Alabama basketball avoids scare against Georgia

The Alabama men’s basketball team now sits at 15-6 (7-1 SEC) on the year, but Wednesday night’s road matchup against Georgia was anything but easy. With the 85-76 win, the Crimson Tide remain in first in the SEC, and the importance of that cannot be overstated with the conference schedule almost halfway over.

How It Happened

Alabama had an ugly start in this one. And by ugly, I mean that Georgia was able to get off to a 17-2 lead in the first eight minutes. The Tide finally started scoring points from there, but they weren’t able to keep the Bulldogs from matching, which led to 28-12 deficit with just under seven minutes to go in the first half. Things didn’t get any better by halftime either, as UA went into the locker room down 41-27 while shooting just 42.9% from the field and 18.2% from three-point land.

We did see more of a back and forth start to the second, but Alabama eventually got things going and outscored Georgia 38-17 over the final 10 minutes. Not only that, but the team was much more efficient over the last 20 minutes, hitting 62.5% from the field and a whopping 50% (6-of-12) from beyond the arc. Given the circumstances, it was an impressive comeback in a hostile environment.

Players of the Game

Alabama’s offense exploded in the second half with Mark Sears once again leading the way. After scoring just four points over the first 20 minutes while shooting 33.3%, the veteran guard put up an outstanding 19 points over the final 20 minutes, which gave him 23 for the game. That includes hitting 75% of his shots (and three-point attempts) while adding four rebounds, three assists and a steal in just the second half alone.

Here’s his entire statline for the evening:

Grant Nelson was also fantastic on the offensive end for Alabama. He posted his first 20-point game since the Tide had faced Ohio State back on Nov. 24. And of those 20 points, 14 of them came in the second half alone. The North Dakota State transfer also added three rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Rylan Griffen and Aaron Estrada were the other guys who score in the double digits, posting 12 and 11 points respectively.

Key Stats

Alabama won the turnover battle in a major way on Wednesday. Despite being the road team, the Crimson Tide only coughed it up nine times while the Bulldogs turned it over on 19 separate occasions. That made a big difference in the game, especially with UA only having three turnovers in the second half (UGA had eight). Anytime you can get that sort of discrepency, it’s going to present opportunities for separation — or in this case, a comeback.

What’s Next

Alabama’s schedule isn’t going to get any easier. Next up is a Mississippi State team that’s lost five of its last seven games, but then it’s back-to-back road trips to play No. 16 Auburn and LSU. Obviouslly, the Bulldogs of the SEC West come first though. That game is set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (8:30 ET). It will air on the SEC Network.

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