Alabama earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament after outscoring its there opponents in the SEC Tournament — Mississippi State, Missouri, and Texas A&M — by a combined 53 points en route it its second conference title in three years.

Top-seeded Alabama will open play in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at 1:45 p.m. CT against the winner of the No. 16-seed matchup between Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi or Southeast Missouri State. Before things get tipped off for Alabama inside Birmingham's Legacy Arena this week, here's a look at two standout areas that led the Crimson Tide to the SEC Tournament title over the weekend.

Alabama sophomore center Charles Bediako was nothing short of terrific in the SEC Tournament. We can talk about his ability to run the floor in transition, provide value as a vertical lob threat and display aptness as a short roll passer. But most importantly, the 7-footer was undoubtedly the most intimidating defender on the court.

On this possession, Bediako is defending in drop defense and switches onto the attacking DeAndre Gholston. Still, Bediako’s presence at the basket deters Gholston from even going up with a shot.

Here, Bediako is once again defending in drop on this possession. However, he is forced to lift up near the free-throw line after Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV gets Noah Gurley on his hip. From there Bediako repositions his body late while using his length to defend verticality against 6-foot-9 Julius Marble.

On this play, Bediako flashes some of his aforementioned rim-running ability. He comes over from the weakside to block Taylor IV’s rim attempt before Brandon Miller grabs the rebound and dishes a shuffle pass to him for the layup.

As seen in this chart, Alabama goes from an above-average defense with Bediako on the bench to a 99th-percentile defense with Bediako on the court. Opponents are also shooting nearly 10 percentage points worse and attempting 2.4 fewer shots at the rim with Bediako as its primary rim protector.

Given the number of elite post-scorers in the NCAA Tournament, he’s likely the Crimson Tide’s second-most important player to a deep March run, behind Miller.

Brandon Miller’s scoring ability is well-documented. The nation’s top freshman averages 19.6 points with jaw-dropping efficiency and a highlight-driven 3-point prowess. However, the five-star forward's passing ability isn't discussed nearly enough.

Miller tallied 13 combined assists during the SEC Tournament, matching his career-high with five against Mississippi State before netting four against both Missouri and Texas A&M. That marked the first time this season he recorded three straight games with at least for assists.

On this possession, Miller delivers a one-handed, live-dribble skip pass to Dom Welch with impressive velocity and flare.

Here, Alabama quickly settles into its half-court offense with Miller at the forefront. Bediako slips the high ball screen, and Miller delivers an ever-so-smooth touch pass to the center on the roll.

Three weeks ago, Tide Illustrated dove into how opponents defend Miller in ball screens. In that film study, we noted that the forward ranked in the 19th percentile as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. Since then, he ranks in the 34th percentile — a very solid progression for the projected No. 3 NBA draft pick.

On this possession, Miller delivers a live-dribble shovel pass to Bediako who patiently repositions his body for the easy basket.

Here, Miller leverages his size to execute a two-handed stationary pass to freshman Noah Clowney on the cut.

This past weekend alone, Miller exhibited the ability to make a wide range of passes from skip passes, touch passes, shovel passes, and bullet passes. That development will only further his ability as a creator in the tournament and beyond.