The Alabama men’s basketball team claimed a 70-55 victory over Ole Miss on Senior Night in Coleman Coliseum on Wednesday. With the win, the Tide improves to 17-12 on the year and clinches a winning record in the SEC at 10-7 with one game left in the regular season.

Redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram led Alabama offensively, as he scored a career-high 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field. Freshman Braxton Key added 19 points and seven rebounds, while senior Bola Olaniyan pulled down a game-high 10 boards in the victory. Senior Jimmie Taylor also made a statement on his senior night, finishing with three blocks to become just the sixth Alabama player in program history to block 200 shots in his career (201).

“This is something that we talked about; we talked about not only sending our seniors out with a bang but also giving our fans who have hung in with us all year something to some appreciation” head coach Avery Johnson said. “Something I drilled in (our players’) heads the last two days was I don’t want to hear any excuses. I’m glad that our fans have hung with us all year long, and we really appreciate it. The game ball goes to our seniors, obviously, but, also went to our new athletic director, Greg Byrne, who we brought it into the locker room. We made sure the players knew who he was and told them how excited we are to have him and his family a part of our family.”

Alabama held an early 7-5 lead to start the game but the Rebels (18-12, 9-8 SEC) used a 9-0 run to take a 14-7 lead. The Tide immediately answered with a three-point basket from junior Riley Norris and a layup from sophomore Avery Johnson Jr. to cut Ole Miss’ lead to two points. However, the Rebels were able to stretch their lead to as many as seven points, 21-14, with 7:38 left in the half.

The Tide would respond, however, as it outscored the Rebels 15-4 over the final 7:38 of the half to take a 29-25 lead into the locker room. Alabama outrebounded Ole Miss 22-19 in the first 20 minutes and blocked four shots.

The Tide continued to stay hot after the half, outscoring Ole Miss by a 15-6 margin over the opening 5:25 of the second stanza to extend the lead to 13 points at 44-31. In all, Alabama’s 30-10 run that spanned halftime lasted a total of 13:03.

The Rebels battled back with an 18-10 run of their own to trim Alabama’s lead to five points at 54-49 with 7:31 on the clock.

However, Alabama replied with a 7-2 run to extend its lead back to double digits, 61-51, with 4:11 left to play. The Tide would go on to lead by as many as 17 points on its way to the victory.

For the game, Alabama grabbed 40 rebounds to the Rebels’ 36. The Tide finished with seven blocks and controlled the paint, outscoring Ole Miss 32-26 in the lane.

Ole Miss was led by Breein Tyree’s 14 points, while Sebastian Saiz finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. The Tide held Ole Miss’ leading scorer Deandre Bastien, who came in averaging 17.1 ppg, to only two points while shooting 0-of-7 from the field.

The Tide wraps up the regular season on the road in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, March 4. Alabama’s only meeting with Tennessee this season will tip off at noon CT and air on SEC Network.

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