After struggling to find consistency all season, Alabama was finally able to put together a full game Thursday afternoon in the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. The Crimson Tide downed Mississippi State 75-55 for its third win over the Bulldogs this season.
With the victory, Alabama (18-13) advances to the quarterfinals where it will face South Carolina (22-9) on Friday. Mississippi State ends its season at 16-16.
Tide's top performersÂ
Dazon Ingram led the Tide with 17 points on 7 of 7 shooting on the night. The redshirt freshman played a big role in helping Alabama pull away in the second half, hitting a big 3 to extend the Tide's lead to 43-27 with 16:42 remaining.
Corban Collins also had a big afternoon, scoring 14 points including four 3s. He was joined in double figures by Avery Johnson Jr. and Donta Hall, who both scored 10 points apiece off the bench.
Alabama's bench outscored Mississippi State 42-27 in the game.
The difference maker
Before the game, Alabama head coach Avery Johnson called the SEC Tournament a new season for his team, stating the Tide would look to take the rest of the season one game at a time.
Alabama players took that to heart, playing like a team reborn Thursday. The Tide shot 50 percent (8 of 16 from beyond the arc while turning the ball over just nine times. Meanwhile, Mississippi State struggled from 3, shooting 17 percent (2 of 12) and had 12 turnovers.
It was over when...
Alabama went on an 18-0 run early in the second half. The run started and ended on 3-pointers from Collins, as the Tide extended its lead to 55-27 with 11:32 remaining. More importantly, it erased any chance of Alabama suffering a second straight late-game collapse following a heartbreaking 59-54 loss to Tennessee in its regular-season finale.
During the run, Mississippi State’s offense went cold, missing 11 straight shots from the floor.
Next up
As the No. 5 seed in the SEC Tournament, Alabama will move on to face No. 4 South Carolina in the quarterfinals on Friday. The game will be televised on SEC Network and is scheduled to tipoff 25 minutes after the game between No. 8 Georgia and No. 1 Kentucky.
The Tide pulled off one of its most memorable performances of the season against South Carolina, beating the Gamecocks in a 90-86 four-overtime thriller in Columbia, S.C. on Feb. 7.
Johnson Jr. led Alabama with 23 points off the bench in that game and was followed by Ar’Mond Davis with 19 points. South Carolina was led by Sindarius Thornwell, who scored a career-high 44 points.
