Hendrix, Tide spank Alabama State 105-68

Nov 20, 2006, 10:31 pm

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama coach Mark Gottfried wanted his team to do a little soul searching and fix its offensive problems.

Freshman Richard Hendrix and the Crimson Tide (No. 14 ESPN/USA Today, No. 15 AP) apparently heeded his instruction in a 105-68 victory over Alabama State on Sunday night.

Hendrix had 22 points and 14 rebounds and Jermareo Davidson added 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Tide easily bounced back from a loss to No. 12 Memphis in the second round of the preseason NIT.

"We finally executed offensively," said Hendrix, who was 7-of-8 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. "We just wanted to play well and we did what we were supposed to. It took a loss to get us playing well."

The Crimson Tide (2-1) raced to a 59-24 halftime lead behind 21-of-33 shooting and Davidson's 15 points and had six players score in double figures. The Tide shot 66 percent and made 24-of-28 free throws in the game.

Alabama built a 95-38 lead with 8:12 left before Gottfried emptied the bench, and the Hornets (1-3) closed the game with a 30-10 run.

The Tide had looked out of sync three nights earlier against the full-court press of Memphis in an 87-76 loss. They certainly didn't in this one, taking control with a 19-0 run in the first half.

"I thought after the other night we needed to look at ourselves and figure out how this team needs to be competitive," Gottfried said. "We have to be a much smarter team and execute better on offense. We got good shots out of our offense and nobody was

forcing them."

Davidson finished one point short of his career high with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting. The Tide center had turned in a 17-point, 19-rebound effort against Memphis.

Chuck Davis and Justin Jonus each added 15 points for Alabama. Ronald Steele scored 12 and freshman Alonzo Gee had 11.

"This was a perfection game for us," Davidson said. "We wanted to come back from the Memphis game and work on all the things we needed to perfect."

Alexander Oliver led Alabama State with 16 points, and Miguel Morton and Andrew Hayles each had 12.

"We caught a team that was on fire," Hornets coach Lewis Jackson said. "We knew coming into the game after the loss to Memphis their ballclub would be fired up and come out to play. They shot the ball extremely well and their big guys really dominated."