No. 4 Alabama trounces Mississippi State to reach SEC semis

Brandon Miller scored 18 points as No. 4 Alabama rolled to a 72-49 victory over ninth-seeded Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament on Friday in Nashville, Tenn.

Miller added nine rebounds and five assists for the SEC regular-season champion Crimson Tide (27-5), who will face fourth-seeded Missouri (23-8) or fifth-seeded Tennessee (23-9) in the semifinals on Saturday.

Noah Gurley had 11 points and Charles Bediako added 11 points, six rebounds and five blocks for top-seeded Alabama, which is seeking its second conference tournament title in the past three seasons. Jahvon Quinerly chipped in 10 points and four assists.

The Crimson Tide's 27 wins tie the school's single-season record that was set during the 2001-2002 season.

Alabama, which has won five of its past six games and nine of its past 11 contests, shot 27 of 67 (40.3 percent) from the field, including 13 of 37 (35.1 percent) from 3-point range.

The Crimson Tide scored 19 points off the Bulldogs' 12 turnovers, while Mississippi State mustered just four points off Alabama's seven miscues.

Mississippi State (21-12) was led by Tolu Smith's 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Dashawn Davis added 13 points for the Bulldogs, who lost to the Crimson Tide for the third time this year and for the seventh time in the past eight meetings.

The Bulldogs shot 18 of 58 (31 percent) from the field, including an abysmal 1 of 13 (7.7 percent) from 3-point range.

Alabama dominated the first half, closing it on a 26-10 run to take a 41-21 halftime advantage.

Miller scored 11 points and Bediako added nine points and four blocks in the first 20 minutes for Alabama, which shot 16 of 35 (45.7 percent) from the field, including an impressive 8 of 20 (40 percent) from beyond the arc.

Mississippi State was led by Davis' 11 points, but no other Bulldog scored more than Smith's four.

The Bulldogs shot 8 of 31 (25.8 percent) from the field, including missing all five of their 3-point attempts.