Alabama Escapes Auburn with 77-69 Win, Stays Undefeated in SEC Play

The Crimson Tide closed the game on a 16-7 run to beat the Tigers on their home court.

AUBURN, Ala. — Alabama may not have had a lead for very long, but it was able to grab the lead, and build on it, when it mattered. 

Thanks to strong second-half performances from Rylan Griffen, Mark Sears and Jaden Bradley, the Crimson Tide pulled away from Auburn in the final minutes for the 77-69 win in Neville Arena Saturday afternoon. 

It took star freshman Brandon Miller a little while to get going. He didn’t have his first bucket until over 11 minutes into the game and did not make a 3-point shot in the game for the first time since the season opener. But he had some key layups during Alabama's 16-7 run to close out the game and finished with 13 points. 

"[Auburn] did a great job on Brandon," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game. "I thought we had different guys step up. I thought some of our younger guys— Jaden Bradley played well tonight, Rylan Griffen was huge… I thought our guys showed some resilience to weather a bad shooting game from Brandon.”

For Oats, one of the key moments in the game came right after Bruce Pearl called a timeout when Alabama had retaken the lead at 61-59. Right out of the timeout, Nimari Burnett took a charge and swung the momentum back in Alabama's favor.

"We’ve been on our guys to make tough plays," Oats said. "We’re gonna have to make tough plays on the road. I thought our guys stepped up and made some tough plays in the second half when we needed them.

It was a tie game at halftime, and Wendell Green Jr., hit a 3-pointer out of the half to give Auburn the lead back. It was a back-and-forth affair in the second half until Alabama was able to pull away at the end. Green led Auburn with 24 points, and Oats called him one of the best guards in the country. 

The Crimson Tide had some strong guard play of its own with Sears, Griffen and Bradley combining for 43 of Alabama's 77 points. Bradley scored Alabama's first five points of the second half with multiple strong drives to the rim. According to Sears, the Auburn defense got less aggressive guarding the Crimson Tide after Bradley was able to break them down a little bit. 

"Every time Auburn was going on a little bit of a run, he came down hill, got fouled or got a layup," Griffen said. "He was big time today.”

Alabama (22-3, 12-0 SEC) kept its undefeated record in conference play alive as well as the streak of holding SEC opponents to below 70 points. Auburn (17-8, 7-5 SEC) has now lost three in a row and five of its last six. The two teams will meet again inside Coleman Coliseum on March 1. 

The Crimson Tide's next game is at No. 6 Tennessee Wednesday night at 6:00. 

How it happened...

Final Score: Alabama 77, Auburn 69

• Alabama improves to 22-3 overall and stays perfect in SEC play at 12-0.

Live Updates

(latest updates at the top)

Second Half

FINAL: Alabama 77, Auburn 69

• 0:46- Miller makes one free throw, Alabama leads 74-67.

• 0:57- Griffen slams one home to give Alabama a six-point lead.

• 2:30- A layup from Brandon Miller gives Alabama its largest lead of the game, 71-66 Crimson Tide in front. 

• 3:57- Final media timeout. Alabama is up 68-64
• Sears, Griffen and Bradley have all been huge for Alabama in the second half. Sears has scored nine while Griffen and Bradley have eight apiece in the second half. 

• 4:28- Miller makes his first basket of the second half on a tip-in to push the Alabama lead back to four, 68-64 Alabama

• 5:15- Griffen makes plays on both ends of the court. He blocks a 3-point attempt from Green, and then makes his own on the other side to give Alabama a 66-62 lead. 

• 6:10- Auburn retakes the lead, 62-61, on a 3-pointer from Green. He's up to 21 points in the game. 

• Miller currently only has eight points. There has only been one time this year that he hasn't reached double-digit scoring (Houston.)

• 6:52- After a layup from Sears gives Alabama a 61-59 lead, Pearl takes a timeout for Auburn. Sears has eight points in the second half and 14 in the game. 

• 7:38- Sears is heating up for Alabama. He just hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 59-59.

• Bradley not taking advantage of his trips to the free throw line. He's 2-of-6. Meanwhile, Auburn is shooting almost 90 percent from the line as a team. 

• Alabama got the look it wanted, but Miller just cannot find his 3-point shot today. He's now 0 for 7 from beyond the arc.

• At the under-12 media timeout, Auburn leads 53-52

• 14:21- A Griffen 3-pointer gives Alabama its first lead of the second half, 50-49

• 15:19- At the first media timeout of the second half: Auburn 49, Alabama 45. Clowney will be at the line for two shots after the break. 

• 16:10- Green is fouled on a 3-pointer for the second time this half and makes all three. Auburn is up to 22 free throw attempts in the game and eight in the first four minutes of the second half. 

• 17:02- Jaden Bradley is responsible for all of Alabama's points so far in the second half with a few aggressive drives to the basket, but Alabama trails Auburn 46-42
• Green hits a 3-pointer for the Tigers to retake the lead 40-37 out of halftime. 

• Alabama has the original starting five back out of on the floor to open the second half

Halftime Notes- Alabama 37, Auburn 37

• After having just eight total turnovers last time out, Alabama had eight turnovers in the first half that led to eight points for the Tigers. 
• KD Johnson, Wendell Green Jr. and Jaylin Williams were basically responsible for all of the Auburn offense, led by the 14 for Williams. 
• Auburn shot 14 free throws in the first half compared to six for the Crimson Tide. 
• Brandon Miller had the highlight dunk towards the end of the first half, but did not have his best shooting performance. He went 0-for-4 from beyond the arc. He leads Alabama with eight points. 
• Auburn was able to extend several possession with seven offensive rebounds. 
• Alabama only led for 1:04 of the first half. 
• On the CTSN halftime interview, Oats said Alabama was down in blue collar points. 

