The 3-pointer: Three takeaways from Alabama's against Ole Miss
Alabama picked up its second win in conference play as it downed a struggling Ole Miss team 84-62 on Tuesday.
While the offense shined for a majority of the game, Alabama turned the ball over just seven times, the first time it was underneath the double-digit mark this season.
Here are three takeaways from Alabama's 12th win of the season.
Alabama's dominates from inside out
Coming into Tuesday's matchup, Alabama's length, especially in the front court became a focal point against an undersized Ole Miss team. It took 1:23 for Alabama to show off its height advantage as 7-footer Charles Bediako blocked a Myles Burnes layup out of bounds.
The block started a defensive trend for the Crimson Tide as it tallied all three of its first-half blocks within the first five minutes of the game. It also forced Ole Miss to make adjustments, settling for jump shots rather than driving to the basket. The change didn't faze the Crimson Tide, holding the Rebels to just 29% shooting while forcing seven turnovers.
"If you’re planning on competing for an SEC Championship, you’ve gotta take care of your home games," Oats said. "We got the one tonight. We’ve been making a big point of emphasis on the turnovers. The turnovers were down. I thought we were much better that way tonight. I thought our defense was decent. We were obviously aided by them not shooting the three well tonight. But I was a little disappointed with our effort once we kind of built the lead up there in the middle of the second half."
Alabama's first-half scoring run
Despite a slow start, when Alabama turned it on offensively there wasn't much Ole Miss could do to slow it down. With 9:26 left in the first half, Alabama turned a 3-for-10 shooting clip, into a 23-9 scoring run to end the half. During the run, the Crimson Tide missed just five shots from the floor, two of which were from behind the arc.
Brandon Miller was the ringleader during the scoring barrage tallying six points on 4-of-6 shooting. Along with Miller, Alabama found production from Mark Sears, Charles Bediako, Rylan Griffen and Jahvon Quinerly who all converted with at least two baskets during the run.
"Obviously, Brandon and Mark have been carrying the bulk of the scoring load for us throughout the games," Oats said. "But I think when you’ve got Jaden Bradley able to score the ball like he’s been, he’s been getting to the free-throw line, making free throws. Clowney’s been doing a good job for us. I think JQ’s starting to get his swagger back a little bit. He went 3-of-5 from three, which is great.
"When those guys are able to contribute like they did tonight, it takes some pressure off Brandon and Mark, which they’re not be able to shoot it every night. Like tonight, Brandon was only 2-of-6 from three, which is a pretty good night for most people, but he’d been a little bit better than that."
Bradley's second-half explosion
Similar to his teammates, Bradley couldn't find his range. The freshman struggled to take the proverbial lid off of the basket, scoring just three points and missing on all four of his attempts from the floor. His putrid start found him on the bench with 13:57 left in the first half and didn't see the floor again until the 8:39 mark.
The second half was a different story for the Rochester, New York native who scored 11 of his 14 points in the last 20 minutes of play. He was a staple at the free-throw line going an efficient 10-for-12 from the stripe which led the team to the victory.
"My teammates helped me stay confident," Bradley said. "Charles (Bediako) was big man and gave me a great screens to just get downhill to the basket and get into the line. So just my teammates just helped me."