Alabama Basketball: Crimson Tide battled to SEC Championship in Starkville

Alabama Basketball: Sixty-four points are rarely enough for a Tide win, but with an edge in foul shooting and rebounding the Tide beat MSU to win SEC Championship.

Alabama Basketball achieved one season goal Saturday night. The Crimson Tide won the SEC Regular Season Championship. The Crimson Tide last won the SEC in 2002.

The Alabama Crimson Tide had to battle hard to best the Bulldogs. The 64 points was the lowest offensive output in any Tide win this season. The locker room celebration can be seen below.

It was not a pretty Crimson Tide win but it was an outstanding result. Speaking about the win, Nate Oats said,

"I thought our kids played really hard. It’s the hardest we’ve played in a long time.To rebound the ball like we did and play as hard as we did with the kids diving on the floor for loose balls and taking charges — I thought our defensive effort was the best we’ve had in a long time."

One reason the Alabama basketball team played so hard is it had no other option. The Crimson Tide had a horrible shooting night, making only 25 percent of its 28 three-point attempts. The Tide’s overall field goal percentage was not much better, at just 32 percent. Crimson Tide players scrambled, dove and clawed for every loose ball, for what must have been a new floor-burn record. Credit goes to Nate Oats for demanding that renewed commitment from his players after stating Arkansas had been tougher on Wednesday.

Along with all that hustle, the Crimson Tide outrebounded the much bigger Bulldogs, 45-40 and had a six rebound edge in offensive boards. The Crimson Tide was superb at the foul line, making 15-of-17 for 88 percent. The Bulldogs also shot 17 free throws but only made 10.

Jahvon Quinerly had 19 points to lead all scorers in the game. Jaden Shackelford notched 15 points as the only other Crimson Tide player in double figures. Herbert Jones had a horrible shooting night, making 1-of-9, but Herbert had 14 rebounds and two assists. Next in claiming boards for the Tide were James Rojas and  Jaden Shackelford, each with six rebounds. Rojas scored nine points and hit a crucial three-pointer late.

The Bulldogs are a physical mismatch problem for the Crimson Tide. The style Ben Howland prefers often leads to ugly games. With those circumstances and on the SEC road, the Crimson Tide winning ugly is not surprising and should not be discouraging. Finding a way to win, when its best offensive attributes were not working, is impressive. Despite the physical mismatches inside, the Crimson Tide played a strong defensive game.

Congratulations to Nate Oats and the Alabama Basketball team on winning an SEC Championship. Next up is the roundball version of the Iron Bowl, Tuesday night in Tuscaloosa.