Alabama beats Wichita State 90-86 in Charleston

Nov 18, 2018, 09:57 pm

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- After a disappointing start, Alabama finished exactly how coach Avery Johnson wanted.

The Crimson Tide (4-1) recovered from losing a 13-point lead to outlast Wichita State 90-86 and finish fifth at the eight-team Charleston Classic on Sunday.

Kira Lewis Jr. had 24 points and Alex Reese 19 for Alabama.

It was their second straight victory here after a lackluster showing in a loss to Northeastern to start things Thursday.

"Sometimes your bad luck is your good luck," Johnson said, sharing something he's heard several times from a friend.

The early tournament loss, Johnson believes, got is players' full focus for the rest of their run at TD Arena. Not that the coaching staff didn't do their part, too.

After allowing the team to sleep in before the first game, Johnson woke them up a 7:30 a.m. (6:30 central time) and got them in the gym.

The tactics certainly worked.

Against Wichita State, no one hung their heads or complained after losing their big lead and instead worked on regaining their edge, Johnson said.

Lewis followed with a go-ahead 3-pointer and Reese added another three to move back in front.

"It's always good to put a fire out as quick as you can," Reese said. "Kira hitting that three gave us confidence, then I hit one and we just started rolling from there."

Wichita State (2-3) closed to 88-86 in the final seconds, but ran out of time.

Markis McDuffie had 26 points to lead the Shockers.