Where Brandon Miller's night ranks among best Alabama basketball performances vs. Georgia
This season, Alabama basketball doesn't lose at Coleman Coliseum and the Crimson Tide doesn't lose after a loss.
Put the two together, and results like Alabama's 108-59 rout of Georgia on Saturday happen.
In a similar fashion, the Crimson Tide beat Vanderbilt by 57 points at Coleman Coliseum on Jan. 31.
“Another game after a loss I felt like our guys came ready to play," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "Hopefully we don’t have too many more of those, if any.”
Georgia's greatest fault was being the team next on the schedule after Alabama lost to No. 11 Tennessee on Wednesday.
Saturday marked the third victory of 40 or more points in SEC play this season for Alabama (23-4, 13-1 SEC).
"When you combine an explosive offense with a team that has bought into defense, you have a few games like this," Oats said.
Many Alabama players had good nights, but here are the top five best performances from the Crimson Tide.
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5. Rylan Griffen
Overshadowed by the other players on this list, Griffen actually had a solid outing. He made shots, created opportunities for teammates and made a handful of free throws.
He finished 3-for-6 from beyond the arc, went 4 of 6 from the free-throw line and scored 13 points. Griffen also had four assists, third-most behind Jaden Bradley (seven) and Jahvon Quinerly (six).
4. Noah Clowney
Clowney's day will also be overlooked because of how dominant some of his teammates were, but he deserves praise for his performance.
At plus-33, he scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds, had two assists, one steal and one block. He made the most of the shots he had, going 4-for-6 from the field, 2-for-4 from deep and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
3. Nick Pringle
If he had made his free throws, he might have been No. 2 on this list. Pringle was a force for Alabama against Georgia.
Headlined by a handful of impressive dunks, Pringle tallied 19 points and 12 rebounds. Had he not finished 1-for-5 from the foul line, he would have easily had a 20-point day and might have been the Crimson Tide's leading scorer.
“I am happy for him because he’s a guy who was a little frustrated because he wasn’t playing as much not too long ago," Oats said. "Kept working hard. We actually put him on the scout team a month or so ago. He needed more reps."
For a guy who's primarily a depth player to have this kind of outing speaks to how good Alabama's depth is. Pringle set a physical tone, and Georgia struggled to handle him.
2. Mark Sears
After Sears was virtually nonexistent offensively against Tennessee with only one field goal, he made his presence known right away against Georgia.
He went 5-for-5 from deep to start the game. Sears missed his next three, but even so, he still finished 63% from beyond the arc. Those five triples at the start did enough damage to give Alabama an early lead and put Sears in the No. 2 spot on this list. He finished with a team-high plus-39 as he scored 17 points over about 19 minutes of playing time.
1. Brandon Miller
Miller is usually the top player on the court, and the Georgia game was no different.
He made plays on both ends of the floor. He went 7-for-10 from the field (70%) and 3-for-5 (60%) from deep and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
Miller also had two blocks and three rebounds. All of this was done over 21 minutes of play.
In the process, he surpassed 500 points for the season and became the fastest to do so in Crimson Tide history.
Miller actually was second in plus-minus at plus-36 behind Sears, but Miller's overall impact on the game and moments of dominance in a night he made history gives him the nod for the top performance.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Ranking top five performances from Alabama basketball vs. Georgia
