Jahvon Quinerly Impactful in Return to Alabama Starting Lineup

Quinerly's typical March form was on full display in Alabama's 72-49 victory over the Bulldogs in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

Joey Blackwell | Mar 10, 2023

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Alabama Crimson Tide

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Three things are certain in life for Alabama basketball fans: death, taxes and Jahvon Quinerly playing his best basketball of the season in the month of March.

On Friday afternoon in the 1-seed Crimson Tide's 72-49 win over 9-seed Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, the story was no different for Quinerly: 10 points, two rebounds, four assists and two steals. It wasn't just his performance on a stat sheet, though: diving for loose balls and displaying effort on both ends of the floor was on full display by Quinerly — something that every team facing Alabama for the rest of the season will have to take into account in their game prep.

"I don't know what it is," Quinerly grinned in a crowded Alabama locker room after the game. "You feel a tension in the air when March comes around. When you're with your team, when you're practicing — it just feels like everything means more. I've always been the type of person to rise to the occasion, and knowing that I did it two years ago.

"Seeing that and knowing I can do it, that helps my confidence."

Over the past four games, Alabama has trailed its opponents at the under-16 timeout in the first half in each contest. Additionally, the Crimson Tide has also trailed at halftime in each of those games — neither of which happened on Friday.

For the first time this season, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats opted to start Quinerly — ironically in his first game since being named the Southeastern Conference's Co-Sixth-Man of the Year. Over its past several games, slow starts have plagued Alabama, resulting in four-straight games where the Crimson Tide trailed at halftime.

A slow start was not the case on Friday. Right out of the gate, Quinerly sank the first 3-pointer of the game. Several minutes later, he hit another. By halftime, Quinerly had amassed 8 points, a rebound, an assist and two steals.

"We made a changeup in the lineup, obviously — took our Sixth-Man of the Year in the SEC and put him in the starting lineup," Oats said. "I just thought we were struggling offensively to start games. You know, we'd get to the end at the four-minute media timeout [with] two points, three points.

"Today we started 13 to 6, so it made sense."

Quinerly's halftime numbers didn't tell the whole story, though. With just over a minute left in the first half, Quinerly dove for a loose ball that gave the Crimson Tide the basketball back, resulting in a resounding cheer from not just the crowd, but also an eruption from the Alabama bench. The change in possession led to two scoring opportunities in the final minute, both of which were 3-pointers.

The change at starting guard was successful for Alabama, but the switch tells more about the team than just how it can benefit from a personnel change in the game's opening minutes. While most freshmen would likely opt to start even in the midst of an off streak, Oats said that it was actually usual starter, freshman guard Jaden Bradley, who approached him and proposed that Quinerly replace him to start the game.

"Jaden came to me last night and tole me he thought I should start Jahvon," Oats said. "That's the kind of group we've got: guys are willing to do whatever they need to do to help the team be better. So then me and JQ and Jaden Bradley sat down and had a discussion."

According to Bradley himself, the decision to not start the game was the natural choice.

"I'm a team guy and I just wanted to help our team get to a better start in the game," Bradley said. "I felt like Q could do that for us. [...] He's a great leader. He's been through a lot. Just teaching me different stuff that he sees and I can add to my game, he's making me better and pushing me and helping me be a great guy."

If you remove last year's NCAA Tournament loss to Notre Dame — the game in which Quinerly suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first half — Quinerly averaged 14.3 points per game in the month of March. In the Crimson Tide's 2021 run to the Sweet 16, he averaged 15.13 points per game.

Since March 1 this season, that averaged has bumped up to 15.3 points per game.

"It's crazy because I watched the first 15 minutes of our first NCAA Tournament game last year — when I got hurt," Quinerly said about his uptick in performance during the Month of March. "And I think the first play of the game, I had the ball, I came down, I made a play to [Charles Bediako].

"I saw it in my face. Watching it on TV, I saw it in my face. I'm like [imitates wide grin] — I was getting in that zone."

From this point on for the remainder of the season, Alabama's games signify one-and-done. On Saturday, the Crimson Tide will take on either 4-seed Missouri or 5-seed Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals. Should it win, it will advance to Sunday's championship game. Should it lose, it will await its assigned seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Regardless of how much of Alabama's season is left, Quinerly's success in the month of March will likely be a big factor in just how far the Crimson Tide goes.

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