No. 2 Alabama slips past South Carolina in overtime

COLUMBIA, SC – Freshman Brandon Miller went for a career-high 41 points and hit the game-winning basket in the final seconds to lead the No. 2 Alabama men’s basketball team past South Carolina in overtime, 78-76, Wednesday night at Colonial Life Arena.

With the win, the Crimson Tide improved to 24-4 on the year and maintained first place in the Southeastern Conference at 14-1.

Miller dominated the night, hitting a field-best 14-of-25 shots, including 6-of-13 from beyond the arc, with eight rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocks in 43 minutes of action on the night.

He also hit a basket in the final seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime, when the game-winning basket came with nine-tenths of a second remaining on the game clock.

Charles Bediako was the only other UA player to reach double figures, finishing with 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Noah Clowney finished with eight points and eight rebounds, while Mark Sears added eight points in the win.

The Crimson Tide trailed by five points with just over three minutes left in regulation but outscored the Gamecocks 9-4 the rest of the period to force overtime. Miller scored six of UA’s 10 points to secure the victory.

South Carolina (10-18, 3-12) was led by GG Jackson’s 19 points, while Meechi Johnson and Jacobi Wright added 18 each in the losing effort.

TEAM STATISTICS

• The win marked the Tide’s eighth win over the Gamecocks in the series, and their second in a row at Colonial Life Arena.
• Brandon Miller became the first Alabama player to score 40 points in a game since Collin Sexton had 40 against Minnesota on November 25, 2017.
• The contest featured 12 ties and 10 lead changes, as Alabama led for 19:17 and South Carolina held the lead for 18:30.
• Alabama dominated in the paint, thanks to a 40-27 advantage on the glass and outscored USC 40-24 in the paint.
• The Tide also had an 11-5 edge in offensive rebounds that resulted in a 9-2 advantage in second points.
• It was the second overtime game of the season and the first since Alabama’s quadruple overtime victory over then-No. 1 North Carolina at the Phil Knight Invitational (11/27).

FIRST HALF

• South Carolina made a half-court buzzer beater to take a 35-31 lead, just the second time in SEC play the Crimson Tide has trailed at intermission.
• Miller led all scorers with 15 points in the first half, shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range. South Carolina shot 56 percent from the field, while Alabama shot 40 percent.
• Bediako made an impact on offense for UA, scoring seven points along with five rebounds.
• Alabama outrebounded South Carolina 18-11 led by five boards Bediako.

HALF TIME

• South Carolina built its lead to seven early in the half before the Tide went on a 10-0 run to regain the lead, with Miller scoring all 10 points.
• Since then, the half has featured seven matches and six lead changes.
• Miller’s layup with four seconds left in the game made it 68-68 and forced overtime.
• Mark Sears scored all eight of his points while Miller had 20 of his 41 in the second half.

OVERTIME

• After South Carolina took an early lead in the extra period, three consecutive layups by Crimson freshmen – Jaden Bradley, Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney – gave UA a 74-70 lead.
• Miller scored six points in the entire overtime, including the last four on layups with each one to put Alabama in the Game-winning lead with 00.9 seconds left and the next desperation heave just off the mark.

UP NEXT

Alabama will return home to face the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday afternoon. The contest will tipoff at 2 pm ET and will be broadcast live on ESPN2. It will be Senior Day as the program will honor Adam Cottrell, Noah Gurley and Dom Welch before tipoff.