The Tide got a little bit of revenge last night when they defeated Wichita State 70-60. The Shockers had beaten the Tide last season in the NIT Finals. The Tide defense again came through holding the Shockers to 34 percent shooting.

To add insult to injury, Alabama blocked 14 shots as well.

“We saw a very good team in Alabama. Certainly give them credit,” said Wichita State coach Greg Marshall. “We did not play well enough in terms of our shooting and ballhandling to beat the No. 16 team in the country. They got us tonight and they deserve the win.”

The Tide’s leading scorer was Tony Mitchell who had 26 points and two MONSTER dunks that were featured on Sportscenter. JaMychal Green and Trever Releford added 15 points.

“That was the goal coming in and we’re happy to have the opportunity to play for a championship,” said Alabama coach Anthony Grant.

The Shockers had 18 turnovers, almost all of them leading to Alabama points.

The Tide’s defensive intensity will be tested against the Purdue Boilermakers who have scored 91 and 85 points in their victories in this tournament.

Bama faced the Boilermakers last year in West Lafayette and lost 66-47; but that was last year. We’ll see if Bama can stop the Boilermakers tomorrow night a 7:30 p.m. in the finals of the Puerto Rico Classic.

Game is on ESPN2 and ESPN3 streaming at 7PM tonight.

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