Live Updates: Alabama Basketball vs Ole Miss

The Crimson Tide host the Rebels in both teams' SEC opener on Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum

Second Half

• Alabama defeats Ole Miss, 82-64. Quinerly finished with a game-high 24 points and five rebounds. The Crimson Tide held the Rebels to only 33 percent from the field and seven percent from three-point range. 

• With 1:10 left, the walk-ons have entered the game for Alabama.

• Both teams have gone cold. Ole Miss has only made one of its last eight shots, while Alabama hasn't scored from the field in almost three minutes.

• Still 76-60 at the final media timeout of the evening. Petty has four fouls along with Rojas and Bruner.

• Quinerly finishes at the rim for the layup and the Crimson Tide is up by 16, 76-60, with 4:13 remaining. He has 23 points of 8-of-14 shooting.

• Jones is called for a charge and that's his fifth of the night. He is gone.

• Primo scores two and Alabama is up by 14, 70-56, with 6:15 to go.

• Buffen just fouled out 15 points and eight boards. His foul sends Primo to the line. 

• Petty's hits again from deep and Alabama is back out in front by 13. That's his third triple of the game.

• Over the last minute of action, the Rebels have gone on a 7-0 run to cut Alabama's lead to eight, 63-55. Ole Miss has made its last three shots from the field. Oats calls a timeout. 7:58 to go.

• He completes the three-point play. Ole Miss still trails 63-51. 

• White comes down the lane and throws down a one-handed jam. He was fouled, too.

• Quinerly and Primo score back-to-back baskets and Davis calls a timeout for Ole Miss. Alabama leads the Rebels 63-48 with 9:07 on the clock.

• Rojas now has four fouls after he hacks White. White can only make one of two.

• Rodriguez stops the bleeding for the Rebels with a layup. Ole Miss hadn't scored in over five minutes.

• Quinerly drives and scores the layup and completes the three-point play in the process. Biggest lead of the night for Alabama at 15, 59-45. 10:37 to go.

• Rodriguez misses the front end of a one-and-one and Petty comes down and hits a triple to Alabama up by double-digits.

• At the under-12 timeout, Alabama leads 53-45. 

• Ole Miss hasn't scored from the field over the last 4:12 of action. It has missed its last six shots from the field.

• Shuler makes both technical shots to cut into Alabama's advantage. It's now 53-45 Crimson Tide.

• Rojas has been charged with a technical foul and Shuler is headed back to the line. 

• Jones is called for his fourth foul on the loose ball. Rojas is coming in for him.

• Petty just recorded his third foul of the night with 13:14 to go. However, Shuler misses both foul shots.

• White is shooting two foul shots as we come out of the break. He scores one. Alabama's lead is at six, 49-43.

• Ole Miss has made its last three shots from the field. The Rebels trail Alabama, 49-42 at the first media break with 15:06 on the clock.

• Petty and Jones are back in for Alabama.

• Buffen muscles his way into the lane for a tough basket as he is fouled. He completes the three-point play. 47-40 Alabama at the 16:21 mark.

• Reese is the Crimson Tide's first sub of this half.

• Quinerly opens this half with a three-point basket and a foul shot. He is up to 14 points on the night. Alabama leads 47-35.

• Alabama begins this half with a turnover from Bruner. Ole Miss turns it over too, to start the final 20 minutes. 

• Quinerly will start the second half instead of Jones for Alabama.

First Half

🚫 pic.twitter.com/D8JVJub6yZ

— Alabama Athletics (@UA_Athletics) December 30, 2020

• Quinerly leads the Crimson Tide with 10 points and two rebounds while Buffen has 10 points for the visitors. Ole Miss has out-rebounded Alabama, 21-20. 

• Reese throws a lop up to Petty who slams it in the basket. Alabama leads Ole Miss 43-34 at intermission.

• Quinerly makes both shots and Buffen responds with a mid-range jumper for the Rebels. 15 seconds left.

• Reese just had a huge chase-down block on Shuler's layup attempt. Quinerly is fouled on the other end and he'll shoot two.

• Reese's two free throws put Alabama up nine, 39-30.

• Shackelford only makes 1-of-3 from the line to put Alabama up by seven. The Crimson Tide is shooting 33 percent from the free-throw line.

