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Mississippi State
SEC CHAMPIONS | Alabama Men’s Basketball Clinches Regular-Season SEC Title with 64-59 Win at Mississippi State
2/27/2021 8:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide clinched its first regular-season championship in 19 years
STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 6/7 Alabama men's basketball team beat Mississippi State, 64-59, Saturday night to clinch the 2021 Southeastern Conference regular-season championship. It is the program's first conference title in 19 years dating back to the 2001-02 season.
Guard Jahvon Quinerly led the Crimson Tide with a game-high 19 points off the bench, while guard Jaden Shackelford added 15 points and six rebounds. Forward Herbert Jones pulled down a season-best 14 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
Alabama improved to 19-6 overall and 14-2 in SEC play with the win. The 14 wins in league play is tied for the fifth-most in program history.
Gallery: 02-27-21 MBB vs MSU
Coach Oats Postgame Comments
"I'm really proud of our guys. It's not easy to win SEC Championships. I thought our kids played really hard, that's the hardest we've played in a long time. They did what we asked them to do. The offense didn't come easy. Give Mississippi State a lot of credit they made it hard to score and they hung in there and made it a tight game, but our kids rebounded the ball and played hard, diving on the floor for loose ball and taking charges. I thought our defensive effort was the best we've had in a long time. We'll get the offense fixed hopefully next week. I'm just really proud of the guys, because SEC Championships don't come easy."
Team Stats
- Alabama clinched its eighth regular-season SEC title with the 64-59 victory
- The Tide improved to 15-0 this season when holding the lead at halftime
- Mississippi State shot 41 percent (24-of-59) to the Tide's 32 percent (21-of-65), but Alabama went 7-of-28 from the three-point line and limited the Bulldogs to 1-of-12 shooting beyond the arc
- After shooting only eight free throws in its last contest, Alabama knocked down 15-of-17 from the charity stripe while Mississippi State hit 10-of-17
- Alabama won the rebounding battle 45-40 leading to 19 fast-break points and 11 steals
- The Crimson Tide bench was outstanding with 36 points while the Bulldogs' reserves scored just five
- Quinerly finished the contest with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point land
Say it with us... SEC CHAMPS #RollTide | #BlueCollarBasketball pic.twitter.com/FrKWC6EjsJ
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) February 28, 2021
First Half
- The game got off to a slow start with both teams combining to score just 11 points (Alabama 6, Mississippi State) through the first 7-plus minutes
- Things stayed close before a 15-1 Crimson Tide run over a span of 5:14 extended the UA lead to 20-9 with 7:11 left to go in the opening stanza
- Alabama and Mississippi State swapped baskets over the next few minutes with the Tide up 24-14 at the under-4-minute media time out
- The Bulldogs cut the lead to 27-19, but Alabama outscored State 7-2 in the final two minutes to take its largest lead of the half into the locker room, 34-21
- Jahvon Quinerly led Alabama with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc
Second Half
- The Bulldogs started the second half with an 8-2 run to cut the Tide lead to seven at the 17:45 mark
- The Tide and Mississippi State went back-and-forth the next few minutes with Alabama leading 49-41 with 11:51 left in the final stanza
- Mississippi State used a 10-2 run to shrink the Tide’s lead to 56-53 with 4:17 remaining
- The game went scoreless until the final :43 seconds of the game with both teams trading baskets down the stretch and Alabama coming away with the 64-59 victory to clinch the SEC regular-season title
- Alabama held the Bulldogs scoreless from 4:17 to :38 and knocked down 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to get the win
Get the Official SEC Champs Locker Room Gear!https://t.co/T0stKYuhTh#RollTide pic.twitter.com/fHSeTpk6kD
— Alabama Athletics (@UA_Athletics) February 28, 2021
Up Next
- The Tide will host its final home game of the season on Tuesday, March 2, when it takes on in-state rival Auburn
- The game is set for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff inside Coleman Coliseum and will be broadcast on ESPN2
For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
