1985–86 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team

The 1985–86 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team represented the University of Alabama in the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Wimp Sanderson, who was in his sixth season at Alabama. The team played their home games at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They finished the season 24–9, 13–5 in SEC play, finishing in a tie for second place.

1985–86 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
Record	24–9 (13–5 SEC)
Head coach	Wimp Sanderson (6th season)
Assistant coach	Rick Barnes (1st season)
Home arena	Coleman Coliseum
Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

1985–86 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 Kentucky †	17	–	1		.944			32	–	4		.889
Alabama	13	–	5		.722			24	–	9		.727
Auburn	13	–	5		.722			22	–	11		.667
Florida	10	–	8		.556			19	–	14		.576
LSU	9	–	9		.500			26	–	12		.684
Georgia	9	–	9		.500			17	–	13		.567
Vanderbilt	7	–	11		.389			13	–	15		.464
Tennessee	5	–	13		.278			12	–	16		.429
Ole Miss	4	–	14		.222			12	–	17		.414
Mississippi State	3	–	15		.167			6	–	22		.214
† 1986 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The team lost forward Bobby Lee Hurt to graduation, but key additions were freshman forwards Michael Ansley from Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham and William DeVaughn from Birmingham.

The Tide made it to the 1986 SEC men's basketball tournament final, but lost to Kentucky. They received an at-large bid to the 1986 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, where they defeated Xavier and Illinois and reached the Sweet 16 for the second straight season. In the Sweet 16, however, the Tide lost to Kentucky for the fourth time in the 1985–86 season.^[1]

Roster

1985–86 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 24 Buck Johnson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Sr Hayes High School Birmingham, Alabama F 45 Michael Ansley 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Fr Jackson-Olin High School Birmingham, Alabama G 23 Mark Gottfried 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Jr F/C 31 Derrick McKey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — So Meridian High School Meridian, MS G 30 Terry Coner 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Jr G 24 Craig Dudley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — So F 21 Jim Farmer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Jr G 11 James Jackson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) — 52 William DeVaughn 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — Fr	Head coach Wimp Sanderson Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
December 2, 1985*		Utah	W 73–57	1–0	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
December 4, 1985*		Rider	W 91–63	2–0	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
December 9, 1985*		Murray State	W 99–65	3–0	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
December 14, 1985*		Mercer	W 92–49	4–0	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
December 16, 1985*		Florida State	W 100–89	5–0	Civic Center  Birmingham, AL
December 21, 1985*		Maryland	L 58–60	5–1	Cole Field House  College Park, MD
December 25, 1985*		Northwestern State	W 82–77	6–1	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
December 29, 1985*		Nebraska Sun Carnival Classic Tournament	W 78–61	7–1	Don Haskins Center  El Paso, TX
December 30, 1985*		No. 19 UTEP Sun Carnival Classic Tournament	L 62–74	7–2	Don Haskins Center  El Paso, TX
January 2, 1986		Mississippi State	W 71–62	8–2 (1–0)	Humphrey Coliseum  Starkville, MS
January 4, 1986		Georgia	L 80–88	8–3 (1–1)	Stegeman Coliseum  Athens, GA
January 9, 1986		No. 8 LSU	W 83–67	9–3 (2–1)	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
January 11, 1986		No. 11 Kentucky	L 52–76	9–4 (2–2)	Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
January 16, 1986		Auburn Rivalry	W 60–56	10–4 (3–2)	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
January 18, 1986		Tennessee	W 92–79	11–4 (4–2)	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
January 22, 1986		Vanderbilt	W 85–72	12–4 (5–2)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, TN
January 25, 1986		Florida	W 67–64	13–4 (6–2)	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
January 29, 1986		Ole Miss	W 69–62	14–4 (7–2)	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
February 1, 1986		Mississippi State	W 72–54	15–4 (8–2)	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
February 5, 1986		Georgia	W 57–54	16–4 (9–2)	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
February 9, 1986		LSU	W 80–71	17–4 (10–2)	Maravich Assembly Center  Baton Rouge, LA
February 13, 1986	No. 17	No. 11 Kentucky	L 71–73	17–5 (10–3)	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
February 15, 1986	No. 17	Auburn Rivalry	L 69–71	17–6 (10–4)	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
February 19, 1986	No. 18	Tennessee	W 80–64	18–6 (11–4)	Stokely Athletic Center  Knoxville, TN
February 22, 1986	No. 18	Vanderbilt	W 69–68	19–6 (12–4)	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
February 26, 1986	No. 19	Florida	L 65–77	19–7 (12–5)	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
March 2, 1986	No. 19	Ole Miss	W 74–59	20–7 (13–5)	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
SEC Tournament
March 6, 1986	(3)	(6) Georgia Second Round	W 77–59	21–7	Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
March 7, 1986	(3)	(10) Mississippi State Semifinals	W 77–65	22–7	Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
March 8, 1986	(3)	(1) No. 3 Kentucky SEC Championship	L 72–83	22–8	Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
NCAA Tournament
March 14, 1986*	(5 SE)	vs. (12 SE) Xavier First Round	W 97–80	23–8	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, NC
March 16, 1986*	(5 SE)	vs. (4 SE) No. 19 Illinois Second Round	W 58–56	24–8	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, NC
March 20, 1986*	(5 SE)	vs. (1 SE) No. 3 Kentucky Regional semifinal - Sweet Sixteen	L 63–68	24–9	The Omni  Atlanta, GA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern time.

Rankings

Main article: 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings