TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama’s backcourt is beginning to heat up at just the right time.
Even after a 97-69 thrashing of Florida on Wednesday night, Nate Oats was quick to point out the difficulty of his team’s next two games. No. 3 Alabama (21-3) is off to an 11-0 start in conference play for the first time in 67 years. However, the Crimson Tide’s SEC streak will be put to the test over the next six days as it makes an always-challenging trip across the state to Auburn on Saturday before traveling to No. 6 Tennesse on Wednesday.
Fortunately for Alabama, it appeared to find a winning formula against Florida. It all revolved around what could become an unbeatable backcourt.
Jaden Bradley, Mark Sears and Jahvon Quinerly gashed the Gators for a combined 38 points and 11 assists during Wednesday night’s blowout win. The guard trio shot a combined 12 of 19 from the floor, including 7 of 11 from beyond the arc, putting the game away well before the end of the first half.
Sears led the charge, putting up 19 points on 7 of 9 shooting while knocking down four of his six attempts from deep. The Ohio transfer is now 7-for-11 from 3 over his last two games after going a combined 4-for-24 over his previous five outings.
“He went through a little bit of a slump there, and it looks like he’s back," Four of six is pretty good shooting. He’s been aggressive. We need him.”
Sears, 6-foot-1, also did a good job of driving to the rim, slashing past 6-foot-11 forward Colin Castleton for a pair of layups, including a buzzer-beater to put Alabama up 52-23 at the break.
Bradley had similar success in the lane, scoring 8 points while getting to the line for four made free throws. The freshman also doled out five assists, tying Quinerly for the team lead on the night. Like Sears, Bradley was able to break through a mid-season slump as he managed just 21 points on 5 of 21 shooting over his previous five outings.
“I thought Jaden Bradley had a great start to the game,” Oats said. “Offensively, he’s getting downhill, making plays.”
Quinerly put together perhaps the backcourt’s most encouraging performance, chipping in 11 points and five assists over just 20 minutes off the bench. The senior point guard ignited Alabama’s 23-4 run in the first half, scoring 8 points while knocking down two 3s during that stretch.
“He’s getting back into his groove,” Oats said. “Me and him talked about it. He’s looked great in practice, the best I’ve seen him since last year. I thought tonight he was great. When he shoots the ball like he’s been shooting it, he’s tough to guard because you can’t sag him.
“You’ve gotta get up on him, and then he can get by anybody. If you have to play him as tight as you have to play him when he’s shooting like this, he can get in the lane, and once he gets in the lane, I think he’s one of the best passers, if not the best, in the country. He’s finding people. He’s getting assists. He’s looking to find guys when he’s in the lane.”
Quinerly has now recorded at least five assists in each of his last three outings after failing to reach that total in any of his previous nine games. He currently leads the Crimson Tide with 3.6 assists per game.
"He gets everybody involved," Sears said. "It's great to have a point guard who can do that and make everybody on the court better.”
Alabama’s next two opponents feature talented backcourts of their own.
Auburn is led by point guard Wendall Green Jr., who is averaging a team-high 13.9 points and 4.4 assists. He’s accompanied by Allen Flanigan (9.5 points per game) and K.D. Johnson (8.1 ppg).
Tennesse boasts four guards averaging 8.0 points per game or higher in Santiago Vescovi (12.0), Zakai Zeigler (10.8), Josiah-Jordan James (9.5) and Tyreke Key (8.1).
While those will be formidable units, it's going to be hard for any team to keep up with Alabama’s backcourt if it keeps clicking at this rate.
