Live Updates: No. 6 Alabama Basketball vs Mississippi State at 2021 SEC Tournament
Second Half
- No. 6 Alabama obliterates Mississippi State, 85-48
- Miles nets both shots.
- Miles is headed to the free-throw line with 46.8 seconds to go.
- Miles finds Barnes open underneath the basket and he scores the easy two.
- Walk-ons Britton Johnson and Tyler Barnes have checked in.
- Miles connects on a triple and he becomes the 10th different Alabama player to score today.
- Rojas drives and gets the contested layup to go. He has seven points and Alabama is now up by 35 with 3:14 on the clock.
- Primo will not return to today's game.
- Kendall Wall has entered the game for the Crimson Tide.
- Gary completes the three-point play.
- Gary is fouled as he scores the tough two and he'll head to the line when play resumes. 75-41 Alabama with 5:16 on the clock.
- Quinerly responds with a jumper from the foul line. 73-41 Alabama. He has 14 points.
- Smith scores the layup and Alabama is now on a scoring drought of over three minutes of action.
- Stewart gets by Gary for the finger roll. 71-39 Alabama.
- Rojas' three clanks off the backboard, which leads to Stewart scoring two on the other end.
- Out of the break, Gary scores a layup. 69-33 Alabama.
- At the under 12-minute media timeout, Alabama still leads by 34 and is shooting 7-of-17 from the floor in this half. 4-of-8 from three-point range. 10:47 remaining.
- Molinar and Quinerly trade baskets. 67-31 UA.
- Shackelford's layup doesn't go in but Ellis is there for the put-back.
- As play continues, Rojas scores a three-pointer and puts Alabama up 62-29.
- Primo is headed straight to the locker room.
- Primo is down on the court, holding his knee. Clarke Holter, Alabama's trainer, and Tyler Barnes help him off the floor.
- Rojas checks in for Gary and scores a layup on the offensive end. 59-29 UA.
- Molinar completes the three-point play.
- Molinar drives through three Crimson Tide defenders and scores the circus layup as he is fouled. That was Gary's fourth of the game.
- Quinerly, Gary, Ellis and Reese are the Crimson Tide's first subs of this half.
- Molinar pulls up from the elbow and scores. 57-26 Alabama.
- At the first media timeout of the half, Alabama is up 57-24 with 15:17 on the clock.
- Molinar scores the Bulldogs first triple of the game. MSU is 1-of-7 from beyond-the-arc.
- Jones converts two shots from the charity stripe.
- Ado scores the put-back and stops the bleeding for the Bulldogs but Primo answers with a three-pointer of his own. 55-21 Alabama.
- Shackelford connects on a three-pointer from the corner. 52-19.
- Jones gets a layup to open the scoring for the second stanza. 49-19. Biggest lead of the game for UA.
First Half
- Jones has four points, six assists and four rebounds. The SEC Player of the Year is doing it all.
- Shackelford leads all scores with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Petty has nine points, all coming from beyond-the-arc.
- Alabama's tenacious defensive effort was on display in that first 20 minutes, forcing 14 turnovers from Mississippi State.
- The Crimson Tide finished that half making four of its last five shots from the field, while the Bulldogs only made two of its last 11 attempts.
- No. 6 Alabama leads Mississippi State art intermission, 47-19.
- Reese finds Ambrose-Hylton cutting to the basket and he scores two.
- There's another defensive breakdown for the Bulldogs which allows Primo to be left wide open under the basket. Layup good.
- Molinar only converts one.
- Quinerly fouls Molinar on the layup attempt and he'll go to the charity stripe with 1:11 on the clock.
- Keon Ambrose-Hylton is in the game for Alabama.
- The Crimson Tide is shooting 16-of-33 from the field and up 43-16 with 2:13 left to play.
- Quinerly attacks the rim and scores the layup. Alabama's run is now 19-1.
- Smith is fouled and scores one from the line. 39-13 Alabama.
- Gary sinks two foul shots.
- Darius Miles checks in and he finds Gary underneath the basket and he scores a tough layup. 37-12 UA.
- Another Bulldogs turnover leads to another triple from Petty. 35-12 Crimson Tide with 5:23 left to play. Alabama on a 13-0 run.
- Jones finds Petty in the corner for a three-pointer and this is now Alabama's biggest lead of the game, 32-12.
- Primo scores a triple for the top of the key and its 29-12 UA. Bulldogs haven't scored from the field in over four minutes of action.
- James Rojas is now in for Alabama.
- Ellis completes the four-point play. 26-12 Alabama.
- Ellis is fouled as he attempts a three-pointer and it goes in.
- Alabama has been super active on defense so far, forcing nine turnovers from MSU.
- Smith is at the charity stripe for the Bulldogs and he scores two.
- Petty records another steal and Shackelford has his shot called for goaltending. 22-10 Crimson Tide.
- Jones gets inside the paint and scores. 20-10 Alabama.
- Molinar makes 1-of-2 at the line.
