Alabama Feasts on Florida to Stay Undefeated in SEC Play
No. 3 Alabama (21-3, 11-0) defeated Florida (13-11, 6-5) 97-69 to improve to 11-0 in league play for the first time since 1955-56.
"We played a lot more like we are accustomed to playing," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game. "When we're locked in and our effort is there we're a really good team."
The Crimson Tide finished the game 36-73 from the field (49%) and 15-34 (44%) from three. Florida was held to 22-63 (35%) shooting from the field.
The Crimson Tide led wire-to-wire against the Gators and had a 25-4 run in the first half which was capped by a Rylan Griffen three to put Alabama ahead 40-15 with six minutes left in the half.
The lead was extended to 29 points heading into halftime with Alabama ahead 52-23 going into the break.
Alabama's leading scorer Brandon Miller had another phenomenal night. The star freshman scored 24 points on 9-17 shooting. He was 4-8 from beyond the arc and is now 44.17% on 3-point attempts for the season. This is the 12th highest percentage by an individual nationally.
Miller finished one rebound shy of a double-double (9) and had three assists including this alley-oop pass that got the home crowd on its feet in the second half:
Jahvon Quinerly had another strong night off the bench for Alabama. He scored 11 points and made three shots from deep. He also tallied five or more assists (5) for the third straight game.
Florida's season leading scorer Colin Castleton had an excellent night for the Gators. The big man scored 29 points and added 10 rebounds to collect a double-double. Despite the high numbers, Miller praised Bediako after the game for hanging tough on defense against an elite SEC center.
"Big shout out to Charles for playing his butt off against probably one of the biggest, probably the best center in the SEC right now," Miller said.
Forward Noah Clowney left the game with 9:47 left in the second half after bumping into Castleton and did not return. Oats said that it is just a facial injury and that Clowney does not have a concussion. Oats assumes he will be ready to play against Auburn on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide will travel across the state to face off against the Tigers this Saturday at 1 p.m. The team will then travel to No. 6 Tennessee the following Wednesday.
"If we get to 14-0 [in conference play] that'd be great," Oats said. "That's not gonna be easy with these next two road games."