Alabama blows by #1 seeded Auburn to advance to SEC Tournament Semifinals

The Alabama Crimson Tide outscored the Auburn Tigers 50-22 in the second half en route to clinching a berth in the 2018 SEC Tournament Semifinals. The Tide routed their arch rivals 81-63 and knocked off the No. 1 seed in the tournament in the process.

Unsurprisingly, Collin Sexton was the man again for ‘Bama. After his stellar outing in the Second Round, which included a buzzer-beater that won’t soon be forgotten, Sexton scored 31 points in the win on Friday. He was effective and efficient, as he only needed 16 shots and 10 makes from the field to get to those 31 points. He got to the line a few times, and made all five of his free throws.

Combining his work from the two games played, Sexton has made 19 of his 32 field goal attempts (Good for a FG% of 59.4 percent) and 11 of his 12 free throw attempts in this SEC Tournament.

Sexton also added seven rebounds to his total and while he committed six turnovers, he still finished as a +22 on the floor. He also scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half, as the Tide’s dominance that half really helped them surge to the win.

Collin wasn’t the only player for Alabama to shine, though. Dazon Ingram (pictured above) also had a fine showing, himself. Ingram scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds and dished out five assists, to boot. He shot 4-of-7 from the field and was a hearty 5-of-8 from the free throw line. In the second half, Ingram scored 10 of his 14 points, adding to his teammate Sexton’s output for a boastful half of play.

Donta Hall joined Sexton and Ingram in double figures with 10 points. Hall scored eight of those 10 in the first half. He also put up six rebounds and committed only one turnover in 22 minutes of action.

Auburn had what can only be described as a dreadful showing in the second half. Collectively, they shot 24.1 percent on 29 attempts from the field and made only one of 14 attempts from the 3-point arc. Their free throw shooting wasn’t too much better, as they were just 7-of-11 from the line. Bryce Brown scored nine points and Mustapha Heron scored seven. But nobody else on the team scored more than two points, and several were held scoreless. On the whole, Brown, Heron and DeSean Murray finished in double figures with 11, 18 and 15 respectively.

The loss for Auburn may impact what seed they get in the NCAA Tournament. But obviously, they are in no danger of losing their at-large bid. Alabama, meanwhile, may be steamrolling towards grabbing one of their own. At this rate, they could win this whole dang SEC Tournament. Especially if Sexton is going to continue to be the driving force that he is. We’ll see how things play out, but so far, Alabama has been damn impressive.