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Alabama basketball unable to capitalize on career day from Brandon Miller

Alabama Crimson Tide forward Brandon Miller (24) shoots against Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Anton Watson (22) during the first half at Legacy Arena at BJCC. Photo | Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Alabama Crimson Tide forward Brandon Miller (24) shoots against Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Anton Watson (22) during the first half at Legacy Arena at BJCC. Photo | Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It was Miller time inside Legacy Arena on Saturday. Unfortunately for No. 4 Alabama basketball, it wasn’t able to match its star forward’s stellar performance in a 100-90 loss to No. 15 Gonzaga.

Brandon Miller scored a season-high 36 points, the most by an Alabama player since Kira Lewis Jr. scored 37 during a 105-102 overtime win at Georgia during Nate Oats’ first season in charge of the Crimson Tide in 2020. Miller shot 12 of 22 (54.5%) from the floor, knocking down 6 of 11 shots from deep. He recorded 26 of his points after the break, almost single-handedly keeping Alabama afloat as Gonzaga began to pull away late.

All of that went to waste as the Crimson Tide allowed the Bulldogs to shoot a blazing 71.4% from the floor in the second half en route to giving 100 or more points in regulation for just the third time in Oats’ four seasons with the team.

“He got it going here, especially in the second half,” Oats said of Miller. “It’s a good thing he did or we would have been in some real trouble with how good Gonzaga was on offense. Brandon’s really talented, as we know.”

Miller scored 14 of Alabama’s 18 points during a roughly eight-minute span in the second half. However, the Bulldogs were able to corral him late, keeping him off the scoreboard for the game's final five minutes.

“They started trapping him on ball screens,” Oats said. “We probably should have done a better job figuring out how to counter that. Brandon made some shots, and we’ve got to figure out ways to use him when teams guard him different ways and what we need to do to counteract what teams are doing because it’s not the last time he’s going to have some explosive games like that.”

Miller has led Alabama in scoring in seven of its 11 games this season. Following Saturday’s game, he is averaging 20.1 points per game and is shooting 41.5% from the floor and 45.1% from deep. While Alabama knows what its freshman forward is capable of, it was nice to see him return to his five-star form against a quality opponent.

Miler went cold during the Crimson Tide's wins over top-ranked North Carolina and Houston, combining for 22 points on 4 of 29 shooting over the two games. Saturday, he was back to full force against a talented Gonzaga team, recording the most points the Bulldogs have allowed all season.

“We thought he would do something like that, not to that level, obviously,” said Gonzaga forward Drew Timme, who led the Bulldogs with 29 points and 10 rebounds. “Lottery-level guy. I mean, he’s a hell of a player, and he really stepped up when his team needed him. You just got to tip you hat off because you can only play such good defense.”

Wasting a career-best performance from Miller has to sting for Alabama, perhaps even more so considering the fact it occurred in front of a crowd of 15,847 predominantly Crimson Tide fans. Still, seeing its star man go off against a national contender inside a venue that will host an NCAA regional next spring, provides an encouraging look at what could be in store for Alabama if it can continue to improve over the next few months.

“It’s just a learning process,” Miller said. “I try not to get caught up in the crowd and all the outside stuff. Just stay close to my teammates and just play off them.”

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