Freshman forward Jaden Shackelford came off the bench to score a career-high 25 points and help Alabama overcome a 22-turnover night for an 81-73 victory over Furman on Tuesday night in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Guard Kira Lewis Jr. scored 19 points and guard John Petty Jr. added 16 as the Tide (2-2) pulled away from a 52-52 tie when the Paladins went cold at the start of the final 10 minutes of the game. The Tide's largest lead was 12 points, and they were up by 10 entering the final minute.
Guard Jordan Lyons scored a game-high 33 points to lead the Paladins (4-1), who saw their road winning streak end at seven games.
Forward Clay Mounce also was in double figures for Furman with 13 points, 10 of them in the first half.
Down three points at the half, the Paladins needed less than three minutes to take a 42-36 lead by hitting their first three 3-pointers to open the period.
But the Tide bounced back with a 6-0 run that took just little more than a minute, then worked their way to a 70-58 advantage with 2:54 left in the game after the Paladins went on shooting droughts of 0-of-12 and 1-of-10 from the field.
The Tide went to the locker room up 34-31 at the half despite committing 14 turnovers in the period, 11 in less than eight minutes to start the game.
But poor shooting kept the Paladins from taking advantage. They made only 5 of their first 19 attempts before finishing the half 10 of 30 (33.3 percent).
Shackelford, who scored only 5 points in a loss to Rhode Island in Bama's previous game, scored 14 points in the first half on 4-of-7 shooting (3-for-6 from behind the arc).
Alabama was without guard Beetle Bolden, who started the last two games after scoring 10 points in the opener against Penn. The transfer from West Virginia injured his hand in the loss to Rhode Island.
--Field Level Media
