Alabama - 85, Houston - 80 (OT)
Q. With the foul trouble and Ja'Vier fighting through that injury, how much did you guys have to adjust on the fly and did it become too much in overtime?
KELVIN SAMPSON: I don't understand your question. I don't understand your question. What are you asking?
Q. How did you guys adjust in overtime?
KELVIN SAMPSON: Well, we've got a lot of guys who can play better than they're playing. Our game plan going in was to attack down the middle because they don't help off to the sides. And kind of had (indiscernible) and things we'd like to run, but with Uzan in foul trouble -- we played 45 minutes; he only played 11:51. And we're running L.J. out, he played 42 minutes.
Look, we thought we had a chance to win the game ... if the ball goes in the game's over. It's over, we win the game. It's a good shot.
Sometimes that's what happens. But with the foul trouble we were having, what we ran there is exactly what we wanted to get. And we told L.J. we're probably not going to get a clean look, but you're going to be able to get past that guy and get to the basket.
And he did. He got to the baseline. Pulled up with a wide-open 14-, 15-footer. I've seen him make that play plenty of times.
But it was a hard-fought game by both teams. We could have easily won the game, but we did not. We lost the game.
I'm disappointed in some of the things. And the fouls, though. The fouls. We held them to 36 percent from the field. We just couldn't guard them at the free-throw line. That was tough. Couldn't keep them off the free-throw line. That was -- and then Sears hit the big 3 off the screen. Didn't guard that as well as I would have liked.
But proud of our guys' effort. And when you've got two really good teams somebody's going to win, somebody's going to lose.
Doesn't mean that the team that wins is that much better. It means the team that loses isn't a bad team. It's about as even as it gets.
But Uzan, he's got to be on point. He's gotta be out there. Can't sit beside us for 30, what, 35 minutes, 30 minutes. Going to be a good player but he's a true freshman. That's a tough game for him, but Alabama has got a good team.
We played Auburn and Alabama. We were up nine on Auburn. Five with other five to go. We've got a chance to win, chance to win Alabama. The bottom line we didn't beat either one but we had a chance to. We've just got to keep working to get better. It's November. I think this team is going to continue to get better.
There's a fine line between winning and losing, and the game tonight showed that.
Q. L.J., what did you see in that last five minutes of regulation and that shot?
L.J. CRYER: I mean, I knew I was going to be able to get a look. Probably not the 3. And I had to take the look they gave me and it didn't go in. I thought it was a good look.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports