybody the highlight plays.”
Sports, Pages 23 on 02/20/2011