Bama wants to forget Clemson

TUSCALOOSA | Brandon Hollinger probably believes in freedom of expression as much as the next person, but there is at least one area in which he is willing to censor what his University of Alabama basketball teammates watch.

That would include any images from last Tuesday’s 26-point loss to Clemson.

“We broke the DVD,” Hollinger, the Crimson Tide’s junior guard, said when asked about revisiting that loss, in which the Crimson Tide collapsed on its home floor in the second half and fell 87-61.

“That took me by surprise,” Hollinger said. “I thought at halftime that we were going to come out and win the game. Clemson got us frustrated and made us take bad shots, and that can’t happen.

“But after the game, I went in the locker room and told the other guys that we have to put that one behind us and move on. We can’t let one game turn into a three- or four-game losing streak. We’ve got to go back and do the things we were doing and get on a winning streak again.”

Alabama hopes to start that streak tonight against Chicago State (7 p.m. at Coleman Coliseum) in its final non-conference game of the year. The Crimson Tide begins Southeastern Conference play next Tuesday, hosting Florida.

The Cougars are 5-12 on the season but are coming off a 72-68 road win at Eastern Michigan on Wednesday night. Guard David Holston, who averages 23.2 points per game and has made 82 3-pointers in 188 attempts through the first 17 games, leads Chicago State.

“They are very athletic with two very good guards in Holston and John Cantrell (15.5 points per game), so we have to be aware of that,” said Tide head coach Mark Gottfried. “That’s where our focus is right now.”

Like Hollinger, Gottfried said that he was “disappointed” in the Clemson loss but wanted to continue to build on the positives that had propelled the Tide to a five-game winning streak before that defeat.

“We had been playing well recently and then we had one bad half,” Gottfried said.

“Now, it was a terrible half. We can’t ignore it. But we have to learn from it and move on. It was like boxing. They hit us with a couple of hard body blows, and we didn’t respond. But that was the first time this year that had happened. This has not been that kind of team.”

Gottfried said there would not be any changes in the starting lineup or playing rotation based on the Clemson loss.

Tide forward Richard Hendrix said Thursday that he was battling the effects of a cold, but expected to be in the starting lineup.

“I can’t make excuses,” Hendrix said. “It’s winter. Everybody in the country is sick or banged up at this point in the season. I’ll be OK.”

One advantage Alabama has had in practice for the past two days has been the presence of a good scour team point guard. Senior Ronald Steele, who is sitting out this season as a redshirt while he rehabilitates from off-season knee surgery, has been back in action at UA practice since Wednesday.

“He’s been able to go from start to finish, which is a little more than I expected so early,” Gottfried said. “He says he feels fine. I’m just glad to see him practicing. I think it is good for him mentally, just to make him feel a little better about things.”

Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil.hurt@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0225.