• Shackelford is fouled on a three-point attempt and we will head to the final media break of the game. Alabama leads Ole Miss, 34-26, with 3:51 to go.

• The Crimson Tide's lead has now grown to 12, 34-22.

• Quite the sequence for Alabama right there. Reese gets a thunderous put-back dunk, then Ole Miss commits its 11th turnover, leading to a three-pointer from Ellis. 

• Jones is currently at the line shooting two. He can only score one. Alabama by seven, 29-22. 

• Rojas makes his first appearance tonight and he scores an easy layup after corralling the pass from Jones. 

• Reese nails a three from the corner and Alabama is back up by six, 26-20.

• Joiner scores two from the charity stripe after the timeout.

• Petty has the ball stolen from him and Joiner converts the mid-range jumper for Ole Miss. Alabama only leads by five, 23-18, at the under-eight minute media timeout.

• White only makes one of two at the line.

• Bruner picks up his second foul which puts the Rebels in the bonus.

• Alabama is now in the bonus after that last foul by Buffen. Quinerly misses the front end of the one-and-one.

• Ole Miss converts yet another turnover, which leads to Quinerly scoring a three-point basket for the Crimson Tide off of Petty's assist. Quinerly has eight points.

• Ellis gets the offensive rebound and passes it up to Primo who scores the layup. 20-11 Alabama at the 10:22 mark. Davis calls another timeout for the Rebels.

• Out of the break, Murrell makes two foul shots to cut the deficit to seven.

• Petty responds with a three-pointer from the right corner and the Crimson Tide leads 18-9. 11:53 on the clock.

• Sy gets a steal off of Reese then throws it up to Shuler who slams it home for Ole Miss. 

• The Rebels have four turnovers over the last 3:47 minutes of action.

• Quinerly buries a three and Alabama has its biggest lead of the game at eight, 15-7, with 12:45 to go.

• Ole Miss can't convert underneath the basket, which leads to Petty scoring a layup on the other end.

• Alex Reese and Juwan Gary check in for Alabama.

• The Crimson Tide has made four of its first six shots from the field. Ole Miss winning the rebound battle early, 5-2.

• At the first media timeout of the night, Alabama leads Ole Miss, 10-5. 15:25 remaining.

• Petty has now entered the game for the Crimson Tide.

• Quinerly air balls a three-pointer and the Rebels answer with a layup on the other end from White. 8-5 UA.

• Murrell stops the bleeding with a three-pointer after the break.

• After the Ole Miss turnover, Shackelford hits from deep and Alabama now owns an 8-0 advantage. Davis calls a timeout. 17:20 on the clock.

• Quinerly checked in for Jones after his second foul. He drives by the Ole Miss defender for the easy two. 5-0 Crimson Tide.

• After the Rebels miss from deep, Bruner knocks down a triple and gets Alabama on the board, 3-0.

• Jones quickly picks up his second foul on a block that Alabama fans wanted a charge. Two quick ones for Alabama's best defender.

• Jones gets a steal but is then called for a charge on the other end.

• Ole Miss wins the tip.

Pregame

• It is the first start for Ellis of his Crimson Tide career.

• Alabama starters: Herbert Jones, Jordan Bruner, Josh Primo, Jaden Shackelford, and Keon Ellis. 

• Ole Miss starters: Devontae Shuler, Austin Crowley, Luis Rodriguez, KJ Buffen, and Romello White.

• Tonight's officials are Joe Lindsay, Steven Anderson, and Brian Shey.

• Both teams are wrapping up preliminary warmups. For Alabama, both sophomore guard John Petty Jr. and junior forward James Rojas are dressed out and warming up. Both players were unavailable last Tuesday night against ETSU, a last-minute coaching decision by Nate Oats.

Game Preview

Polar opposites? These two teams might be just that.

When Alabama hosts Ole Miss on Tuesday night (8 p.m. CT, SEC Network), in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams, the high-paced Crimson Tide will have a different kind of Rebels at Coleman Coliseum.

Statistically, Ole Miss has the nation’s best scoring defense, with opponents averaging just 52.7 points per game. It leads the SEC in scoring defense (52.7), turnovers forced per game (20.5) and field goal percentage defense (35.6).

The Rebels have allowed the fewest points (316) over their first six games since the 1980-81 season (307).

