Alabama Basketball: Crimson Tide Rolls over Jackson State
Alabama basketball pulled away from a pesky Jackson State team in the second half to win 84-64. Alabama improved to 10-2 with the victory to close out the non-conference portion of the schedule.
The Crimson Tide are still turning the ball over far too often, recording 17 giveaways in this game. Turnovers have been the Tide’s greatest flaw so far this season, and valuing the basketball is something the team will have to continue to work on. Still, Alabama moved the ball to the tune of 20 assists on 30 made field goals.
The bigs dominated the game for the Tide. Graduate student Noah Gurley responded to a personal challenge from Coach Nate Oats and had his best game of the season. Gurley was very aggressive, posting a team-high 16 points, five rebounds, and two blocks in just 20 minutes of action.
JUCO transfer Nick Pringle had his best game in an Alabama uniform as well. Pringle came off the bench to score 14 points and grab nine rebounds while shooting 5-5 from the field. Sophomore center Charles Bediako was incredibly efficient as well, shooting 4-5 from the field. Bediako finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks.
Brandon Miller’s encore to the performance he put on against Gonzaga was largely one to forget. The freshman shot just 3-7 from the field and was responsible for five turnovers. Still, Miller’s rough game ended with a double-double. His final stat line of 10 points, a game-high 14 rebounds, three assists, and three steals shows that he found various ways to impact the game.
In the backcourt, Mark Sears shot the ball well and hit three of Bama’s seven made threes. Sears scored 15 points to lead all of the guards. Freshman Jaden Bradley struggled to find his shooting touch but dished out a game-high seven assists. Jahvon Quinerly looked a lot more comfortable as well. The guard played 18 minutes, scoring eight points and distributing five assists with just one turnover.
Alabama basketball takes the court again on December 28th at Mississippi State. It will be a tough road outing to kick off the SEC schedule, but Bama has been one of the toughest and most complete teams in the nation to this point.
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Despite getting off to a slow start, this was a good team win to propel the Tide into conference play.