Alabama Basketball: Did the Tide get well against the Bulldogs?

Alabama Basketball dispensed with Mississippi State quickly and convincingly on Friday. The Alabama Crimson Tide jumped out to a 7-0 lead and in 14-plus minutes built the lead to 13 points.

The Bulldogs could not handle constant defensive pressure by the Crimson Tide, with Nate Oats’ team pushing the lead to 20 points at halftime. Alabama held the Bulldogs to 31% field-goal shooting for the game. The final score was Alabama 72 – Mississippi State 49.

Brandon Miller led the Crimson Tide in scoring with 18 points. Three more Crimson Tide players were in double-figures for points. Charles Bediako and Noah Gurley had 11 points each. Jahvon Quinerly contributed 10 points.

The most impressive stat of the game was 21 assists for the Crimson Tide and only seven turnovers. The 3:1 ratio is outstanding.

Speaking after the game, Nate Oats commented on starting Jahvon Quinerly.

"Jaden (Bradley) came to me last night and told me I should start Jahvon. That’s the kind of group we have."

Oats also said the change was beneficial to Bradley,

"I thought Jaden is better off when we play Brandon at the 4 and Clowney at the 5, and the floor can get spaced a little more. So I thought Jaden was good in his minutes too."

Particularly satisfying to many Alabama basketball fans was the play of Noah Gurley. Gurley had logged only limited minutes in the Tide’s last several games. He got 21 minutes in Nashville and was a key sub early. Gurley responded by making 3-of-4 threes and shooting overall 4-of-6 for the game. Nate Oats was quick to laud Noah Gurley after the game, saying the fifth-year senior “embodies the Crimson Tide team.”

Did Alabama Basketball get well against the Bulldogs?

A short answer is somewhere between ‘kind of’ and ‘mostly,’ When discussing the team overall, the answer is a yes. Still, a few players continued to struggle in shooting from outside the arc.

What went well

• The Crimson Tide started well, jumping out to a 7-0 lead. Alabama never had to play from behind in the game.
• Five Crimson Tide players made 11-of-21 threes for 52.3% outside the arc. Gurley was 3-for-4; Quinerly was 2-for-5; Miller was 4-for-9; Dom Welch was 1-for-1 and Nimari Burnett was 1-for-2.
• As mentioned above, ball possession was exceptionally efficient.
• The team’s defensive effort was outstanding throughout the game.

What did not go well

• Three-point shooting by the rest of the team continued to be a major deficiency. Combined, Mark Sears, Noah Clowney and Rylan Griffen were 2-for-16, hitting 12.5%. Sears was 1-for-8; Clowney was 1-for-4 and Griffen was 0-for-4.

Note: Game stats provided by Stat Broadcast

The lack of three-point success by Clowney and Griffen may not be a major problem. But at some point going forward, it is probable Alabama will need better shooting from Mark Sears in order to win a tight game.