With their 72-61 victory over No. 4 seed Missouri, Alabama will be heading back to the SEC Championship Game for the second time in three seasons. Alabama rode a huge 41-point second half to secure the team’s 27th win of the season, which is a program record for wins in a single season.
In the first half, Alabama’s star freshman Brandon Miller was limited to just four points, thanks to Missouri focusing all of their attention on stopping him and early foul trouble that limited his minutes to just 10. With Miller drawing all of the attention of Missouri’s defense, the Crimson Tide looked to Noah Clowney to step up. Clowney made Bama’s only two shots from behind the arc in the first half and finished the first half leading all scorers with 11 points.
SEC Sixth Man of the Year, Jahvon Quinerly, got his second start in a row, but it was not a start to remember. After coming off a string of games in which he was a complimentary scoring piece alongside Brandon Miller, Quinerly had his worst game of the season, shooting 0-for-9 with his lone point coming from the free throw line. Despite the poor shooting, Quinerly was able to develop shots for his teammates finishing the game with seven assists.
With Alabama holding on to a small lead, coach Nate Oats was forced to leave Brandon Miller in the game despite receiving his third foul early in the second half. Oats' decision paid off for the Crimson Tide as Miller took over the ballgame scoring 16 points in the second half. Miller would finish the game with a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds for another double-double. During his big second half, Miller broke the school’s record for most points by a freshman, passing Collin Sexton’s 632 points in the 2017-2018 season. If Alabama can make a deep run in March, the school’s overall season record of 747 points held by Reggie King could be in jeopardy.
Alabama will play the winner of Texas A&M vs. Vanderbilt, Sunday, March 11, in the SEC Championship Game.
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