By: Garrett Franks

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.– In a game that felt like it was over before it started, The Crimson Tide trounced the Georgia Bulldogs 108-59.

After a physically draining game, that left much to be desired on the court, Alabama exacts their revenge on Georgia.

It became evident early on that the Tide wasn’t going to miss much. Alabama quickly shot out to a lead behind the hot hands of star-transfer Mark Sears and future NBA draft pick Brandon Miller.

Miller quickly scored nine points within three minutes of tip. After struggling from the floor earlier in the week against Tennessee, Miller played with a fire that left Georgia looking for answers. Sears also was looking for a better performance, after only mustering a mere two points versus the Vols. He ended up getting the first bucket in the game off a top of the key three pointer.

Behind the efforts of Sears and Miller, Alabama quickly took control of the game and didn’t look back. at one point in the first half, Alabama was on pace for 156 points. It only took Alabama to develop a double-digit lead. Heading into the second half, Alabama led 54-25, a nearly insurmountable lead for the Bulldogs.

The second half was much of the same from the Tide. They continued to hammer the basket with high-percentage shots and wide-open threes. It was too much for the Bulldogs of Athens. It wasn’t just the offensive side of the ball that the Tide excelled in. Defensively Alabama smothered any sign of a successful Georgia offense. Georgia’s Justin Hill was the Bulldogs leading scorer, but he effort was simply not enough.

Alabama managed to get five players in double-digits with scoring.

Much of this game felt like the righting of the wrongs from the 68-59 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers. Alabama committed a nauseating 19 turnovers in that match, against Georgia, Alabama only turned to rock over 11 times. In the match against Tennessee Alabama shot a dreadful 35-percent, but against the Bulldogs, they shot a siring 61.9 percent from the field.

Protecting the rock was something Head Coach Nate Oats harped on his team all week long.

“We had an issue with our turnover at Tennessee, other than Jahvon [Quinerly] who had six assists and three turnovers, other than him no one had more than one,” said Oats. “Happy with the way we moved the ball and took care of it.

Outside the greatness of Brandon Miller, it was Nick Pringle who shinned brightly under the lights of Coleman. He finished with double-double, scoring 19 points and snagging 12 total rebounds, a career-high for the JUCO transfer.

“You can see his athleticism, he won our hard-hat award, said Oats. “I’m happy for him because he was frustrated with his playing time, so we put him on the scout team.”

Brandon Miller led the Tide with 21 points, Sears wasn’t too far behind him with a nice 17 points, shooting five of eight from behind the arc. After struggling much of the season to get going offensively, Dom Welch provided a nice boost of the bench with eight points.

“It was good seeing him having fun out there,” said Sears.

Per. usual with Alabama blowouts, Alabama Walk-on Adam Cottrell came in and sent the fans home happy with three pointer in the last few minutes.

No. 1 Alabama returns to the floor Wednesday night in Columbia, South Carolina at 8 p.m. CT.

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