- Molinar hits a pull-up jumper out of the timeout and then Gary is called for a charge. That's his first foul.
- Quinerly throws up a lob to Gary and he slams it home. Howland calls a timeout. 18-7 Alabama with 12:14 remaining.
- Gary gets a strong block on Davis and then the Bulldogs commit a shot-clock violation.
- Shackelford drains another three. 16-7 UA.
- Javian Davis has checked in for MSU.
- The Bulldogs are on a scoring drought of over two minutes.
- Jones gets another offensive board and kicks it out to Quinerly who scores the three-pointer.
- Molinar gets to the cup and scores. 10-7 Alabama.
- Jahvon Quinerly, Alex Reese and Keon Ellis are the Crimson Tide's first subs.
- Smith misses both foul shots but Alabama is called for a lane violation and he makes the third.
- At the first media timeout, Alabama still holds a 10-4 advantage and is on a 7-0 run. The Crimson Tide look locked in on both sides of the ball.
- Jones gets the offensive board and strong put-back. 10-4 Alabama.
- Petty gets a steal and gives the ball to Shackelford who scores the layup. 8-4 UA.
- Petty is left open and buries the triple. 6-4 Alabama.
- A dunk from Smith puts MSU up 4-3.
- Shackelford turns it over on the other end, however.
- Ado is called for an illegal screen. That's the first foul on the Mississippi State big man.
- A layup from Ado puts the Bulldogs on the board.
- Shackelford cans a three-pointer from the wing.
- Alabama wins the tip.
Pregame
- Mississippi State starters: Iverson Molinar, D.J Stewart Jr., Derek Fountain, Tolu Smith and Abdul Ado.
- Alabama's starters: Herbert Jones, John Petty Jr., Josh Primo, Jaden Shackelford and Jordan Bruner.
- Today's officials are Don Daily, Tony Greene and K.B Burdett.
- Watch the Crimson Tide warm up below:
Game Preview
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When Kentucky forward Donatie Allen's three-point attempt at the end of regulation versus Mississippi State fell short, there was a collective sigh of relief from Tuscaloosa.
It sealed the Bulldogs' win over the Wildcats, 74-73, in the second round of the 2021 SEC tournament and moved Mississippi State into the quarterfinals against No. 6 Alabama on Friday morning (11 a.m, ESPN).
The significance of Kentucky not winning on Thursday means that, for the first time of the history of the SEC tournament, the Wildcats won't make at least the quarterfinals or better. Meanwhile, Alabama had lost its last 11 games versus Kentucky in the conference tournament setting and hasn't beaten it since 1983.
Now, coach Nate Oats and company get the Bulldogs from Starkville for its opening-round game. Alabama has already beaten Mississippi State twice this season, but that's reason to underestimate the threat that coach Ben Howland's team presents.
More recently, the Bulldogs gave Alabama all it could handle back on Feb. 27, with the Crimson Tide winning on the road 64-59 and clinching the SEC regular-season title.
“They’re the best team in our league," Howland said to the media following the victory over the Wildcats. "I voted Herb Jones as both Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. [Jahvon] Quinerly, in my opinion, was the sixth man of the year...
"Obviously Nate’s done a tremendous job. I love [Jaden] Shackelford. They have great personnel. [Josh] Primo. They’re really, really well-coached. They’re very difficult because of how they space the floor and spread you out. Herb and [John] Petty are so good."
During Oats' media session on Wednesday, he called the Bulldogs guard tandem of Iverson Molinar and D.J Stewart Jr. "maybe the best backcourt in the SEC."
Stewart and Molinar are averaging 16.5 and 16.4 points, respectively.
No. 6 Alabama vs Mississippi State
Where: Bridgestone Arena
When: 11 a.m, CT, Friday
TV: ESPN
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network
Online: ESPN.com
Last time out, Alabama: The Crimson Tide used a second-half surge versus Georgia last Saturday to upend the Bulldogs 89-79. Guard Jahvon Quinerly scored all 18 of his points in the second frame, while Alabama dropped 59 points and shot 80 percent from three-point range across the final 20 minutes of action.
Last time out, Mississippi State: The Bulldogs squeaked past Kentucky 74-73 inside Bridgestone Arena behind 21 points from guard Iverson Molinar and 13 points from forward Tolu Smith. Mississippi State hadn't beat the Wildcats since 2009 before then.
The series: The 137th meeting. Dating back to Feb. 25, 2012, the Crimson Tide has won 14 of the last 18 outings versus the Bulldogs. However, both teams have only met twice in the SEC tournament since the 2007-2008 season, with each school splitting those games. Alabama thrashed Mississippi State 75-55 in the second round of the 2017 event.
More on the last meeting: No. 6 Alabama clinched the ninth SEC regular-season title with a 64-59 win over the Bulldogs inside Humphrey Coliseum back on Feb. 27. Quinerly scored a team-high 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting, while senior wing Herbert Jones grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds.
