TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Freshman guard Trevor Releford scored 22 points Wednesday night to lead the University of Alabama men”s basketball team to a 79-64 victory against the University of Miami in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament before a crowd of 8,612 at Coleman Coliseum.
Senior Senario Hillman, playing in his last game in Coleman Coliseum where Alabama went a school-record 19-0 this season, scored 17 points and set a school record with 175 career steals. Tony Mitchell had 16 points and JaMychal Green added 14 for Alabama (24-11), which will play Colorado in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN2) in Madison Square Garden.
Alabama will make its sixth all-time NIT Final Four appearance.
Wichita State and Washington State will meet in the other semifinal at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The winners will play Thursday night.
“It is an understatement to say this was a great win,” Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. “I thought from start to finish the style of play was outstanding. The atmosphere today was outstanding.”
Chris Hines and Mitchell both had nine rebounds for Alabama, which led by as many as 14 points in the first half, then withstood a Miami rally early in the second half before pulling away.
“Our advantage was our speed and quickness and that turned out to be very effective,” said Grant, a Miami native. “I thought we had success attacking them in transition.”
Scott Durand had 19 points, Reggie Johnson had 14 points and seven rebounds and DeQuan Jones added 12 points for Miami (21-15).
The Hurricanes opened the second half with a 15-6 run to pull within 42-41 on a fast-break layup by Jones with 14 minutes, 15 seconds to play.
Alabama found a spark at the 13:20 mark when Miami forward DeQuan Jones had two shots blocked in the paint and senior Charvez Davis drove 90 feet after the rebound to draw a foul on the other end. Davis made both free throws and Alabama went on a 14-4 run in the next five minutes to reclaim a double-digit advantage at 56-45.
“I think our guys came out with great pride and excitement for an opportunity to continue our play, to continue our season, and to continue to have an opportunity to compete for a championship,” Grant said. “I”m really proud of the effort everyone gave today.”
Alabama outscored Miami 33-16 down the stretch to push the lead to 75-57, matching its largest of the game, when Releford made a free throw with 2:09 to go.
“Their athleticism took over in the second half,” Miami coach Frank Haith said.
The Crimson Tide took a 17-6 lead and extended it 24-10 on a layup by Hillman with 11:02 left in the first half. Miami went on a 12-6 run to make it 30-22 when Malcolm Grant made a 3-pointer with 4:23 left. The Crimson Tide responded by scoring six of the next 10 points to lead 36-26 at halftime.
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