What we learned as Alabama basketball defeats Mississippi State 80-75

By WVUA 23 Digital Reporter AJ Holliday

Alabama basketball faced the Mississippi State Bulldogs Wednesday night, the Crimson Tide left Coleman Coliseum with the win, 80-75. Bama wins its third straight game and improves to 17-9, 7-6 SEC. The Bulldogs lost its fourth consecutive game and falls to 14-11, 5-7 SEC.

Jahvon Quinerly led the team in scoring with 21 points as well as a team-high eight assists. Charles Bediako was the second leading scorer and he was dominant on both sides of the ball, finishing with 15 points and six blocks. Darius Miles and Jaden Shackelford each contributed 12 points.

It was a great game played by both teams as Alabama only led 34-30 at halftime. Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats was ejected with 8:37 remaining in the game after receiving his second technical foul, Oats received his first tech 52 seconds prior.

Here’s what we learned:

Jahvon Quinerly found his confidence

After going three consecutive games without scoring double-digits, Quinerly led the team in scoring and did a great job distributing the ball. Quinerly came up huge in the clutch hitting a 2-point jumpshot that put Bama up five with 1:42 left in the game.

Alabama avoids a bad loss

After losing to the Bulldogs earlier in the season, the Crimson Tide were able to get revenge. The team did a great job of guarding Iverson Molinar, the Bulldogs leading scorer. Molinar led his team in scoring with 22 points, but shot 7-of-20 and 1-for-5 from the 3-point line. The Tide defense played well as a whole, forcing Mississippi State to shoot 36% from the field.

Alabama found energy after Oats’ ejection

The Crimson Tide found themselves down 60-57 after Molinar’s two free-throws for Oats’ second tech. Bama would go on to finish the game on a 23-15 run. Assistant coach Charlie Henry did a fantastic job as the acting head coach making key adjustments and rotations to win the game.