Alabama basketball makes late-game surge to beat Miss State
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama men’s basketball team is now 18-2 (8-0 SEC) on the season after defeating Mississippi State in Coleman Coliseum on Wednesday night. Despite digging a double-digit deficit at multiple points through the game, the Crimson Tide were able to surge late to get the 66-63 victory.
That’s now an 8-0 start in conference play for the No. 2 ranked team in the country.
This is the first time time an SEC opponent has come within double-digits of Alabama, but I think most fans are OK with the streak coming to an end. Really, this one was all about overcoming some early-game struggles. Everyone knew this team was going to get tested again at some point. Now, we have an even better feel for how they respond.
It was good to see veteran guard Jahvon Quinerly come off the bench and lead Alabama with 14 points. The senior also added four assists and four rebounds while hitting one of his three three-point attempts. With the team only shooting 17.9% from beyond the arc, Quinerly’s make was one of just five made.
In fact, the combination of Brandon Miller, Noah Clowney, Mark Sears and Jaden Bradley only made one of 16 attempts. Miller and Clowney still found a way to score 13 points apiece though. Clowney also had a game-leading eight rebounds en route to the Crimson Tide’s victory.
Alabama definitely didn’t win this one of the offensive end of the court, but the defense was good enough to win. Sometimes, that’s what it’s going to take. It was still good to see the guys rise to the occassion without letting the offensive struggles after things on defense.
With the SEC-Big 12 challenge up next, Alabama will head to Norman to play Oklahoma (11-9, 2-6 Big 12) on Saturday. Tipoff time is set for 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET), and the game will air on ESPN. After starting the season 6-1, the Sooners have lost eight of their last 13 games.
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