Alabama Basketball survives home scare from Mississippi State

Alabama basketball held on for a 66-63 home victory over Mississippi State, remaining undefeated in SEC play at 8-0 and improving to 18-2 overall.

This was a low-scoring, defensive affair that saw the Crimson Tide get out to a very slow start. Alabama has largely avoided “sleepwalk” games this season, particularly in SEC play. After winning its first seven conference games by double-digits, the Tide needed a stop on the game’s final possession to survive at home.

Ironically, Mississippi State (who is tied for last in the SEC standings) has now been on the other end of Alabama’s two closest SEC wins, falling by margins of three and eleven points. Alabama basketball did not play particularly well in either game against the Bulldogs.

Tolu Smith made his free throws this time around, and also went 6-9 from the field to lead Mississippi State with 15 points and seven rebounds. Dashawn Davis added 14 points and four steals.

Anemic offensive outing from Alabama Basketball

This game represented the second-lowest scoring total of the season for Alabama basketball, just slightly better than a 65-point showing against South Alabama way back on November 15th. For reference, the Crimson Tide averages over 83 points per game.

Bama shot 36.8 percent from the field (21-57), which is the same percentage it shot in its last game against Missouri. Once again, the only game Alabama was less efficient from the field was against South Alabama (32.4 percent).

The Tide also shot just 17.9 percent from the three-point line (5-28), which is about half of its season average of 33.8 percent. Alabama has not shot the ball this poorly from the perimeter since the first game of the season against Longwood, when it connected on just 3-28 three-point shots.

Although the early-season concerns about Alabama’s ability to shoot the ball now seem light years away, the Crimson Tide reverted to that level of inefficiency, even if just for one night against Mississippi State.

Brandon Miller scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Tide, while fellow freshman Noah Clowney added 13 points and eight rebounds. Jahvon Quinerly came off the bench to lead Alabama with 14 points and four assists, committing just one turnover.

Dom Welch also made a huge contribution off the bench, scoring six points in nine minutes of playing time. Welch, who has battled injuries throughout the year, entered the game just 1-17 from the three-point line this season.

Against the Bulldogs, he went 2-3 from downtown, including a big one to beat the halftime buzzer. This shot cut into what was a double-digit Mississippi State lead, and gave Alabama just enough of a spark going into the locker room to eventually erase the deficit.

Nick Pringle added seven points off the bench for Alabama, going 2-2 from the field to improve to 19-20 on the season (95 percent). Pringle appears to have mastered the art of “good shot selection.”

Alabama basketball stays squarely atop the SEC standings, sitting one game ahead of Tennessee heading into SEC/Big 12 Challenge weekend. The Crimson Tide will travel to Norman to take on the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday afternoon.