TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Levi Randolph and Alabama’s shooters heated up, the defense clamped down and the resurgent Crimson Tide rolled along with a little help from a familiar face.
Randolph scored a career-high 18 points and Alabama welcomed JaMychal Green back from suspension with a superb second half in Saturday’s 67-50 win over reeling Mississippi State.
“In the second half, we had a dominating performance all the way around,” Tide coach Anthony Grant said.
Alabama (19-9, 8-6 Southeastern Conference) has won six of eight games and weathered a storm of off-the-court troubles. Green, one of four players to serve a suspension the past couple of weeks, returned after four games to score nine points.
“It felt great to be back,” said the senior, the Tide’s leading scorer and rebounder. “It was fun. It was a great feeling being out there with my teammates and getting a win.”
The Bulldogs (19-10, 6-8) have lost five straight and are left trying to salvage their NCAA tournament hopes.
This one was tied at halftime before Alabama dominated the second half 42-25. The Tide shot 64 percent (16 of 25) after the half and made 5 of 7 3-pointers (71.4 percent).
Trevor Releford came off the bench for only the second time this season and had 10 points. Grant called the decision not to start him “just a time management issue.”
Releford did hit three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point shot with four-tenths of a second left in the first half to tie the game at 25 and that momentum carried over.
“I thought we took the last play of the half into the locker room and came out in the first five minutes of the second half and played just like that,” Bulldogs coach Rick Stansbury said. “That was the ball game.
“From there, we were just trying to battle back.”
Randolph also had seven rebounds, four assists and three steals with no turnovers. The freshman’s previous scoring high was 13 points against Vanderbilt, and he matched that in the second half.
“Over the course of the year, Levi has had some struggles offensively,” Grant said. “I’ve always said this about freshmen: Sometimes they just need to see the ball go in a few times.
“Once that happened tonight, he really loosened up and was aggressive out there.”
Dee Bost and Renardo Sidney had 14 points apiece for Mississippi State.
Starter Rodney Hood missed the game with a deep bone bruise in his left knee.
The SEC’s leading rebounder, Arnett Moultrie, had seven points and eight rebounds, well below his season averages. He attempted only three field goals as Alabama mostly denied him the ball around the basket.
Moultrie had 25 points and 13 rebounds in the previous meeting.
The difference? “Two or three weeks ago, I was more involved in the offense,” he said.
Green said the last game gave Alabama extra motivation in defending Moultrie, too.
“We took it personal to defend him tonight,” he said, “and I think we did a great job.”
The Bulldogs managed a season-low in points and shot 38.2 percent (18 of 47). Alabama took the same number of shots but made 25 (53.2 percent).
The Tide started a 21-7 run at the end of the first half to take a 43-32 lead when Green hit 1 of 2 free throws with 12:57 left.
Sidney then hit a basket and foul shot and Jalen Steele drilled a 3-pointer to slice the margin to five points. Then things got away from the Bulldogs again.
“They seemed like they were just catching and shooting,” Moultrie said. “They got a 10-point lead and that pretty much sealed the game.”
Alabama answered with two straight Releford drives to start a 14-1 run and retake control of the game.
A previously scoreless Charles Hankerson hit for seven straight points to end the spurt, helping Alabama roll to an 18-point margin.
Those were his only points of the game in 10 minutes of action.
The Tide got 32 points from its bench compared to just four from Mississippi State reserves.
Alabama guard Trevor Lacey started, but with five minutes left in the first half he aggravated a sprained right ankle sustained two nights earlier at Arkansas. He hobbled off the court and didn’t play again.
Green entered the game to loud applause with 13:58 left in the first half. He didn’t appear too rusty, managing a quick assist at the end of a fast-break layup
He made 3 of 4 baskets.
“I thought he had a huge impact on the game today,” Grant said.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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