SPRINGFIELD, MASS. ? Antoine Pettway’s timely touch rescued No. 4 Alabama from a dismal shooting night.

Pettway scored 11 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in the Crimson Tide’s 54-48 victory against Ohio State on Friday night. He was named the MVP of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic, a one-game marquee matchup in its 24th year.

“The (MVP) was really a team award, because they gave me some great looks,” Pettway said. “A great guard is supposed to find the open shots, and we missed a lot of those.”

The Crimson Tide (4-0) shot 17 percent in the second half and struggled with its inside game, but Pettway came through each time the Buckeyes (1-1) threatened.

Alabama power forward Erwin Dudley, last season’s SEC player of the year, was held to eight points. Dudley was coming off the 35th double-double of his career.

“This was an ugly win,” Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. “We’ve obviously got to get better before we get into our league season.”

The Tide opened with a 10-3 run in the first five minutes, while the Buckeyes struggled from the floor, going nearly six minutes without a field goal. Sean Connolly ended the drought with a jumper to begin a 10-3 run and give the Buckeyes their only lead of the game at 15-13 with 8:58 left in the half.

Alabama countered with a 15-5 run, fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from Pettway. The Tide regained the lead for good on Pettway’s 3-pointer with 8:13 left. Alabama had five 3-pointers in the first half and led by as many as 13 before taking a 35-25 lead at the break.

“We neutralized their strengths pretty good, but we missed too many opportunities,” Buckeyes coach Jim O’Brien said. “When you play a team of Alabama’s caliber, you’ve got to take advantage of your chances.”

Iowa St. 91, Mercer 60

Ames, Iowa ” Jake Sullivan scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to lead Iowa State past Mercer.

Sullivan was 0-for-5 from the field in the first half, but opened the second half with four 3-pointers as the Cyclones went on a 24-5 run.

The Cyclones (2-0) began the run with seven consecutive baskets, including three 3-pointers from Sullivan.

Sullivan was 7-of-8 from the field in the half, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range.

Cyclone freshman Adam Haluska added a career-high 15 points in his second start of the season. Marcus Jefferson had 13 and Jackson Vroman finished with 11 points for Iowa State, which led 39-34 at halftime.

Iowa State was 22-of-30 from the field in the second half and shot 60 percent for the game.

Jay January led Mercer (1-2) with 11 points and Scott Emerson added 10.