The 3-pointer: Three takeaways from Alabama's win over Mississippi State

For the 26th time in program history, Alabama went 3-0 against an SEC opponent in a season. On Friday, the Crimson Tide completed the trifecta as it downed Mississippi State 72-49, marking the fifth time since 1914-15 and the first time since the 2020 campaign it has swept a three-game season series against the Bulldogs.

With the win, Alabama advances to face the winner of Tennessee-Missouri.

Here are three takeaways from Friday's win.

After three-straight games of being Alabama's sparkplug off the bench, Jahvon Quinerly was finally rewarded for his efforts. On Friday, the SEC Sixth Man of the Year got his first start of the season and he took full advantage.

In 17 minutes, Quinerly tallied eight points on 3 of 5 shooting along with a 2-for-4 mark from behind the arc. He was so in rhythm, the senior didn't miss a shot until the 11-minute mark of the first half as he sported a true shooting percentage of 133% during that stretch.

“I thought we were a little more aggressive,” Oats told ESPN at halftime when asked about the switch. “I mean, he hit the 3. We added another shooter. I just felt like we were a little stagnant, the floor didn’t get spaced as much. I thought Jaden’s better off when we play Brandon at the four and Clowney at the five and the floor can get spaced a little more. I thought Jaden was good in his minutes, too.”

Quinerly was one of four players who finished the game in double digits, finishing with 10 points of 4 of 9 shooting.

Despite going 25 of 116 from behind the 3-point line over its last four games, Oats was far from concerned about his team's shooting struggles. During the team's week off, Oats shared that Alabama set a practice record during a 3-point shooting drill and said the team's offensive production would show up on Friday.

He was right as Alabama came out firing on all cylinders in the first half.

The Crimson Tide shot 45% from the field and 40% from behind the arc. The offense opened up a 20-point lead at the half thanks to its 3-point shooting as Alabama tallied the same number of 3-pointers (8) as Mississippi State field goals (8).

The Crimson Tide finished the game with 72 points against the Bulldogs which marks the second time Alabama has crossed that mark against its Highway 82 rivals. Mississippi State allowed 70 points or more just seven times this season.

While offensive struggles dominated the headlines last week, Alabama was struggling on defense. Over its last four games, the Crimson Tide yielded an average of 77 points per game, way over the team's season average of 68 points per game allowed. On Friday, Alabama returned to its stingy defensive play which ranks it third in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.

Mississippi State and its offense which ranks 163rd in the country tallied just 49 points its lowest-point total this season. Part of the struggles was the Bulldogs' inefficiency to score in the paint. Mississippi State went 7-for-21 which was mostly highlighted by Tolu Smith's 2-for-5 mark from the field. Despite scoring 13 points, Smith and Dashawn Davis were the only two players to score in double digits.