The No. 1/1 Alabama men's basketball team dominated from start to finish on its way to a 108-59 victory over Georgia Saturday night in Coleman Coliseum.
rolltide.com
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ā The No. 1/1 Alabama men's basketball team dominated from start to finish on its way to a 108-59 victory over Georgia Saturday night in Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide's point total marked a school-record tying fifth game of 100 points or more, while the 49-point margin of victory was UA's largest-ever win over the Bulldogs.
The Crimson Tide (23-4, 13-1 SEC) shot a season-best 61.9 percent (39-of-63) from the field in the effort, while holding the Bulldogs to just 37.5 percent (21-of-56). Additionally, Alabama connected on 16 three-pointers (16-of-34) compared to only four makes from beyond the arc for Georgia, and outrebounded the Bulldogs, 49-26.
Alabama jumped out to a fast start on both ends of the court in the opening stanza and never looked back, opening a 54-25 lead at halftime. The Tide would go on to lead by as many as 50 points late in the game before collecting its third SEC win of 40 ore more points this season.
Brandon Miller led five UA players in double figures, scoring 21 points to record his 10th 20-point game of the year. In the first half, Miller became the fastest player to 500 points in program history, joining Collin Sexton and James "Hollywood" Robinson as the only three freshman to reach the mark.
Nick Pringle recorded his first collegiate double-double with 19 points and 12 boards while also winning the Hard Hat Award in the victory.
Mark Sears (17),
Rylan Griffen (13) and
Noah Clowney (12) also scored in double figures to lead the Tide in the win.
Justin Hill led Georgia (16-11, 6-8 SEC) with 17 points while Braelen Bridges added 10 points and eight rebounds.
HEAD COACH NATE OATS POSTGAME COMMENTS
"That was another great game after a loss that I thought our guys came to play, and hopefully we don't have too many more of those (losses). I do feel like our guys got themselves mentally ready to go after we lost to Tennessee. We came out of the gates and the starting guys got us off to a great start and extended the lead. I was just informed that Brandon (Miller) is the third freshman Alabama history to score 500 points and he got there faster than James Robinson and Collin Sexton, both who are two pretty good players. We had some history made tonight, but I thought, overall, we had an issue with turnovers at Tennessee. I'm happy with the way we moved the ball and took care of it. Obviously, it helps to make shots and to get assists. 14 of our 20 made field goals in the first half were assisted. Our defense was good and we were much better on rebounding. The second-chance point margin was 20-6 and we did a much better job in that area. That was a good win following a loss to Tennessee."
TEAM STATS
- The 49-point margin of victory gives UA its third conference victory of 40-or-more this season (106-66 vs. LSU, 101-44 vs. Vanderbilt), making Alabama the first SEC team since Kentucky in 1955-56 to accomplish the feat
- The victory is Alabama's first win as the No. 1 ranked team in the country since UA defeated the Xavier Musketeers on Jan. 4, 2003, by a score of 65-58 (2-2)
- Alabama has won 11 SEC games by double-digits, tying the program record from 1955-56
- The 49-point victory is UA's largest in program history against the Bulldogs since the 1953-54 season (112-76)
- The Tide's defense has prevented any conference opponent from scoring 69 points or more in any SEC game this season
- Alabama is 13-0 inside of Coleman Coliseum, with two home games remaining
- The Tide's margin of victory following a loss this season is +32.0
- Brandon Miller surpassed the 500-point mark in the first half, making him the third freshman in program history to accomplish such a feat (Collin Sexton 2017-18 and James "Hollywood" Robinson 1990-91)
- UA dominated the glass, outrebounding the Bulldogs 49-26
- The Tide dished out 26 assists, led by Jaden Bradley tying his career-best with seven, marking the sixth time this season it has went over 20 assists in a game
- Alabama's bench outscored Georgia's 52-15
FIRST HALF
- Mark Sears and Brandon Miller combined for Alabama's first 18 points, opening a 18-6 lead just under five minutes into the game
- Alabama then went on a 12-1 run to extend the lead to 30-9 with 12:58 remaining
- The Tide continued to dominate on both ends of the court, opening a commanding 50-19 lead with 5:02 left in the stanza
- With the Tide's defense holding the Bulldogs to just 25 points in the half, UA has held its last three opponents inside of Coleman Coliseum to a combined 63 points in the opening stanza (average of 21 points)
- Alabama's defense limited Georgia to 30 percent (9-30) from the field, while UA shot 65 percent (20-31), including 10-17 (59 percent) from beyond the arc
- Miller led all scorers with 18, followed by Sears with 15
- Alabama's 54 first half points marks the fourth time this season the Tide has scored over 50 in the opening stanza (Jan. 14 against LSU), (Nov. 18 against Jacksonville State), (Feb. 8 against Florida)
SECOND HALF
- Alabama picked up right where it left off in the second half, outscoring Georgia 21-8 over 7:29 to extend its lead to 42, 75-33
- Nick Pringle and Rylan Griffen scored in double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively
- Alabama's bench outscored UGA's 38-9 in the second half
- Alabama dished out 12 second-half assists, led by four from Griffen
- The Tide outrebounded the Bulldogs 25-10 in the second stanza, led by Pringle with seven
- Alabama shot 59 percent (19-32) from the field in second twenty minutes of play
