Second-half surge sends Tide past Mizzou to champ game

Nashville, Tenn. — No. 1 seed Alabama (28-5, 16-2 SEC) earned an SEC Tournament title bid with an explosive second-half performance in a 72-61 win over No. 4 Missouri in the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinals at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

With the semifinal win, the Tide improved to 28-5 this season, the most wins in a season in program history.

Despite scoring 18 of Alabama’s 17 turnovers and snagging 10 steals, the Tigers couldn’t make a difference because they were outrebounded, 44-28, and outscored. The Tide moved after halftime, shooting 55.6% from the field in the second period thanks to six of eight 3-pointers in the half.

All of Brandon Miller’s skills were on full display during his eighth double-double performance (20 points, 12 rebounds) with four assists and three 3-pointers, passing Collin Sexton for the most points scored in a season by an Alabama freshman. Noah Clowney joined the effort behind the arc, draining three from distance while scoring 19. Charles Bediako tacked on 10 points along with five boards as Jahvon Quinerly dished out seven assists.

D’Moi Hodge did most of the damage for the Tigers, logging 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting with three from distance and grabbing nine from the glass. DeAndre Gholston was not far behind with 17 points Noah Carter tacked on 10. Kobe Brown took control on the board with seven rebounds while contributing six points.

After missing a three from both ends of the court to open the contest, Brown turned up the heat with a fastbreak flush to put Mizzou on the board first. In the first five minutes of play, Alabama sent off eight from deep without a single shot finding the net. The Tide seemed to flip the switch during the Tigers’ media timeout, scoring six quick points to snag a small lead, 11-7, forcing Dennis Gates to call another timeout in an attempt to freeze their momentum.

Honor took the opportunity to show Alabama how it’s done from behind the arc, splashing the first 3-pointer of the game and closing in, 13-12, with 8:58 left in the first period. But Clowney seemed unfazed as he ended up connecting on the Tide’s 11th 3-point attempt. They went on to build their lead twice, 24-14, capped by Quinerly’s throw into Pringle’s hands over the net at the 5:36 mark.

The Tigers worked to flip the momentum as Carter slammed one down and Brown swiped the ball away on Alabama’s bottom possession, passing it down the court to Hodge for an uncontested dunk to bring them within range, 29-26. However, the Tide wouldn’t give up their halftime momentum as easily as Quinerly threw down an alley-oop dunk to Bediako.

However, Mizzou continued to play well to take halftime. Sean East II chucked the ball inbounds across the court to the fast-moving Hodge. The drive took him away from the basket as he sent a shot in the air, bouncing out of bounds. A shocking 3-pointer brought the Tigers within two, 31-29, before the break.

The Tide led the majority of the half with Clowney’s 11 leading the offensive attack. Miller stepped up first, catching eight in a 25-12 win over the Tigers. Missouri fought to stay in the game with its four steals, committing only two turnovers to Alabama’s nine.

Alabama looked confused entering the second half, calling a timeout shortly after Hodge drained a three to snag the lead. The Tigers seemed to feel uncomfortable, tacking on a three-point play by Gholston and refused to give up the advantage as both teams struggled to find the net in the next minute.

But Alabama will turn it around when Clowney lays one and completed a three-point play from the free throw line to take back the lead, 41-39. Miller and Carter went on to exchange threes, sending both sides into double figures as they lined both ends of the arena.

Midway through the second half, the Tide finally found a rhythm from deep, drilling two 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to widen the gap, 50-42, as Gates called a timeout to end the flow to no avail. The Tigers were able to cut the deficit to six with just four minutes to play, but Alabama decided to make it a double advantage.

Clowney’s third triple followed by Bediako’s dunk made it 11 points, 64-53, with 3:30 left. Miller went on to hit his third 3-pointer before Noah Gurley capped the Tide’s offensive surge with a slam off the glass. Gholston sank the Tigers’ final shot in the final seconds, sealing Alabama’s semifinal victory, 72-61.

Until Next Time

Alabama will face the winner of Game 12 between 2-seed Texas A&M and 6-seed Vanderbilt in the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship Game on Sunday at 1 PM ET – the game will be televised on ESPN.

Missouri (24-9, 11-7 SEC) has been eliminated from the tournament.