Under third-year coach Kermit Davis, Ole Miss leads the SEC in turnovers forced (20.5 per game) and field goal percentage defense (35.6), ranking sixth and eighth nationally, respectively.

Opponents have shot a combined 27.9 percent (41 of 147) against Ole Miss in the first half, scoring only an average of 19.7 points. The Rebels have kept the opposition to single digits on made first half field goals in all six games this season.

Alabama is averaging 76.8 points per game. However, the Crimson Tide's field-goal percent is only .416, which ranks 12th in the conference.

Ole Miss at Alabama

Where: Coleman Coliseum

When: 8 p.m. CT, Tuesday

TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal play-by-play, Daymeon Fishback, analyst)

Radio: Crimson Tide Radio Network (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink, Sideline: Roger Hoover), Sirius/XM Channel: NA/190

Online: Live Vide, Live Audio, Live stats

Series: Alabama leads 123-58. Tuesday’s game will be the 182nd meeting between the two schools. The series dates back to 1921. Alabama has won five of the past six, including three straight.

Last meeting: Alabama won 103-78 on Feb. 22, 2020. Ole Miss ran into a hot shooting Alabama team in The Pavilion. Kira Lewis Jr., John Petty Jr., and Jaden Shackelford combined for 56 points, including 10 of 16 shooting from three-point range. Overall, the Crimson Tide made 13 from beyond the arc. Breein Tyree had 28 points before fouling out at the 8:50 mark. He shot 66.7 percent (8 of 12) from the field and was 12 of 12 from the free-throw line. Devontae Shuler tallied 21 points and shot 50 percent (3 of 6) from three. Khadim Sy pulled down a career-high eight rebounds to go along with seven points. The Rebels had a 54.2 field goal percentage (26 of 48). Overall, Alabama shot 56.1 percent (37 of 66).

Last time out Alabama: The Crimson Tide used a big second half to beat East Tennessee State by a score of 85-69 last Tuesday night at Coleman Coliseum. Alabama scored 49 points and shot 55 percent from the field and 41 percent from three-point range in the second half to secure the 16-point win. Sophomore guard Jaden Shackelford led the way with a career-best eight three-pointers (8-of-13) on his to scoring a game high 26 points. Sophomore guard Jahvon Quinerly had 14 points to go along with a career-best nine assists compared to only one turnover, while graduate forward Jordan Bruner added eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Alabama (5-3) improved to 5-0 this season when it scores 80-or-more points. The Crimson Tide used a 39-29 advantage on the glass and outscored the Buccaneers 21-2 in second chance points on the night.

Last time out Ole Miss: The Rebels are coming off a 90-43 win over UT Martin (Dec. 22), their largest margin of victory since a 92-45 victory over Morris Brown (Nov. 28, 2001).

Scouting Alabama: The Crimson Tide concludes a four-game homestand. Alabama leads the SEC in three-point field goal attempts (242), averaging more than 30 per game. Jaden Shackelford, the Crimson Tide’s leading scorer at 14.0 points per game, also paces the conference with 19 made threes. Alabama has three others averaging double figures in scoring: Herbert Jones (13.3), John Petty Jr. (12.0) and Jahvon Quinerly (11.8); Jones leads the team in rebounding (6.8), while Quinerly tops in assists (3.6).

Scouting Ole Miss: The Rebels are 5-1, with the loss at Dayton, 65-62. Devontae Shuler was named Preseason Second Team All-SEC by the conference’s coaches. He averages 2.0 steals per game, which ranks second in the SEC. Shuler has 154 career steals to rank eighth in program history alongside Rod Barnes. He's one away from Elston Turner (155) for seventh and three away from Joe Ayers (157) for sixth. Shuler and Romello White are both four points away from 1,000 for their respective careers. KJ Buffen (13.0) and Jarkel Joiner (12.0) are averaging double figures in scoring over the past three games.

Buffalo connection: Ole Miss assistant coach Levi Watkins and Alabama head coach Nate Oats were assistants under Bobby Hurley at Buffalo (2014-15). In two seasons, the pair helped guide the Bulls to a 42-20 record that included two MAC titles (one tournament, one regular season) and the school’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament. Nate Oats is in his second season as Alabama head coach after spending four seasons as the head coach at Buffalo.