Largely stifled by Arkansas’ top 10 first-half defense Wednesday night in Fayetteville, Alabama’s NBA-bound rookie duo stole the show in the second half.
Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney added 26 of the Tide’s first 41 second-half points in an 84-69 victory over the Razorbacks, gaining prominence at key moments to mark Alabama’s biggest SEC win so far this season.
“Tough win,” said coach Nate Oats. “Our guys have shown that they have some stamina, some character, some courage. They can handle a few races and still stay there.”
The 4th-ranked Tide withstood a 9-0 run by 15th-ranked Arkansas in the first half and another 7-0 run by the Hogs in the second half, ending the Razorbacks’ late drive putting down a series of three-pointers. With Arkansas cutting Alabama’s lead to two points and less than five minutes left, Clowney hit a triple and Miller followed with two more to rebuild an 11-point lead and silence the Bud Walton Arena crowd.
“Clowney isn’t very scared, and neither is Brandon,” Oats said. “Those three threes between the two guys there, when we’re doing that race, it’s huge.”
Alabama improved to 14-2 with the win and 4-0 in the SEC, matching their 2020-21 start as their best SEC game since the 1986-87 season.
After beating #21 Mississippi State on the road and defeating two unranked opponents – Ole Miss and Kentucky – at Coleman Coliseum, the Tide made a midweek trip to Fayetteville that marked their biggest challenge in conference play yet . this station. Alabama delivered, again.
“We couldn’t be more proud of our boys,” said Oats. “Keep improving every game. We have to improve a little every game. Staying in this quest for the SEC championship.”
Arkansas did not allow Miller to attempt a shot in the first half, while Clowney only had three points before halftime, limited by three fouls. But Clowney made his presence felt with nine points in less than four minutes early in the second half to finish with 15 points, and Miller added 14 after his scoreless first half.
The win was Alabama’s third over an Associated Press-ranked away opponent this season, following #1-ranked wins in Houston and Starkville. Alabama went 1-8 against top 25 opponents in Oats’ first three seasons. The victory in Fayetteville was also Alabama’s first since 2012, snapping a five-game losing streak at the venue.
“After we beat Houston in Houston, I think our guys had some confidence that they could win anywhere,” Oats said. “We were good in difficult games. I think Houston is one of the toughest teams in the country. I thought the loss to UConn really showed our guys that if you’re not tough, you’re not going to be able to win these big games. I thought our off-conference schedule really prepared us for this game.
Alabama led for 12 minutes of the first half by as many as seven points. Arkansas’ drive tied the score at halftime, 33-33, before Alabama opened up a 12-point lead midway through the second half, 62-50. Miller attempted the first two pitches of the second half, hitting the second, to start the drive.
“We had to do a few shots at him,” Oats said. “He’s too good not to have any half.”
Alabama then cooled off and Arkansas cut the score to 65-63 with 4:45 left. Oats called a timeout and the Tide’s next three shots were the three points made by Clowney and Miller. Alabama scored 19 of the game’s final 25 points after the Oats timeout, with Arkansas not threatening as the lead returned to double figures.
Asked about the message during his timeout, Oats joked, “Just go out and hit about three threes in a row and open that thing,” then laughed.
“I just told them, look, it’s a racing game,” he said. “They cut it. We have to stop again, take care of the ball in attack. Calm them down a bit. They did. They got out. We have stops. We hit some big shots.
With Miller smothered in the first half, point guard Mark Sears scored 12 points for Alabama in the first half and added 10 more in the second half, including 2-of-3 three-point shooting. He finished with a team-high 26 points, the most since joining Alabama from Ohio University last offseason.
“I mean, we needed someone to score,” said Oats. “He always comes ready to play. I think his defense has gotten much, much better here recently. But offensively – we needed someone to score the ball, and he was scoring for us. They kind of let some guys down and didn’t play against some decent guys who weren’t shooting well. But Sears can make shots. We need it for filming. He went down the slope, scored the ball and took the foul.
Sears was also 10-for-10 on free throws, while his teammates were 15-for-26 on an erratic night from the line. Clowney hit just two of his five, and Jaden Bradley hooked up with Noah Gurley to make it 0-2.
Arkansas (12-4) dropped to 1-3 in the SEC with the loss after being picked to finish second in the preseason media poll. The two teams will meet again on Feb. 25 in Tuscaloosa, presumably following the return from injury of Arkansas freshman Nick Smith, the high school’s top recruit in 2022.
“They haven’t played as hard on a non-conference schedule,” Oats said of Arkansas. “Gee, I think they were 1-3 last year. They are 1-3 again. They finished 13-5 last year. They will find out. Sometimes I think they need to play some tough conference games before they figure it out. But based on what they’ve done here in the past, I’m sure they’ll figure that out.”
Alabama hosts unranked LSU on Saturday at 3 pm CT. The Tigers (12-4) have also started 1-3 in conference play after a significant roster change and a coaching change from Will Wade to Matt McMahon earlier this year.
Mike Rodak is an Alabama reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.
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