No. 18 Alabama Basketball Makes Statement with 81-70 Win over No. 12 Michigan State
Nate Oats said the opening round of the Phil Knight Invitational against Michigan State would be his team's first test, and his players passed with flying colors.
The Crimson Tide built up a big lead against the Spartans in the second half thanks to a 10-0 run and never let them get within eight points after that on the way to an 81-70 win Thursday night.
"It's a quality win," Oats said after the game. "We're certainly moving in the right direction."
Brandon Miller had 24 points for Alabama to lead all scorers, but it was a strong game for Alabama's bigs. Noah Gurley and Noah Clowney both had season highs in points with 12 and 10 respectively, and sophomore center Charles Bediako had his best game of the season with eight points, four rebounds and two blocks.
In his third game back, Jahvon Quinerly looked comfortable operating in the offense and finished with a season high 10 points.
"I think our bigs did a great job," Quinerly said after the game. "Lot of credit to Michigan State. That’s a really good team. We knew how physical they were going in, and we knew we needed to match that. So our guys, we were just ready. We were locked in tonight, and we’re going to bring that for the rest of the year.”
For the first time this season, Alabama was outrebounded, but the defensive effort was still strong. Michigan State did not make a 3-pointer in the first half and shot just 39 percent from the floor for the game.
Alabama improved to 5-0 on the season with the win and will play UConn at 8:30 p.m. Friday night on ESPN.
How it happened...
Live Updates
(latest updates at the top)
Second Half
FINAL: No. 18 Alabama 81, No. 12 Michigan State 70
- 0:37- Michigan State just letting this one run out, down 11 points.
- 1:16- This last minute will come down to how well Alabama can make its free throws. Noah Clowney hits one to make it 81-70, Alabama.
- 1:41- A.J Hogard hits a 3-pointer for the Spartans to cut the deficit down to eight, Alabama leads 78-70.
- 1:48- Noah Gurley makes two free throws to push the lead back to 78-67.
- 1:48- Michigan State makes a 3-pointer to cut the deficit back to single digits. Alabama leads 76-67, and Izzo takes his final timeout for the Spartans.
- 2:40- Layup by Charles Bediako pushes the Alabama lead to 76-63.
- 3:30- Miller gets his own miss to put the Alabama lead back to double-digits. It's his first basket in over 14 minutes of game time.
- 4:02- Michigan State cuts the lead to single digits at 72-63, and Izzo takes a timeout. Alabama's largest lead was 18.
- 5:54- After a 3-pointer from Pierre Brooks cuts the Alabama lead to 11, Nate Oats calls a timeout.
- 6:52- Mark Sears is fouled on a 3-point attempt to end a 7-0 run for Michigan State. The Alabama lead is back up to 70-56.
- 7:29- Alabama is up 67-53 at the under-8 timeout.
- 8:33- Brandon Miller comes back in with three fouls and Alabama leading 67-51.
- 9:32- Quinerly is now in double-digits with 10 points as the Crimson Tide is now up 64-49.
- 11:50- Izzo calls a timeout as Jaden Bradley steals the ball and converts on the other end to give Alabama its largest lead of the night at 62-49.
- 13:41- Michigan State hits its first 3-pointer of the night and cuts the Alabama lead to 57-49.
- 14:18- Jahvon Quinerly converts an and-1 opportunity, and Alabama extends its lead to 57-46, the largest of the game.
- 15:58- At the under-16 media timeout, Alabama leads 50-45. Nimari Burnett will be at the free throw line coming out of the commercial break.
- 17:22- Miller nails an other 3-pointer to give Alabama its largest lead at 50-41. Miller is up to 22 points.
- 18:41- Nimari Burnet makes his first basket of the game with a 3-pointer to make it 45-39 Alabama.
Halftime Notes
- Alabama came into the game as the No. 1 rebounding team in the country. Michigan State is outrebounding the Crimson Tide in the first half 19 to 16
- Michigan State did not make a 3-pointer in the first half but went 11-for-14 from the free throw line.
- There were nine lead changes in the first half.
- Brandon Miller leads all scorers with 17 points. He also had five rebounds.
