Quinerly Helps Alabama Hoops Past Mississippi State 80-75

The No. 25 Alabama Crimson Tide hosted the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday. Jahvon Quinerly’s 21 points helped the Tide get the victory 80-75.

Battle on the Inside

With only three total three-pointers made in the first half, the majority of the game was played inside the paint.

Both teams went back and forth early. Going like-for-like on each possession, Mississippi State and Alabama found themselves tied at 16 after 10 minutes. After a Jaden Shackelford and-one and a Quinerly three-pointer, Alabama found themselves with an eight-point lead.

It was the Quinerly to Shackelford connection that kept the lead alive in the closing minutes of the first half.

With just over three minutes to go, Quinerly caught the outlet pass and sprinted down the court. With two Bulldog defenders chasing him down, Quinerly did a Euro-step to send the first one flying by and sent a behind-the-back pass to Shackelford as the second defender jumped for the block. Shakelford finished with an easy lay-in.

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Quinerly also added two first-half three-pointers as Alabama ended the first 20 minutes up 34-30.

Bulldogs Caught Fire

With nine points in five minutes, freshman Cam Carter put Mississippi State on a quick run to open the half. The Bulldogs opened the second half making their first six shots from three-point range and tied the game at 50 apiece.

Tempers began to flare as the Bulldogs pulled ahead of the Crimson Tide. Alabama coach Nate Oats was called for two technical fouls after arguing for foul calls and was thrown out of the game. Alabama was down 64-57 with just under eight minutes to go.

The loss of their coach didn’t faze the Crimson Tide as they mounted a two-minute push that put them ahead. With just over five minutes left in the game, a JD Davison and-one put the Crimson Tide ahead by one.

It was two and a half minutes before either team scored again. Alabama continued their run and put the game away with a huge slam dunk by Darius Miles off a Quinerly assist. The finish put Alabama ahead 75-66 with a minute left.

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A game-high 22 points from Mississippi State’s Iverson Molinar wasn’t enough to get past Alabama. The Crimson Tide got the win 80-75 behind 21 points from Quinerly.

What’s next?

The Mississippi State Bulldogs will host Missouri on Friday before traveling to Columbia to take on the Tigers again on Sunday. Alabama will travel to Kentucky to play the Wildcats on Saturday.