How Alabama Switched Momentum in Second Half to Beat Missouri

Nate Oats lit a fire under his team early in the second half, and they responded to punch their ticket in the SEC Tournament finals.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nate Oats had seen enough. Alabama was forced to call a timeout a little over a minute into the second half because it couldn't inbound the ball. 

The Alabama head coach was not pleased at all with his team's effort in the early-going of the second half in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament against Missouri Saturday afternoon in Bridgestone Arena.  

"Coach was upset with us," senior guard Jahvon Quinerly said. "He jumped on us just because he felt our energy wasn't where it was supposed to be. And that kind of got us going."

Immediately out of the timeout, Alabama turned the ball over, and it led to an and-1 for the Tigers, but Brandon Miller answered with an and-1 of his own on the other end for the Crimson Tide. 

A few plays later, with Alabama trailing 39-38, Noah Clowney converted an and-1 opportunity to give the Crimson Tide the lead for good on the way to the 72-61 win. 

"We came out slow, very slow," Clowney said. "We weren’t upset about the shot that they came out and scored. We were more upset about the energy that we came out with. So we got in the huddle, made adjustments, fixed the energy, and things started going well for us.

According to Charles Bediako, the messaging from Oats really started back at halftime, not just in the early timeout. Alabama was up by as much as 10 in the first half, but Missouri cut the deficit to just two points heading into the locker room. D'Moi Hodge hit a tough 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring right before the half.

"Honestly he came in the locker room at halftime saying right now they’re playing harder than us," Bediako said. "We’ve just got to get the energy turned up and get stops and defense because they were making some shots early, just kind of getting what they wanted. I think everyone got the message, and it showed in the second half.”

Alabama was horrendous from beyond the arc in the first half, shooting 2 for 15 with both makes coming from Clowney. After Clowney's and-1, Miller hit his first 3-pointer of the game, followed by another from him and Clowney, and Alabama blew the game open. 

After going 13 percent from 3 in the first half, the Crimson Tide shot 50 percent in the second half with Miller and Clowney leading the charge. Alabama also got a clutch 3-pointer from Noah Gurley. The string of 3-pointers got the Crimson Tide crowd inside Bridgestone Arena back into the game. 

But it wasn't just the 3-point shot that helped Alabama retake the lead and win the game. It was also the defense. The Crimson Tide held the Tigers to just 31 percent from the floor in the second half. Rylan Griffen did not score any points in the win, but had four rebounds and the highest plus/minus of any player on the team at plus 21. 

Miller said the biggest play of the game was the charge Clowney took on Missouri's Kobe Brown shortly after the Tigers had started to get back into the game. 

"The thing with us is, we’re going to defend regardless," Clowney said after the game. "Defending is the base line— that’s how we’re going to win games. Whether the whole team is making 3s or just a couple guys, that's just the margin of victory.”

See also:

No. 1 Alabama Basketball Secures SEC Title Game Berth with 72-61 Win over No. 4 Missouri

Everything Nate Oats, Alabama Basketball Said After Defeating Missouri

Noah Clowney Asserts Dominance Over Kobe Brown in Semifinal Win Over No. 4 Missouri