No. 1 Alabama Basketball Secures SEC Title Game Berth with 72-61 Win over No. 4 Missouri

The Crimson Tide was able to bounce back after a poor shooting performance in the first half against the Tigers.

Author:
Joey Blackwell
Updated:
Mar 11, 2023 4:59 PM EST
Original:
Mar 11, 2023

In this story:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Despite a poor first half of shooting, 1-seed Alabama basketball was able to adapt and overcome against 4-seed Missouri in Saturday's SEC Tournament semifinal, winning 72-61 and securing its place in the tournament final.

With the win, Alabama moves on to the SEC Tournament Championship Game on Sunday (Noon CT, ESPN). The Crimson Tide's opponent will be the winner between Saturday afternoon's second semifinal between 2-seed Texas A&M and 6-seed Vanderbilt.

"If you're gonna win the tournament, you're gonna have to do it in different ways," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "We've said that and we've found different ways to win."

Shot-making was not at its finest for neither the Crimson Tide nor Tigers in the opening minutes of the first half. In fact, at the 9-minute mark, neither team had made a single 3-pointer, with the two teams combining for 0-for-15 from the floor.

However, with 8:58 left to play before halftime, Missouri guard Nick Honor drained the first 3-pointer of the contest, with Alabama forward Noah Clowney right behind him with a 3-pointer of his own. From that point forward, both teams’ shots began to fall.

While the Crimson Tide led by 10 points with 3:37 left on the clock, the Tigers refused to back down. A 3-pointer from the corner by Missouri guard D’Moi Hodge cut the Alabama lead to just two points at halftime.

When both teams headed into their respective locker rooms, the scoreboard read 31-29 in favor of the Crimson Tide. In the first 20 minutes of play, Alabama shot just 2-for-15 (13 percent) from beyond the arc, but its driving to the basket had kept it alive.

"Today wasn't our best," Oats said. "I thought we came out of the gate fairly strong again but defensively we let down the end of the first half, the beginning of the second half we weren't great."

While Alabama suffered from 3-point territory in the first half, the final 20 minutes were a different story.

In the second half, the Tigers came out of the gate swinging and quickly jumped out ahead by four points in less than 1:15. However, the Missouri lead would be its last of the game.

At the 13:46 mark, a fast-break layup by Brandon Miller was the first points of a 16-3 run by the Crimson Tide. With the layup, Miller passed Collin Sexton for the new Alabama program record for most points scored by a freshman. In the midst of the run was back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, with the first two being from Miller and the third from Noah Gurley.

The run put Alabama up by 10 points and while the Crimson Tide's lead would expand and decrease, the lead never shrank below six points for the rest of the game as Alabama won by a final score of 72-61.

Alabama finished the game shooting 49.1 percent from the floor and 29.6 percent from beyond the arc. Miller led the Crimson Tide with 20 points, followed closely by Clowney's 19. Charles Bediako was the only other Alabama player with double-digit points with 10.

Miller also recorded 12 rebounds, giving him a double-double. Bediako and Gurley tied for second on the team with five apiece.

On top of securing a spot in the title game, the win for Alabama signified the 28th win of the season — a new program record for most wins in a single season. The Crimson Tide is now 28-5 on the year.

"Happy with the unselfish play," Oats said. "[We've] got a bunch of really good kids pulling for each other — I thought some guys turned down some shots even that I'd like for them to take."

How It Happened:

Second Half

Final: Alabama 72, Missouri 61. Alabama heads to Sunday's SEC Championship Game.

Gholston with the flush, but the Crimson Tide has full control of this game as Gurley made a putback slam. This game is over.

Miller drained a 3-pointer. 70-57 Alabama with under a minute left in the game.

Quinerly makes 1-of-2 at the line. 67-57 Alabama with 1:26 left to play.

66-57 Alabama with 1:55 left to play after two free throws by Hodge.

Shot clock violation on Alabama. Turnover.

Alabama is now in the bonus as Sears steps up to the line for the 1-and-1. At the line, he made both. 66-55 Alabama with 2:54 on the clock.

Diarra made a layup. 64-55 Crimson Tide with just over three minutes left.

Alley-oop from Quinerly to Bediako for the flush. 64-53 Alabama.

Brown was called for charging, giving him his fourth personal of the game. Turnover. Alabama will have possession when we return. With 3:40 left to play in the game, the Crimson Tide leads 62-53. We are currently in the final scheduled media timeout of the game.

