Miller’s 41 points lead No. 2 Alabama Over South Carolina in Overtime

The Crimson Tide had its back against the wall several times — but the superstar freshman carried the team to a hard-fought victory.

Brandon Miller.

Amidst all the misinformation and rumors and distractions, the true freshman scored 41 points in 43 minutes played to lead the Alabama Crimson Tide to a 78-76 overtime win over the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia on Wednesday night.

The rest of the Crimson Tide team scored just 37 points.

With the win, Alabama (24-4, 14-1 SEC) remains atop the SEC standings — one game above Texas A&M.

The Gamecocks (10-18, 3-12 SEC) had perhaps their best performance of the season, taking the Crimson Tide down to the wire — and having several opportunities to finish the job.

But it was Miller that silenced all of the outside noise from the past couple of days with his play on the court.

Alabama outrebounded South Carolina 40-27.

Down the stretch, the Crimson Tide made enough plays to pick up its 15th conference win.

Next up, Alabama will host the Arkansas Razorbacks at Coleman Coliseum. Saturday's tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

How It Happened

Overtime

• FINAL: Alabama 78 | South Carolina 76

• Are you kidding me? Brandon Miller again. 41 points — and yet another go-ahead basket to answer Meechie Johnson's. Under a second for the Gamecocks.
• Alabama 78 | South Carolina 76 | OT

• Brandon Miller with a go-ahead bucket in the paint. Timeout Gamecocks.
• Alabama 76 | South Carolina 74 | 0:29 OT

Second Half

END OF REGULATION: Alabama 68 | South Carolina 68

• Brandon Miller takes it to the basket and ties the game. We're going to overtime.

• Jacobi Wright hits a go-ahead jump shot to put the Gamecocks up two. Nate Oats will draw up a play here.
• South Carolina 68 | Alabama 66 | 0:14 2nd

• Going down to the wire in Columbia. 6-0 run for the Gamecocks has them back ahead at the final media timeout.
• South Carolina 62 | Alabama 59 | 3:37 2nd

• The Crimson Tide has the lead back again. Mark Sears with a big three. Important eight minutes ahead.
• Alabama 54 | South Carolina 51 | 7:59 2nd

• Brandon Miller will go to the line for three after the media timeout. Since the hot start, the Crimson Tide has gone ice cold again.
• South Carolina 47 | Alabama 44 | 11:29 2nd

• Alabama is being too careless with the ball. Missing scoring opportunities because of bad passes.

• First media timeout of the half — and the Crimson Tide already has the lead back. Brandon Miller is scorching hot, scoring 10 points in the first 4:14 of the second frame. He's up to 25 on the night.
• Alabama 41 | South Carolina 40 | 15:46 2nd

First Half

• +/− Winners and Losers at the Half: 
• Nimari Burnett: +7 
• Charles Bediako: +6 
• Brandon Miller: +3 

• Dom Welch: -9 
• Rylan Griffen: -7 
• Jahvon Quinerly: -6

First Half Box Score

• HALFTIME: South Carolina 35 | Alabama 31 
• Well, that couldn't have gone better for the Gamecocks — and they cap it off with a half-court shot at the horn. Brandon Miller isn't fazed by the outside noise, scoring 15 points in the first half. Rest of the team needs to show up.

• The game just turned off for an Arby's advertisement. You cannot make these things up.

• That's the seventh turnover for Alabama.

• The Crimson Tide is fighting. Got to give the Gamecocks a lot of credit — they're playing well and with a lot of energy.
• South Carolina 29 | Alabama 25 | 3:30 1st

• I think Brandon Miller is ready to play.

• The Crimson Tide hasn't made a field goal in six minutes. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks have made 10 of 16 attempts so far tonight.
• South Carolina 22 | Alabama 16 | 7:52 1st

• Nate Oats timeout. Another 7-0 run for the Gamecocks has them ahead by seven points now. They've made seven consecutive field goals.
• South Carolina 22 | Alabama 15 | 8:32 1st

• GG Jackson starting to heat up for the Gamecocks. He's up to seven points already. Five points and two rebounds for Brandon Miller.
• Alabama 13 | South Carolina 11 | 11:57 1st

• Slow start for the Crimson Tide — rather understandably. Hayden Brown will look to omplete the 3-point play after the media timeout.
• Alabama 7 | South Carolina 6 | 15:41 1st

• Temple and Cincinnati are going to overtime. No. 2 Alabama and South Carolina is currently on ESPNews.

• Every time Brandon Miller touches the basketball, boos rain down from the crowd.

• First basket of the game goes to Charles Bediako.

Pregame

• Starting Lineup for Alabama:
• Mark Sears
• Jaden Bradley
• Brandon Miller
• Noah Clowney
• Charles Bediako

• Tonight's Officials:
• Tony Greene
• Doug Shows
• Jeb Hartness

• Tipoff is now scheduled for 8:10 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

See Also:

Oats, No. 2 Alabama Focused on the Right Here, Right Now

If Nick Pringle Continues to Improve, He Could Be Alabama Basketball's X-Factor

Brandon Miller's Attorney, UA Athletics Release Statements Surrounding Darius Miles Case

Brandon Miller 'Not in any Type of Trouble' in Darius Miles Case

Nate Oats Releases Statement Clarifying His Comments Related to Darius Miles Case