Alabama Basketball steamrolls Georgia in Coleman Coliseum

Alabama basketball eviscerated the Georgia Bulldogs in Coleman Coliseum on Saturday evening. As it has many times this season, Alabama got out to an incredibly fast start, rolling up a 54-25 halftime lead and quickly putting to rest any hopes of a Georgia upset.

Surely the Tide got lackadaisical and took its foot off the pedal coming out of the break, right?

No, Bama instead opened the half with a 10-2 run to push the lead to 37 before the first media timeout of the second stanza. The lead would eventually get as high as 50 as the Crimson Tide hit the 100-point mark (with plenty of time to spare) for the fifth time this season. When it was all said and done, the Tide cruised to a 108-59 victory.

An old sports adage says “don’t let a team beat you twice.” That is to say, don’t allow yourself to get so hung up on a loss that you lose the following game as well. It’s safe to say Nate Oats has figured out how to get his team to respond after a disappointing effort.

Alabama basketball has won its last two games following a loss by 57 and 49 points, both against SEC competition. In my nearly two decades of closely following college basketball, I have never seen a statistic like this.

The Crimson Tide shot 62 percent from the field for the game, and connected on 47 percent of its three-pointers on a high volume. The Tide also notched 26 assists on 39 made baskets, illustrating the team’s offensive rhythm and impeccable ball movement. To top it off, Alabama outrebounded Georgia 49-26. Total domination.

Bama was led by Brandon Miller’s 21 points on just 10 shot attempts. Reserve big Nick Pringle had his best game in an Alabama uniform, recording 21 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes of action. The ultra-athletic Pringle is a constant lob threat, and spent much of his night hanging from the rims in Coleman Coliseum.

Remarkably, Pringle’s 9-12 shooting effort will tank his season field goal percentage. He entered the contest shooting over 92 percent from the field with just two misses on the year.

Junior guard Mark Sears went 5-5 from three-point range in the first half and finished with 17 points. Freshman guard Rylan Griffen added 13 points and four assists, while fellow freshman Noah Clowney contributed 12 points and five boards.

Alabama basketball improves to 23-4 and 13-1 in the conference with this emphatic win. The Tide are also now 13-0 in Coleman Coliseum this year.

Bama has four games left before the postseason begins, and will have the opportunity to secure its second outright SEC regular season title in three years. With each win, it also moves closer to locking up a no. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Bama hoops travels to Columbia to play South Carolina on Wednesday night.