Alabama Basketball: Tide slaps Auburn and punches ‘Dance’ ticket

Alabama basketball used a second-half explosion, rebounding from a ten point halftime deficit to win by 18 points over Auburn in the quarterfinals of the SEC Basketball Tournament.

The two halves of basketball Friday afternoon were like two different games. Auburn controlled the first half to lead 41-31. Alabama basketball dominated the second half by a 50-22 score and cruised to an 18 point win over the SEC’s No. 1 tourney seed.

Collin Sexton was magnificent for the second straight day, scoring 31 points and making seven rebounds. The Tigers out-rebounded the Tide in the first half but Alabama basketball owned the glass in the second half and finished the game with 11 more rebounds.

How good was the Tide’s second-half defense? The Tigers went over 10 minutes after the break before making a field goal. John Petty even showed a hint of moving beyond his shooting slump. He only scored five points but he finally made a three point shot. He also added four rebounds and two assists.

Dazon Ingram scored 14 points and added seven rebounds. Donte Hall scored 11 points with six rebounds. Hall only played 22 minutes in the game. He left the game at 6:41 after a fall that appeared to cause a hard impact to his head as he hit the floor. The extent of his injury is not known.

Alabama Basketball now a NCAA Lock

The win not only locks up a NCAA Tournament berth for Alabama basketball, it should mean the Tide will not have to play an opening round game in Dayton. Based on live-rpi.com, the Tide jumped to a 34 RPI with the win. Now with 7 Quadrant 1 wins, the Crimson Tide should be a 10 seed when the selections are announced on Sunday.

Of course, this Tide team is not finished in the SEC Tournament. The young team is now a threat to win it all. How much fun did the Crimson Tide players have while destroying their in-state rivals? Check out the photo below.

Auburn fans in the Scottrade Center in St. Louis were having the opposite of fun.

The Tide gets the first game on Saturday with another 12 noon start against the Georgia-Kentucky winner.

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Auburn coach Bruce Pearl did not handle the loss gracefully. In the post-game handshake line, the Pearlster was more interested in fighting than congratulating the winning Tide.  In the video below, Bruce is being ‘encouraged ‘ to leave the court.

Bruce might want to focus his concern over the fact his team quit with a few minutes to go in the game.