Full-Court Press: Takeaways from Alabama Basketball in Second Round of NCAA Tournament
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama basketball once again won an NCAA Tournament game by over 20 points, this time defeating 8-seed Maryland 73-51 in the second round en route to the Crimson Tide's second Sweet 16 appearance in three years.
While the result and margin of victory were the same, the journey to getting there compared to the first round against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi were quite different.
Here are some of my thoughts on the game:
1. Brandon Miller looked back to normal.
There were some concerns about Brandon Miller after he recorded zero points on 0-for-5 shooting against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday.
During Friday's meetings with the media, head coach Nate Oats said that Miller was still dealing with a groin injury that he suffered in the SEC Championship last Sunday, and many other outlets reported that he would not be 100 percent healthy for this game.
Miller ended up playing, and he looked like his normal self.
It took him a few minutes of gametime to get settled in, but ultimately he finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, good for Alabama's second-leading scorer behind Jahvon Quinerly.
He was also responsible for the most exciting sequence of the game early in the second half, when he rose up to emphatically block a Maryland shot on the defensive end and found himself wide open on the ensuing runout in transition, nailing a 3-pointer to the delight of the Legacy Arena crowd.
The only knock on his game was his efficiency from the floor, as he made just five of his 17 shots in the game, but he followed up a few of his misses with offensive rebounds and made seven of his eight free throws in the game.
If Miller's groin was still bothering him and hindering his play, I certainly couldn't tell, and that's a huge positive for Alabama entering the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
2. Alabama better embraced physicality.
One of the biggest knocks on Alabama this year has been its ability to handle teams that play physical defense and take away the 3-pointer.
UConn did an excellent job of this in its 15-point win over Alabama back in November, and most recently it was Tennessee that got the better of the Crimson Tide in Knoxville with a physical style of play.
Maryland only allowed eight 3-point attempts for Alabama in the first half and 21 overall for the game. The Crimson Tide is a team that typically shoots nearly 30 threes a game, so the Terrapins put an emphasis on running Alabama off the 3-point line and playing physical with the Crimson Tide's guards to prevent perimeter scoring.
Instead of faltering, Alabama accepted that challenge and started to find success in the paint instead. The Crimson Tide scored 28 points in the paint and 21 points from the free throw line, battling Maryland's physicality and matching it with some of its own.
Alabama won the rebounding battle by 12 and the offensive rebounding battle by seven, further showing how Alabama imposed its will on the glass.
Over the course of the second half, it wasn't until the game was already out of hand that Quinerly started knocking down a few threes in succession. To get to that point, it was a slow process of Alabama working for every point it could get, but before you knew it you looked up and Alabama was up by 15 points without it even feeling like it went on a run.
It just shows another way this Alabama team can get a win, and how multifaceted it is, which leads me to my final point:
3. Same destination, different journey.
Alabama has won two games so far in the NCAA Tournament, both with very similar results: a 21- and a 22-point win.
The way we got to each one, though, was very different.
The first game, Alabama scored 96 points, the second game, it only gave up 51 points. The first game, Brandon Miller scored zero and the bench scored 49, the second game, Miller and Quinerly combined for over half of Alabama's scoring themselves.
The first game, Alabama made 15 3-pointers at a 45 percent clip, the second game, Alabama only made six shots from beyond the arc.
Same results, different journey. I think you get the idea.
Alabama's first two games of the NCAA Tournament have been a microcosm of what's made it great all season: its ability to win in different ways.
The Crimson Tide has yet to play back-to-back games as differently as the first two of this tournament, yet both times Alabama cruised to a 20-point victory and a ticket to the next round of play.
This Alabama team can overcome nearly any challenge, answer any style of play, and find any way it needs to in order to get a win over whoever is in the way.
There is no better example of that than what we saw this weekend in Birmingham.
See also:
Everything Nate Oats, Alabama Basketball Said After Win over Maryland
Alabama Basketball Returns to its Roots, Suffocating Maryland With Defense
