Alabama finishes the regular season at 21-6 and 16-2 in the SEC, tied for most conference wins in program history. What a weird, wild, eventful, sloppy, and whatever other adjective you want to use game. At the half, Alabama had more turnovers than field goals and shot below 30% from the FT line but was only down by 6. They started the 2nd half on fire to go up by 7 and never relinquished the lead after that, and lead by as many as 12. Let's be honest, Alabama honestly had their way with UGA today, but kept getting in their own way. Alabama had 21 turnovers on the day and hardly any of them were from good defense by UGA, but by silly and careless mistakes that Alabama made. If you only count the 2nd half, the Tide were on pace for 118 points and they should've score more than 100 again today. I stated earlier today that UGA is a team that Alabama typically destroys, and it showed today why that is. Not many teams in the country can speed the pace up and run with Alabama. UGA even played one of their best offensive games of the year hitting 13 threes and shooting 47% from the field, but still couldn't keep up.
It may sound weird, but Alabama's defense cam up huge this game. Georgia did score 79 points, but the constant forced turnovers and defensive stops at the end of the first half and the start of the 2nd half is what gave Alabama the lead they never relinquished. Herb Jones will be the SEC Defensive Player of the Year by a wide margin and he made some incredible plays on three consecutive possessions in crunch time. Quinerly is making it tough for Nate Oats to continue to have him come off the bench, even though he likely has the SEC 6th Man of the Year locked down after this stretch he has had since coming back from his illness. While he still has a turnover problem, the offense seems to run smoother when he is at the point instead of multiple guys running point when he's on the bench. The defensive lineup wouldn't be good, but having JQ and Shack start in the backcourt would be the best route to take.
It didn't look promising when UGA took a 14 point lead in the first half, but you knew this team would fight back and that is just what they did. That is why this team is different. Their defense keeps them in games and their offense ends up winning it down the stretch, and vice versa in other games. Now, Alabama will face the winner of Kentucky and Miss St on Friday at 11 am. Alabama is not good in 11 am games or against UK in the SEC Tournament so it'll be a good time to buck those two trends. Kentucky played great today, but they played a South Carolina team that looks undesired and didn't play defense at all. Miss St has played Kentucky tough this year so I wouldn't count out the Bulldogs in this one. Either way, Alabama swept both teams this season so the confidence should be there. Gotta take it one game at a time now. ITS TOURNAMENT SEASON.
It may sound weird, but Alabama's defense cam up huge this game. Georgia did score 79 points, but the constant forced turnovers and defensive stops at the end of the first half and the start of the 2nd half is what gave Alabama the lead they never relinquished. Herb Jones will be the SEC Defensive Player of the Year by a wide margin and he made some incredible plays on three consecutive possessions in crunch time. Quinerly is making it tough for Nate Oats to continue to have him come off the bench, even though he likely has the SEC 6th Man of the Year locked down after this stretch he has had since coming back from his illness. While he still has a turnover problem, the offense seems to run smoother when he is at the point instead of multiple guys running point when he's on the bench. The defensive lineup wouldn't be good, but having JQ and Shack start in the backcourt would be the best route to take.
It didn't look promising when UGA took a 14 point lead in the first half, but you knew this team would fight back and that is just what they did. That is why this team is different. Their defense keeps them in games and their offense ends up winning it down the stretch, and vice versa in other games. Now, Alabama will face the winner of Kentucky and Miss St on Friday at 11 am. Alabama is not good in 11 am games or against UK in the SEC Tournament so it'll be a good time to buck those two trends. Kentucky played great today, but they played a South Carolina team that looks undesired and didn't play defense at all. Miss St has played Kentucky tough this year so I wouldn't count out the Bulldogs in this one. Either way, Alabama swept both teams this season so the confidence should be there. Gotta take it one game at a time now. ITS TOURNAMENT SEASON.