First Half
HALFTIME: Alabama 42, Michigan State 37
- What a swing for Alabama at the end of the half. Michigan State misses a 3-pointer, and Brandon Miller converts on the other end with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Alabama leads 42-37
- 1:02- Noah Clowney sinks a 3-pointer to make it 37-35 Alabama, and Tom Izzo takes his use-it or lose-it first-half timeout.
- 1:56- Final media timeout of the first half. It has become a back-and-forth affair the last few minutes. There have already been eight lead changes in the first half. Michigan State leads 34-33 and will be heading to the free throw line out of the timeout.
- Brandon Miller leads all scorers with 13 points. He is the only player to hit a 3-pointer in the first half so far.
- 4:17- An and-1 from Miller pulls Alabama within two points at 30-28. Miller is the first player to reach double-digit points.
- 5:30- Miller shoots Alabama's first free throw attempts of the game. He makes both of them and cuts Michigan State's lead to 28-23.
- 6:54- Spartans are now 9 of 9 from the free throw line and lead 25-19.
- 7:05- Michigan State leads 23-19 at the under-8 media timeout. Spartans are 7 of 7 from the free throw line. Alabama has yet to attempt a free throw.
- 8:02- A layup from Mark Sears ends the 7-0 run for Michigan State and cuts it to 21-17.
- 8:19- Noah Clowney is called for a technical foul for a flop. The referees no longer will give warnings this season. It is an automatic technical. Spartans make the free throw to extend their lead to 21-15.
- 10:33- After going on an 8-0 run earlier in the game, the Crimson Tide now holds a slight 15-14 lead at the first media timeout.
- 12:08- Miller nails a LONG 3-pointer for Alabama's first make of the day behind the arc. Alabama leads 13-10.
- 13:11- Brandon Miller jumps up to get an offensive rebound and putback on a missed 3-point attempt. Alabama leads 10-8.
- 14:09- Michigan State finally gets its first field goal of the game on a layup from Tyson Walker. Alabama leads 8-4
- Jaden Bradley and Noah Gurley enter off the bench for Alabama after the timeout.
- 15:56- At the first media timeout, Alabama leads Michigan State 6-2. Good start for Alabama's bigs. Charles Bediako and Clowney are responsible for all of the Crimson Tide's points, and Mark Sears already has two assists.
- 18:04- Noah Clowney intercepts a pass and completes the alley-oop for Alabama's first basket of the game. Alabama 2, Michigan State 2
- Michigan State wins the opening tip, and this game is underway.
Pregame
- Tipoff has been pushed back to 9:40. The game will start on ESPNEWS.
Starting lineups:
- Alabama- same starting lineup for the Crimson Tide for the fifth game in a row
- Mark Sears (G)- 15.3 PPG
- Nimari Burnett (G)- 9.3 PGG
- Brandon Miller (F)- 20.3 PPG
- Noah Clowney (F)- 10.5 RPG
- Charles Bediako (C)- 6.8 RPG
- Michigan State
- Pierre Brooks (G)- 6.0 PPG
- Tyson Walker (G)- 13.5 PPG
- A.J. Hoggard (G)- 9.5 PPG
- Joey Hauser (F)- 14.0 PPG
- Mady Sissoko- 8.8 PPG
- Tonight's officials: Jeff Clark, Brent Hampton, Randy Richardson
- On Tuesday night's Zoom press conference, Nate Oats said Darius Miles has been practicing with the team again and is probable to play. Transfer guard Dom Welch is still not practicing with the team and unlikely to play.
- No. 20 UConn blew out Oregon 83-59 in the game prior. The winner of the Alabama game will face the Huskies in the next round, while the loser takes on the Ducks.
How to Watch Alabama vs Michigan State
Who: Alabama (4-0) vs, Michigan State (3-1)
When: 9:30 p.m. CT, Thursday
Where: Moda Center, Portland, Ore.
TV: ESPN; Play-by-play Roxy Bernstein, Analyst: Bill Walton; Sidelines Myron Medcalf)
Live Stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Roger Hoover, Analyst: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.
Series: Tied 1-1.
Phil Knight Invitational Preview
Tournament bracket: The teams are on the same side of the bracket as UConn and Oregon The winning teams will play at 9 p.m. CT Friday, followed by the two losing teams.
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