A 3-pointer by Clowney increases the Crimson Tide lead to 9. 62-53 Alabama.

Clowney with the layup makes it 59-51 Alabama.

3-pointer by Hodge cuts the Alabama lead to 6. 57-51 Crimson Tide with 4:31 left.

Clowney missed a dunk, and Missouri gets the rebound.

Sears made a 3-pointer, his first of the game and just his second of the tournament. 57-48 Alabama with 6:01 on the game clock.

Missouri is now in the bonus after Quinerly picks up his first foul. Hodge heads to the line for the 1-and-1 and made both shots. 54-48 Alabama with 6:34 left to play.

Apologies if there are late stats/updates. There appears to be an issue with StatBroadcast on press row. Internet is working just fine, but the stats tracker is not updating.

We have reached the under-8 media timeout following Griffen's third personal foul. Alabama still leads 54-44 with 7:12 left in the game, and it'll be Missouri basketball after the break.

Miller inside for a layup. 54-44 Crimson Tide.

Gholston made a short jumper. 52-44 Alabama at the 7:38 mark.

Layup good by Bediako, and he'll get and and-1 opportunity. At the line, he missed the shot, but Miller handled the rebound. However, Griffen dropped the ball out of bounds, and it's Tigers basketball.

Gurley drains a 3-pointer, assist by Miller. 50-42 Crimson Tide with 9:34 left to play, and the Tigers take a timeout. A 14-3 run by Alabama has it up by 8.

Miller sinks a 3. 47-42 Alabama at the 10:10 mark.

Shot clock violation, turnover on Alabama. Missouri basketball.

3-pointer by Carter gets the Missouri fans right back into it. On the Alabama offensive end of the court, Brown picked up his third foul by fouling Gurley. At the under-12 timeout, the Crimson Tide leads the Tigers 44-42 in what is sure to be a thrilling final 12 minutes.

Miller drains a 3-pointer, and Alabama leads by 5. 44-39 Crimson Tide.

Griffen was called for a blocking foul despite appearing to have both feet planted.

Clowney made a layup and was fouled on the play. At the line, he made the and-1. 41-39 Crimson Tide with 12:48 left to play in the game.

With that layup, Miller has set the Alabama program record for most points by a freshman, passing Collin Sexton.

Layup for Miller. 39-38 Missouri.

Hodge with a fast break dunk. 39-36 Tigers.

Missouri calls a timeout to slow things down. The Tigers have possession and lead 37-36 at the 14:48 mark.

Alabama can't buy a 3-pointer to save its life. 0-for-4 from beyond the arc, with most of the shots being good looks.

Layup by Bediako is good. 37-36 Missouri.

Miller was just called for his third personal, and Gholston made both free throws. 37-34 Tigers at the 17:45 mark.

Miller was also fouled on the way up, and the basket fell in. At the line, he also made the and-1. 35-34 Missouri.

Gholston is fouled on a layup, the basket counts. Gholston headed to the line and made the and-1. 35-31 Missouri.

A 3-pointer by Hodge gives Missouri its first lead since the 15:42 mark of the first half. 32-31 Tigers.

Alabama has an interesting lineup to start the game: Sears, Quinerly, Bradley, Miller, Clowney.

Missouri will get the ball to start the second half.

Both teams have returned to the court and we are moments away from play resuming.

First Half

Halftime: Alabama 31, Missouri 29

Missouri inbounds the ball with 4.7 seconds left on the clock and made a 3-pointer. Halftime.

Another alley-oop from Quinerly is received and slammed down by Bediako. 31- 26 Crimson Tide with just over 15 seconds left in the half.

Welch has entered the game for Alabama after bruising his tailbone yesterday against Mississippi State. Brown has also remained in the game for Missouri but immediately picked up his second foul.

Brown was down on the court, and the officials stopped play for the medical staff to attend to him. He is now up and back in the team huddle after a minute or so spent on his back on the court.

Another dunk by Hodge puts the Tigers down by one possession. With 1:13 left to play in the first half, the Crimson Tide leads 29-26.

Carter with a dunk. 29-24 with 1:30 left on the clock.

Clowney sinks a 3-pointer from the near corner. 29-22 Alabama. Shots are beginning to fall more consistently for both teams.

Carter drains a 3 for Missouri, then Gholston does the same. 26-22 Alabama at the 2:36 mark.

