Alabama
#18 Texas A&M
SEC Tournament Champions! Alabama Defeats Texas A&M 82-63 to Win Second SEC Tournament Title in Three Years
3/12/2023 4:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Brandon Miller was named SEC Tournament MVP, Jahvon Quinerly and Charles Bediako named to All-Tournament team
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 4/5 Alabama men's basketball team claimed the 2023 SEC Tournament championship Sunday afternoon, defeating No. 18/18 Texas A&M, 82-63, in the title game inside Bridgestone Arena. With the win, the Crimson Tide has swept both the league's regular season and tournament title for the second time in the past three years.
It marks the eighths SEC Tournament championship in school history and the program's 17th SEC title (nine regular season titles).
The top-seeded Tide (29-5) led the second-seeded Aggies (25-9) wire-to-wire en route to the 19-point win. Alabama extended its program-record setting win total to 29 and surpassed the all-time record for points scored in a season that was set just over 20 years ago in the 2000-01 season (2,794 points in 34 games).
Brandon Miller, who finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals Sunday, was named the tournament's most outstanding player. Both Jahvon Quinerly, the 2021 SEC Tournament MVP, and Charles Bediako were also named to the all-tournament team. Quinerly finished with 22 points, while Bediako added 12 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks in the win.
The Crimson Tide began the game on fire on both ends of the floor, opening up a 16-8 lead while shooting 67 percent (6-of-9) from the field in the first five minutes, extending the lead to 31-15 on the strength of a 19-8 run. Alabama's defense prevented the Aggies from making a shot from the field for 10:34 of game time, holding the A&M offense to just 21 percent (6-of-29) in the half to establish a 34-25 lead at the break.
Texas A&M had three players in double figures, led by Dexter Dennis with 14 points.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"It was a hard-fought contest. Hard to open the thing up. I mean, they're a tough, great team. We just lost to them eight days ago. We challenged our guards, we had to do better. Last time we played them, their starting backcourt with (Wade) Taylor, (Tyrece) Radford and (Dexter) Dennis were all in double figures. So, we really challenged our guards, we had to do better. I thought we did a great job on some of the opposing team's best players in this tournament. Couldn't be happier for the guys. Our bus ride home from Nashville will be a lot more fun now that we got a win."
Team Stats
- Brandon Miller (23) and Jahvon Quinerly (22) combined to score 45 of the Crimson Tide's 82 points on the night
- Miller earned his ninth double-double of the year – and second of the tournament – while Bediako collected his second double-double this season
- Miller averaged 19.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists across the Tide's three tournament games, while shooting 46 percent from beyond the arc
- The Tide has now won the SEC regular season and tournament titles in two of the last three seasons marking the first time in program history that has occurred (2021 and 2023)
- Nate Oats owns a 6-1 record in the SEC tournament in his three appearance at the event (2020 tournament was cancelled)
- The win marked Oats' first victory over Texas A&M and he now owns a win over every team in the conference
- Alabama has won six consecutive games inside Bridgestone Arena, and seven of the last eight dating back to 2018
- Charles Bediako earned his second-career double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, scoring in double figures for the third consecutive game and the seventh time this season
- Bediako also recorded five blocks in the title game, contributing to 11 total blocks throughout the course of the tournament
- Bediako and Miller's double-doubles mark the first time since Nov. 7, 2022, vs. Longwood that Alabama has had two players achieve the feat in the same game (Miller and Mark Sears)
- Alabama now has seven wins over top-25 opponents this season
- This is Alabama's first victory over Texas A&M since March 8, 2018, in the SEC Tournament
First Half
- Alabama came out of the gate hot offensively, making four from beyond the arc and shooting 67 percent (6-of-9) from the field in the opening five minutes to establish a 16-7 lead at the first media timeout
- The Tide went on a 19-8 run to open up a commanding 31-15 lead with 4:36 remaining in the half
- The Aggies closed out the opening period on an 8-3 run to cut UA's lead to 34-23 at the intermission
- UA's defense prevented the Aggies from making a shot from the field for over ten consecutive minutes of the first half, holding them to just 21 percent (6-of-29) in the opening stanza
- After only scoring one point in Saturday's semifinal matchup, Jahvon Quinerly led all scorers at the break with 13 first-half points, beginning the game 3-of-3 from beyond the arc
- Charles Bediako pulled down eight rebounds, with Brandon Miller also contributing six boards
- Texas A&M made 83 percent (10-of-12) from the charity strike, with 10 of the Aggies' 23 first-half points coming from free throws
- The Tide recorded 10 points in the paint compared to just four from A&M
- Alabama shot 41 percent (11-of-27) from the field, compared to just 21 percent (6-of-29) for Texas A&M
Second Half
- The Aggies went on a 6-0 run to cut the Alabama lead to nine, 47-38, with 13:14 left to play
- Noah Clowney and Brandon Miller hit back-to-back threes within 30 seconds to extend the Tide lead to 64-48 with 6:46 remaining, forcing an Aggie timeout
- Alabama went on an 17-2 run over 4:57 to establish its largest lead of the game at 25, 75-50, with 4:07 to play
- Miller contributed 15 points in the second stanza
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