First Half

HALFTIME: Alabama 37, Auburn 37

• 0:28- Oats takes his use-it or lose-it timeout to try and set up the final possession with 24 seconds on the shot clock. 

• 0:54- Miller is cleared for takeoff. Sears finds Miller for the one-handed slam, and he's fouled. Alabama 37, Auburn 35

BRANDHIM MILLER!!!

📺: https://t.co/GhK3L0K664#RollTide | #BlueCollarBasketball pic.twitter.com/4X7x0oz3Me

— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) February 11, 2023

• 2:26- Sears hits his first 3-pointer to pull Alabama within one at 35-34

• 3:35- Williams knocks down another 3-pointer for Auburn. He's 4 of 4 from the field and 3 of 3 from beyond the arc and is up to 14 points in the game. Auburn leads 35-29

• 4:08- A foul is under review with Auburn holding a 30-29 lead after another careless turnover. Alabama now has seven turnovers in the game. 

• 5:10- Broome picks up his second foul for Auburn in a tie 27-27 game. 

• Nice lob from Miller to Bediako gives Alabama the lead again at 25-24

• 7:01- Alabama takes its first lead on a lay-in from Miller. Alabama 23, Auburn 22

• 8:00- Auburn still up at the third media timeout of the half, but Alabama is starting to find a little bit of a rhythm on offense. Auburn 22, Alabama 19
• Alabama is shooting 61.5 percent from the floor, but five turnovers have hurt the Tide.

• 8:46- Miller finally gets on the board with the and-1, and Auburn's lead is down to one point. Auburn 20, Alabama 19

• Miller tips out an offensive rebound to Burnett, who find Griffen for the 3-pointer to cut into the Tiger lead. Auburn 20, Alabama 16

• 11:18- Auburn 18, Alabama 13 at the under-12 media timeout

• 11:45- Burnett is left wide open in the corner and hits Alabama's first 3-pointer of the game. Auburn leads 18-13.

• 12:37- Auburn lead is up to eight after a jumper by KD Johnson.

• Nimari Burnett and Jahvon Quinerly check into the game for Alabama out of the timeout. Bediako misses both free throws. 

• 15:12- Auburn 9, Alabama 6 at the first media timeout. Bediako will be at the line shooting two coming out of the break. He has been aggressive driving to the bakset early.
• Both teams are shooting 50 percent from the floor. The biggest difference is Auburn has made two 3-point shots early on. 

• It took Alabama almost four minutes to score, but a layup from Noah Clowney and breakaway dunk from Charles Bediako cuts the Auburn lead to 5-4. 

• Alabama leaves Williams wide open for a 3, and he makes them pay. Auburn leads 5-0

• 18:56- Auburn takes the first lead on a jumper from Jaylin Williams, 2-0 Auburn

• Wendell Green Jr. steals the ball from Brandon Miller on a double team, and the crowd gets super loud. Scoreless after one possession for each team. 

• Auburn wins the opening tip, and this game is underway. 

Pregame

• The Kentucky/Georgia game going long on ESPN has delayed this game slightly, but it is finally about to tip as of 1:10 p.m.

• Nate Oats is sporting the Crimson plaid blazer today and was greeted by a large volume of boos when entering the court.

• Alabama Starting Lineup
• Jaden Bradley- 7.8 PPG
• Mark Sears- 13.9 PPG
• Brandon Miller- 19 PPG
• Noah Clowney- 10 PPG
• Charles Bediako- 5.6 PPG

• Auburn Starting Lineup
• Wendell Green Jr.- 13.9 PPG
• Zep Jasper- 3.3 PPG
• Allen Flanigan- 9.5 PPG
• Jaylin Williams- 10.5 PPG
• Johni Broome- 13.7 PPG

• Today's officials: Terry Oglesby, Joe Lindsay and Own Shortt.

• Noah Clowney (facial contusion) is fully participating in pregame warmups.

• Brandon Miller and Jahvon Quinerly received the loudest boos from the Auburn student section when they came out for warmups. 

How to Watch Alabama at Auburn

Who: No. 3 Alabama (21-3, 11-0 SEC) at Auburn (17-7, 7-4 SEC)

When: 1 p.m. CT, Saturday

Where: Neville Arena, Auburn, Alabama

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart; Analyst: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Series: Alabama leads, 97-67

Last Meeting: It has been over a year since the Tide and Tigers met on the hardwood. On Feb. 2, 2022, the two teams played in Neville Arena with Auburn winning 100-81 to complete the season sweep over Alabama. The Tigers were ranked No. 1 at the time and had a big halftime lead. The Crimson Tide opened the second half on an 18-6 run, but it wasn't enough to get back into the game. Jaden Shackelford led Alabama in scoring with 26 points, while Jahvon Quinerly had 20. Wendell Green Jr. had 23 points for the Tigers.

Last Time Out, Alabama: The Crimson Tide picked up another dominant SEC win. Alabama raced out to a 29-point halftime lead over Florida and never looked back in the 97-67 win. The Crimson Tide made 15 3-pointers, including four apiece from Brandon Miller and Mark Sears. Alabama has won 10 of its 11 SEC games by double digits.

Last Time Out, Auburn: On the other hand, the Tigers are on a little bit of a skid, dropping four of their last five games. Most recently, Auburn lost on the road at Texas A&M 83-78 Tuesday night. The Tigers cut it to a one-possession deficit with less than two minutes left on a layup from Green, but would not have another field goal for the rest of the game. Johni Broome had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Green led the Tigers in scoring with 20 points.