A layup by Carter gives Missouri two. Sears responds with a layup of his own. 26-16 at the 3:22 mark.

Pringle drew a charge, and Alabama gets back the basketball.

Nimari Burnett enters the game for Miller, who was just called for his second personal.

Alley-oop dunk from Quinerly to Pringle gives Alabama a 10-point lead. 24-14.

Under-8 timeout as Clowney is called for his first personal. Alabama has pulled out to a 22-14 lead as the shots have begun to fall — albeit slowly — for the Crimson Tide. 6:10 left to play in the first half.

Hodge made a jumper. 20-14 Crimson Tide.

Clowney hit a 3-pointer — the first of the day for Alabama. 20-12 Crimson Tide.

Brown is called for his first personal. Sears headed to the line and made both. 17-12 Alabama.

Honor finally hits the first 3-pointer of the afternoon for either side. The two teams combined for 0-for-15 prior to the make. 15-12 Alabama at the 8:23 mark.

Putback layup by Pringle makes it 13-7. A layup by Brown brings it to 13-9.

Miller sinks a layup. 11-7 Crimson Tide at the 12:05 mark. Timeout Missouri.

Layup for Bradley gives Alabama a 9-7 lead.

Bradley with a short jumper ties the game at 7.

At the under-16 timeout, Missouri leads Alabama 7-5. While the Tigers are shooting 33 percent (3-for-9) from the floor, the Crimson Tide is even more abysmal at 18 percent (2-for-11) — including 0-for-8 from beyond the arc.

Diarra made a layup. 7-5 Tigers.

An alley-oop dunk from Quinerly to Bediako gets the Alabama fans loud once again. 5-5.

Gholston made a layup and was fouled by Miler on the way up. Gholston made the and-1, and it's 5-3 Tigers.

Poor shooting from both sides to start the game. Still 3-2 Alabama at the 16:30 mark.

Miller is called for traveling. Missouri basketball.

A missed 3-pointer by Clowney leads to a putback layup by Miller. 3-2 Crimson Tide.

Clowney was fouled on the way up to the basket and headed to the line, where he made one of his two shots. 2-1 Tigers.

An airball from Missouri is the Tigers first possession of the game, but a steal and a dunk by Brown gets Missouri on the board first.

Alabama wins the opening tip and we are underway.

Pregame

The Star-Spangled Banner has been sung and we are just under seven minutes away from tipoff.

Starting five for Missouri: Mohamed Diarra, DeAndre Gholston, D'Moi Hodge, Nick Honor, Kobe Brown.

Same starting five as Friday for Alabama: Mark Sears, Jahvon Quinerly, Charles Bediako, Noah Clowney, Brandon Miller.

A resounding chorus of boos echoed throughout the arena as Missouri took to the court for pregame warmups.

Officials for today's game:

Joe Lindsay
Pat Adams
Bart Lenox

It's still very early, but a lot more fans wearing crimson and white have shown up so far compared to those wearing black and gold. If the ratio holds up, there will be a significantly larger number of Alabama fans inside the arena today.

Tipoff is slated for Noon CT.

How to Watch Alabama vs. Missouri

Who: No. 1 Alabama (27-5, 16-2 SEC) vs. No. 4 Missouri (24-8, 11-7 SEC)

When: 12 p.m. CT, Saturday

Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart; Analyst: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Series: Alabama leads 13-7

Last Meeting: Alabama bested Missouri during the regular season. The Crimson Tide won in Columbia back on Jan. 21, an 85-64 win that gave Nate Oats his first-ever road win against the Tigers. Mark Sears and Noah Clowney each scored 17 points, leading Alabama in scoring while Clowney achieved a double-double with his team-leading 14 rebounds.

Last Time Out, Alabama: The Crimson Tide opened its time at the SEC Tournament with a 72-49 win over 9-seed Mississippi State. Alabama had four players score in double digits, led by Brandon Miller with 18. Solid blue-collar outings by Charles Bediako and Jahvon Quinerly helped secure the win, advancing the Crimson Tide to its meeting with the Tigers.

Last Time Out, Missouri: The Tigers opened their SEC Tournament trip with a 79-71 win over the 5-seed Tennessee Volunteers, securing its own trip to the semifinals. Guard D'Moi Hodge and forward Kobe Brown were far and away the points leaders, with Hodge scoring 26 points and Brown 24. Brown also led the Tigers in rebounds with nine on the afternoon.

Alabama Leaders: